5 💎’s from MIT Tough Tech
Going to MIT’s Tough Tech conference has probably been one of the high points of my year so far.
Tough Tech is tech that changes the world, more specifically in
Here as some things that resonated with me and why (plus a bonus hint: 💻🤖)
1. Govt. + Private collaboration = 🔑 for success
It seems fairly obvious at first, but it makes so much sense looking at it in hindsight. For reference, we can look at these things as two poles of a magnet. They’re completely different yet they can’t really function without the other. These two “poles” working together is what drives innovation, through mutual benefit. The government gets to provide service/product at highly reduced cost & companies get paid for effort + good PR.
2. Power of Intentions
When listening to what Alán Aspuru-Guzik (one of the coolest dudes in the world 😎 — quantum + chemistry researcher) had to say about taking his point about building your “T” (knowing a lot about a little then going deep on something) — really resonated with the approach I have been trying to adapt as I learn about exponential technologies. But it doesn’t just apply to learning — it can be used to change the way you view anything. By having some sort of knowledge rather than a complete zero you can do 3 things:
1. Use it to find your interests and really zone in on them and do something that both interests and adds value to you
2. Make connections with things you have learned about and strengthen that knowledge — giving you a really strong base to build even more (and do more of #1)
3. Have really good conversations with some awesome people — this seems like #1 and #2 combined (they’re sneaky aren’t they 😉) but it is actually a great way to
3. Surround yourself with the people who add value to you
One of the longest thing that some of the speakers at the event talked about was team/company dynamic. You can’t get anything done if you don’t have people around you to support you in what you do.
Case Study: Jeff Bezos (aka AmazonMan — not really that’s just what I call him)
Part of the key message was to have people who know you and know what you expect. Communication is a huge part of this (which is why optimizing it is such a huge problem today)
4. Having good communication/understandability is 🔑
Being the next Apple sounds fun and all, but if your product requires your users to be experts in quantum physics, then you aren’t going to get anywhere. Something iterated on was the fact that robots could very well become mainstream today, but the problem is that they require expertise and people that are specifically trained just to use them. If I had to pay $2000+ just to learn how to use a toilet I would (understandably) be pissed off 🚽
But this is also important in a sense in that it makes your own life as well others so much easier. By focusing on getting your thoughts across you are able to spend more time on actually implementing your thoughts rather than having to explain them more — concise and to the point is a lot better than being unclear (even if your ideas are really good).
5. Set goals for yourself and be honest about it
It’s hard to actually be a computer scientist when you don’t even know what computer science is. Setting both long and short term goals are the key to any kind of success. Anytime. Anywhere. Doing so allows you to measure your growth and pace yourself.
But it is only useful if you are able to keep yourself accountable. This is usually done by someone else, like your friend or barista at the locale café. Setting goals but only keeping them to yourself is essentially just like hiding away cookie jars but giving yourself the key.
Bonus: A prediction of where science is headed from a quantum researcher
Alán Aspuru-Guzik is a renowned scientist with two things:
- A very good argument at being a polymath (quantum + chemistry researcher)
2. The best beard I have really ever seen 🧔
But, I mean, seriously— check out some of his research. One of the biggest things that he mentioned was the importance of quantum data management — one of the biggest problems that could come in the foreseeable future of technology. One of the biggest foreseeable problems is that quantum computers have a completely different way of taking and storing data (qubits are bits on steriods) — and the biggest place where we could see some future.
And if you are wondering the implications of this — then consider your smartphone. It gives you access to millions of things across the internet and whatever social media app kids use these days.
But it can’t do that effectively without giving you what you want. So that’s where AI comes in. It takes data and gives recommendations based on what you do on your device.
But quantum computers need a different way to work with that since there is so much more to optimize.
I’ll leave you with that, if you have questions/thoughts see below ⬇
Hey, I’m Hamza an enthusiastic teen about nanotech and working towards a better world (also sometimes cooking and seeing how high I can jump on a trampoline)
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Super huge shoutout to Alex @MIT for helping me & my buds @TKS attend — it was an unforgettable experience and I 100% enjoyed it over conjugating spanish verbs.
