My first Twitter account was a ghost account that I used to follow actors and athletes. Now, when I look at my feed, the tweets are different – I follow more business leaders, tech stars, and, predictably for me, NASA scientists & astronauts. Nowadays, even LinkedIn is encouraging me to reach out and follow “thought leaders” like Richard Branson, Sheryl Sandberg, and even Barack Obama.

What impact will increased access to leading innovators have on the future?



Chris Hadfield has told of how he was inspired by Neil Armstrong’s 1969 moon landing, and consequently pursued that path even before it was possible (Canada did not yet have a space program). What happens when were are inspired by those on the frontier each and every day? Are the messages getting lost in the clutter, or are we being inspired to pursue new challenges and opportunities like never before?

Sometimes I take a 20 minute “professional development” period at work. At least, that’s what I like to call watching a TED talk. How many of you have watched a TED talk and been overcome by a sense of inspiration, increased motivation, and desire to pursue an extraordinary path? Even TED talks like “The Earth is Full“, which touches on the impending doom of our planet for human life, makes me feel motivated to try new things, think in daring ways, and be better than I currently am. And, I feel that it has shifted my perception, and ultimately, direction. (Try 10 TED Talks about being creative.)

When I want to learn a song on guitar, I can watch a guitar demo from the artist; when I want to learn a new computer skill, I can learn from an Adobe creator; when I want to learn what happens when you wring out a cloth in space, I can see it from Mr. Zero G himself. And, of course, the conversation can be two-way – I can ask for and get back information from the most knowledgeable people in the world in the form of a tweet, Reddit take-over or Youtube video.

The Flynn effect suggests that each generation is drastically more intelligent than the last. In theory, even someone who scores at a below-average level on intelligence tests in the current generation would be a genius in their parent’s generation (But, please refrain from calling yourself an Einstein. If you are – you wouldn’t call yourself an Einstein). Recently, James Flynn revisited these findings, and suggested that “human beings are not smarter—just more modern.” Exposure to different problems, and “the fact that our leisure has switched away from merely recovery from work towards cognitively taxing pleasures, like playing video games” (or watching an educational Youtube video?) are playing an important role in producing these spikes.

Providing youth with the ability to have access to information from leaders across a plethora of fields, I feel, will be hugely impactful in creating a generation of innovators and exceptional performers. Whilst, we are also vulnerable to the “time-suck” that is Facebook, Youtube, and Wikipedia (and the A.D.D. that results from toggling between the three), we have the opportunity to learn and be inspired not just from our teachers or circle of friends, but from a wider, global community. And, we can pick & choose what we learn, and from where.

It just took 1 broadcast from the moon to inspire Chris Hadfield to pursue a path set among the stars – what will live, daily coverage do to the girl or boy streaming it in their Science class?

How do you think today’s increased access to “thought leaders” will impact & shape society? Is social media making us smarter? Leave a comment!

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