The Revolution
This is an outline for a speech I have given. You may use the outline as is, but I
believe it will prove more useful as an idea generator.
If you like this work, please let me know -- like
all creative souls, I really appreciate knowing someone was able to use my effort. You can
also e-mail me an idea or two of your own. I'll add it to my page and give you proper
credit.
The Revolution
- Introduction. For this speech, I crouched a bit, put a finger over my lips and said
"Shhh! It's coming. Do you hear it? It's very near. Listen! It's at the door! Do you
hear it? Shhh!" Then I stood upright, looked over the audience, and said, "Madam
Toastmaster, Fellow Toastmasters, and Honored Guests. IT is a revolution, and even now
it's at the door. Humanity has been through several such revolutions before; and each time
the revolution changed the course of history forever."
- The first revolution: The plow (about 8000 BC). I told a story of the first person to
use a plow: "Some cave dweller picked up a stick and dragged it over the ground. That
person threw some seed into the little trench and noticed that the seed grew!" (Of
course, you can imagine the gestures that are possible with a short tale like this!) The
plow permitted humanity to grow crops where they lived, so they could stop following the
harvest nomad-style and settle down in communities. The plow was responsible for the
beginning of civilization.
- The second revolution: The Number Zero (7-8 Century AD, from India). The number zero
freed us from the old Roman numeral system (and similar counting systems, such as Greek,
Babylonian, Egyptian, etc.). This introduced the concept of place value and permitted
mathematics to begin. Merchants could now calculate bills and commerce was re-born. This
was an important revolution for mathematics and accounting.
- The third revolution: The Printing Press (1450, Gutenberg). The press permitted the
printing of books that the common person could have and keep in the home. This was the end
of the privileged, scholar class and freed all people to think about God, philosophy, and
all manner of formerly forbidden things.
- The fourth revolution: The Steam Engine (1763, Watts). The steam engine freed humanity
from the drudgery of manual labor. Now, one person could do the work formerly requiring
dozens of workers. Production increased, leisure time increased, and people had more time
(and money) to spend on themselves. This was the beginning of the "Industrial
Revolution."
- The fifth revolution: The Transistor (1948, Shockley). The transistor ushered in a new
age of instant knowledge. The Industrial Revolution is dying and being replaced by the
Information Revolution. People are now more valuable for the knowledge they possess (or
can access) than for the number of bales they can lift. The transistor has been
subminiturized so that hundreds of thousands can fit on a single computer
"chip;" and that chip can power a massive change in the way we learn,
communicate, and do business.
- Conclusion: "Shhh! It's here -- the Revolution. Are you ready for it? You can
either stand in the way and be swallowed whole, or jump into the wave and be a part of an
exciting future. Shhh! It's here!"
This Document Last Modified on April 29, 1998.
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