CHANGING THE WORLD - HOW IT BEGINS
I once heard a summary of the life of William Wilberforce - a pioneer and public voice for abolition of slavery. Though I don’t remember the exact words, and I cannot confirm 100% of the details, the gravity of the story has been profound with me.
William Wilberforce had the ultimate conviction to end slavery but he knew it could not happen overnight. In order to end slavery, he would also need to end animal cruelty. He recognized that slave owners treated both slaves and livestock with utter disregard and nothing more than a tool. Abolishing slavery became his ultimate goal but he would be going up against merchants, politicians, and farmers - effectively everybody. So he and his friends set out to raise the morality of their society in order to change the mindset of slave owners. They did this by hanging signs above watering troughs that read, “be kind to your horse”. Before they could get slave owners to see slaves as people, they first needed to get people to see horses as more than a tool.
Trust me, I am fully aware that this was a gross oversimplification to his contribution of abolishing slavery, but the principle holds true… If you want to change the world, you have to start small. Another great story I think about often is The Starfish Thrower. (If you haven’t heard that one, I encourage you to look it up)
Before I share what my stepping stone is, let me first tell you about what I see in the future. I see a future where patients are able to get near-instant tailored medical care, sustainable farming, accessible housing, reduced carbon footprints, and I see a safer world. Simply put - in 30 to 40 years, I see the greatest technological boom since the assembly line. You may be wondering how 3D printing could possibly be capable of all those things so let me elaborate.
What if we, as a society, were able to see shortcomings as temporary setbacks instead of roadblocks? What if we could increase our mental resiliency to never quit and to find a way through? The Apollo 13 rescue mission stemmed from a catastrophic failure, and ended as one of mankind’s greatest accomplishments. How? Because those BAMF’s (Brave And Mathematical Fellow’s) never quit and they found a way through!! Sadly, I don’t see much of that happening anymore… People stopped going into work, divorce rates are high, and sadly, everybody reading this has been affected by a loved one quitting on themselves and. it. sucks….
So again… how will 3D printing solve all those problems? By changing how we see shortcomings. Imagine someone reaching for their 3D printer for a solution instead of the shopping cart. What if people stopped saying, “if it doesn’t exist already, there must be a reason” and started saying, “if it doesn’t exist already, then I’ll just make it” instead? THAT is what I’m trying to accomplish. I LOVE when I meet someone who has never experienced 3D printing because I get to tell them about the coolest thing that isn’t an air fryer (seriously, if you don’t have an air fryer you need one!). I also get to be a kid again and talk about this wonderful world of endless dreams and potential.
Last summer I taught roughly 40 middle-school kids how to do 3D printing. Specifically, I taught them the full manufacturing process without them knowing it. 🤫
Day 1 - Make a Tetris-like puzzle; then draw it on 2D and 3D graph paper (Idea Creation Phase)
(same day) Replicate your puzzle by gluing wood blocks together (Prototype Phase)
Day 2 - Turn a 2D image into a topographical mountain out of foam (Knowledge/Research Phase)
Day 3 - Turn their hand sketches into CAD models (Product Development Phase)
Day 4 - 3D printing the puzzle they designed on day 1. (Product Realization Phase)
I can’t even begin to tell you how much joy it brought me to watch the AHA moment happen for so many of them. One of the campers even reminded me to set aside my own preconceptions about what 3D printing is/isn’t capable of. I hope I never forget this story, but he said, “Maybe one day we’ll be able to 3D print plants and we can grow them on Mars!!” Right as I started to tell him that would be impossible, I remembered that 3D printed buildings would have been labeled “impossible” 25 years ago. I’m so thankful I managed to stop myself in that moment because this was EXACTLY what I was trying to accomplish… getting kids to see a problem as an opportunity!! In fact, I told him that I hope to see him become the first person to 3D print a plant.
And if I can teach 1,000 kids that same lesson, then that becomes 1,000 world-changing problem solvers in 30-40 years.
DREAM BIG, START SMALL