Alex (Sandy) Pentland, Computer, Data Science

Transcription of the video

Q1

Which domain or aspect of social life will show the most significant positive societal and/or psychological change in response to the pandemic?

I think the biggest change will be where people will look to their community rather than the central government, or sort of the big guys. Help comes from people nearby and the people you know, not necessarily big systems and society.

Q2

What kind of wisdom will people need to capitalize on the positive societal and/or psychological change after the pandemic?

I think the biggest change will be where people will look to their community rather than the central government, or sort of the big guys. Help comes from people nearby and the people you know, not necessarily big systems and society.

Q3

Which domain or aspect of social life will show the most significant negative societal and/or psychological change in response to the pandemic?

I think people are beginning to realize that all of the media are driving craziness. They’re all driven by cliques. Not just Facebook, The New York Times, as well. They’re all just trying to make us crazy. And I think that we ought to do something about that.

Q4

What kind of wisdom will people need to master to overcome major negative societal and/or psychological changes after the pandemic?

Well, I think the way we think about news, about information, will undergo a big change. I think that probably, hopefully, much more local conversations will take its place, where you can get a feel for what’s really happening on the ground around you, from people who you know, who don’t make money by making you crazy. But we’ll see, won’t we?

Q5

What piece of wisdom do people need to make it through the pandemic?

I think people need to try and keep in mind that this isn’t as bad as 1918. It’s not as bad as 1930. And it’s not even as bad or it’s about as bad as 1960. People don’t think of 1960 as bad. But the flu then was a similar sort of death rates. And we were in the middle or the beginning of the Cold War. For instance, when I went to school, we had to practice getting under our desks, because that way we would live through the nuclear flash. Right? I mean, we made it through that. We passed the Civil Rights Act. We did a number of positive things. And I think we can probably do that again.

Alex (Sandy) Pentland, Computer, Data Science

Biography

Computer, Data Science

Alex
Pentland

Misperception of the World

Solidarity

Critical Thinking

Optimism / Positivity

Learning from the Pandemic

A time-capsule of scientists’ hopes and worries about the post-Covid future.

Igor Grossmann, Ph.D.
Founder

Project Team

Wisdom & Culture Lab