Festival of Thinkers
Welcome to the Festival of Thinkers By Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan Chancellor, Higher Colleges of Technology, United Arab Emirates. "I welcome expected guests at Festival 2009 in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, to a new adventure celebrating thought."
"The Nobel Prize has recognized some of our greatest thinkers, and recognition can be very important for inspiration. It shines a light for others to see; it says, "Thinking is important," and great thinking can change everything for the better.
Our world - the people of this planet, and every living being, as well as the environment - depends for its existence and welfare on the thoughts and thinking power of so many.
To think is to realize, to draw in diverse elements of information, to seek to understand and review perspectives. In a world that is advancing at a pace never before imaginable, we need urgently to revisit our views on thinking, to rekindle the spirit of thought, and celebrate our great thinkers as examples for all to follow.
We have already experienced the information revolution. Information is everywhere all around us, consuming increasing portions of our lives. The more we have a need to think, the less time, seemingly, we have left to ourselves to actually think. How do we clear our minds of useless information, how do we draw out what we need?
Right now across the globe, there are many people working hard to create machines, which can do our thinking for us. But will these machines – indeed, can these machines – ever displace human abilities and our tacit understanding of things?
Will the computer feel pain or be elated by joy - and if not - how can it really do what we do, which is to understand tacitly and explicitly the complex issues involved in the hearts and minds of others or ourselves?
Machines are there to help us do things but will we ever take advice and directions for life from machines? Will we ever really decide to replace our leaders with thinking machines, which are designed to decide how best we should conduct our lives? I think not.
The secret for success lies in learning better how to think and how to use our power of thought so that we are not only a part of the future – we are designers of the future, creative thinkers who can imagine how things can be, and show the way.
I believe that, in this complex world of information technology and rapid change, we need to learn better how to use that most wonderful of human qualities - our great gift - the power of thought, and our ability to convey our thoughts to others and to apply these to our way of doing things - and to what we do.
This is why we have decided to ignite a new light to show the way, to celebrate thinking. I believe that great things can come from this process. If only one young person in our land yearns and learns to use this wonderful gift of thought better, maybe greatness will be the outcome. What more can we want? I look forward to a continuing process contemplation at this Festival of Thinkers. The festival itself, offers a wonderful opportunity to shape the future of this region through the creative minds of young thinkers and innovators."
When: 2-4 November 2009
Venue: Emirates Palace Auditorium, Abu Dhabi Women’s college, Abu Dhabi Men’s college, Dubai Women’s college, Sharjah Women’s college, HCT Abu Dhabi Colleges
For complete schedule please check the website.
Email: festivalofthinkers@hct.ac.ae
Website: http://www.festivalofthinkers.com
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