[Music] hi before i get into this i want everyone to close their eyes now if i say anything that you agree with or your answer to any of these questions is yes raise your hand and keep them raised throughout how many of you feel like there is an unfair expectation from society placed upon you how many of you have felt isolated or lonely how many of you feel like what you do doesn't make a difference in this world keep your hands raised and open your eyes look at each other and see how many other hands
are raised you've never been alone in any of this you can put your hands down i remember a time when i was younger i was sitting in the car at a petrol station watching my mom fill up the tank before heading in to pay i remember trying to figure out just what kind of conversation my mum and the cashier might be having looking back it was probably something incredibly mundane but who knows times have changed now we no longer need to head into the shop and can now pay at the pump completely eradicating any reason
for any human interaction to take place the experience and the process in this small everyday scenario has through the advances of technology become more convenient and efficient but i ask you looking at the bigger picture what are the large-scale impacts of this seemingly insignificant change or as some might say modernization our species has become increasingly dependent on our global economy throughout time and as a result capitalism has become a fundamental building block of our society one of the most significant representations we see of this is how companies and corporations have evolved in a capitalist world
a business's success is usually determined by how much money they make therefore their ultimate aim will generally be to make as much money as possible and they do this through setting a standard or desire for their product and this process has been perfected by the business world through their understanding of marketing and for decades they have targeted and exploited our vulnerabilities irrespective of the values of humanity in order to sell their products suddenly these products aren't just something we want they become something we think we need because we have been conditioned through advertising to believe
that by doing this or having that we will be socially relevant our identity then becomes the restaurants we eat at the brands we were and the trendiness of our existence when it should be the values we have the emotions we express and the way that we treat one another by accepting this normalization of perfection we are sold an unachievable standard and in response we create a projection of ourselves and lose who we really are our authentic self humans we are social creatures and we all desire to fit in but how can we expect others to
accept us when we are not accepting ourselves this disconnection from ourselves this distortion of our identity prevents us from being genuinely able to connect with others despite complying to the stanzas of society to fit in according to a survey done by marketwatch over half of americans take prescribed medication to manage emotional and physical problems due to loneliness this feeling of isolation makes us even more vulnerable to influence which drives us to comply with these standards even further creating both an unproductive and fundamentally toxic feedback loop so small changes like the mcdonald's having a touch screen
interface to take our orders or there being a card machine at the petrol pump mean that in a typical day there are fewer and fewer social interactions between people on our species current path the future of our society will be built upon the principles of convenience and efficiency the unchecked repetitive and gradual influence of companies and corporations has dictated and shaped the way that our society evolves if this continues our future will be built around robotic efficiency and production completely eradicating and outweighing the values of humanity and originality we underestimate the value of artisans and
creativity of local butchers and farmers who will no longer be able to keep up with mass production businesses we will live in a world where despite being surrounded by the illusion of choice with all the time in the world we will still need unfulfilling lives because the comfort and ease of modernization will cause us to undervalue what it truly means to be alive is this what we really want what we do matters and we are responsible for the consequences of our actions by caring about our society and its future not only are we looking out
for each other and the earth but also for ourselves according to a survey done by the american sociological review in 1985 people on average had about three close friends by 2004 that number had dropped to roughly two another study by the personality and social psychology review found that between 1979 and 2009 levels of empathy in people fell by almost half this shows us just a small fragment of what will become of our world a world full of people able to access global communication and connection but still alone by standing on the sidelines by watching and
turning a blind eye to all of this we are both indirectly and directly showing our support and we will be involved in the consequences so in a vast world with the odds stacked against us it can feel like our actions are insignificant and have zero effect but by doing this we are hiding in a collective hiding behind our belief that everyone else doesn't care so why should i well what if what if we changed that and took personal responsibility for our actions we are part of a population of almost eight billion people each and every
one of us has about 86 billion neurons in our brains and each and every one of us makes 35 000 decisions per day that in total adds up to 280 trillion decisions made every single day a number we all contribute to our actions are significant we are in the midst of a massive shift in our society after the pandemic where technology is going from a tool that we choose to use to being an integrated vital necessity industries such as the manufacturing industry and the business industry and the hospitality industry are being revolutionized by this change
and through our actions we can dictate and impact the way that the world evolves around us be the change that you want to see by being aware of the influence that companies and corporations have on you with every product you buy understand that you are encouraging both the positive and the negative impacts of that provider with each service you use not only are you tolerating your approach but you are facilitating their ability to invest and expand in their practices remember the power of a single individual human is so much more than you could ever imagine
humanity is powerful and we can dictate and then change the way the world evolves around us i want to live in a world where we don't just have a say on how the world should be but use our actions and our decisions to actively make that change happen in the world today don't you [Music] [Applause] [Music] you
