I had the distinct pleasure this morning of engaging in a somewhat quirky and energetic phone conversation with Richard Saul Wurman. Wurman is the person who, back in the 1970s, coined the term “information architect.” He casts himself as an iconoclast, doing only what he wants to do. For example, he says that the TED talks he started were an “indulgence”—not a concept.
If you do not know him, you should. Richard has recently completed his 82nd book (I own INFORMATIONANXIETY2 and a few others). He is an accomplished guy who has done a lot to help make information more accessible, and now has the freedom to do exactly what he wants. I am envious of his current projects—he has a deal with Nissan to put together 40 short (90-second) web films. He partners with radicalmedia (of “The Fog of War,” among others) and ESRI on www.192021.com. He still owns TEDMed (he sold TED).
When he sent me a note after seeing our print, A Visual History of the Supreme Court, I was delighted at the opportunity to talk. Our conversation topics ranged quite a bit, but a couple of things stuck with me: first, about career choice: you “have to know it is the right thing to do;” and second, about information: “to embrace ignorance.” When I mentioned to him, in response to one of his projects on population, that the world’s growing population was definitely a problem, he responded quickly that the problem is one “of understanding.”
All in all, it was a conversation that I would love to continue in person.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Randy Krum and Craig Janis, nathaniel pearlman. nathaniel pearlman said: Had a fascinating talk today with Richard S. Wurman, founder of TED- read my blog post about it @ the Timeplots website http://bit.ly/8OK1EC [...]
I’d be interested to know what he meant by “embracing ignorance”. Taking at face value his claim on his website that his books “focus on some subject or idea that he personally had difficulty understanding”, he might mean that it’s important to dive into and learn about topics about which one initially has little understanding. But in that case, wouldn’t it be clearer to describe that philosophy as “embracing learning”? (Full disclosure: I haven’t read any of his books, nor, based on what I’m seeing of his recent work, am I ever likely to.)
What worries me is his reply to your comment about the problem of population growth–”embracing ignorance” is probably the politest way I could put it. His 19.20.21. website underscores his divorce from reality: anyone who honestly believes that “the rise of supercities is the defining megatrend of the 21st century” simply hasn’t done his homework.
Very interesting read. Thanks.
what Wurman means by embracing ignorance is simply that if you have preconcieved ideas about something it’s harder to let go and just learn. If you are constantly trying to make it seem like ou know what’s going on even though you may not you will have a harder time learning than if you can just say, “I don’t understand.”