It’s the evolution of fantasy to reality that separates the idealist from the impresario.
Steve Wozniak dreams big and he delivers. For decades, the iconic co-inventor of the Apple computer, and so much more, has been making good on dreaming up new and better ways to crunch data, change the TV channel, design schools and seed a new generation of thinkers much like himself.
Wozniak will be the focus célèbre for the premier momentous event at the state’s biggest and boldest new hotel, the Gaylord of the Rockies — in Aurora. Wozniak appears as keynote speaker for the annual Aurora Economic Development Council’s A-List ball this week. The event culminates years of work and political battles to move the Gaylord from idea to eye-popping grandeur on the eastern plains.
Wozniak was an obvious choice to lead the program this year, says AEDC President Wendy Mitchell, because both the inventor and the Gaylord represent big visions realized from diligence and hard work.
And from necessity, Wozniak said in a phone interview.
During a long and storied career, Wozniak said being poor and having to make do with whatever he could find or cobble together sparks creativity like nothing else. The prototype Apple computers weren’t rolled out of well-funded labs. They were the result of endless hours of frustration putting together pieces and parts in a garage to make a brilliant idea deliver computerized data with something that seemed impossibly small.
Wozniak has spent his life asking, “why not” and often answering it with, “here’s how.”
Much of his inspiration for creativity and pursuing science with conscience comes from the original Gene Roddenberry Star Trek series, which inspired a generation of Americans to go where no man has gone before.
“Star Trek taught an entire generation to accept people who were not like themselves,” Wozniak said. And that was huge.
The science in Star Trek was innovative and captivating. The show’s morality plays wove science and ethics in a way that spoke to daydreamers like Wozniak.
America has pretty much bested much of that science fiction, Wozniak points out. Capt. Kirk’s famous communicator is a poor imitation of an iPhone. Seri is far more competent than “Computer” was on board the Enterprise.
Many of the ethical dilemma’s made famous by the show have changed, too, he said.
If he were to write and produce the show for this generation of young dreamers?
“Biotechnology and artificial intelligence,” would be focus of cool new things to ponder — and the ethical conflicts that come with them, Wozniak said.
Already he sees a side effect of ingenious automation sucking the creativity out of the room and out of the community. Think “I Robot” more than iNowWhat, he says.
“The human is far more important than the technology” he said. Science shouldn’t strive to replace the uniqueness of human creativity, it should focus on honing it.
He feels the same way about schools, which is where most Americans get their first and most important dose of science.
While a growing number of schools tout ever-increasing access to all kinds of technology, schools need to first be about forming relationships between teachers and students, and students among other students.
“A computer is just a like a book,” Wozniak said. “It’s just access.”
What’s important are teachers who are able to connect with students to discover what kids like, tolerate and shun. One-size-fits-all education for an endless varieties of kids who come from endless varieties of backgrounds works for fewer students all the time.
Overloaded teachers start out a child’s school career telling them mostly what they can’t do, not what they can. The 5-year-old that runs for the paint drawers? “Oh no you don’t,” is the standard response.
Immigrant children often lose the most, coming in on unequal footing — and being passed through a system that never recognizes that at the end of their education — they often face the scourge of racism. Worse yet, if they’re undocumented immigrants, they really can’t even go on to college or get a job.
And millions of other students get lost in a system that just doesn’t have the resources to recognize what a child needs, especially when the student doesn’t know. Teachers can tell which kids have “already given up by the time they’re 6 or 7”, Wozniak said.
It’s an American shame because kids can’t vote to properly fund public schools, and working families can’t afford the time or education to make up the difference.
Schools need to be a place where children are inspired to dream in and out of the classroom and make those dreams a reality. Good teachers compel their students to take the love of learning home every day, not as a punishment called homework.
“Almost everything I did that was important in my life I did outside of schools,” Wozniak said. “It was because I loved the search.”
We must work with students early on to find their passion and encourage it in schools that offer something like college majors, even in elementary schools, he said. If the passion changes, change majors.
Once the interest and diligence for learning is there, the rest comes naturally. We get more Americans ready and willing to solve problems that get harder all the time, people like Wozniak, who work to make solutions rather than just find them.
The nation has been chasing that big dream for generations now. It could happen.
Colorado is a place where big ideas become reality. Wozniak at the Gaylord in Aurora is proof of that. A new governor, Jared Polis, is hell-bent on bringing a Wozniak education to every kid in the state. This could be Colorado’s “eureka” moment in education.
Anyone can dream big. Everyone should.
Follow @EditorDavePerry on Twitter and Facebook or reach him at 303-750-7555 or dperry@SentinelColorado.com