Technology for Good

Last night we went to see Freeman Dyson lecture on technology and social justice. He talked about how we can use technology to narrow the gap between rich and poor and illustrated his point by telling various stories. The best story was about Sabriye Tenberken, a German woman who is blind. Using a computer, she “translated” Tibeten texts into braille to use for her studies and ended up founding a series of schools for blind children in Tibet. I enjoyed the lecture more than I thought I would although the question and answer portion of the program was excruciating. It was like people asked questions that showed off how smart they were. There were also a number of people that wanted to debate (Dr. Dyson is more open minded about genetically altered foods than your average Oregonian) and Dr. Dyson didn’t come prepared to argue as much as just talk about his ideas.