VERSLAG PINC.11 (ENGLISH) DOOR RUPERT PARKER BRADY
2010-05-29
PINC.11 – A One-Day Crash Course
By Rupert Parker Brady, media expert
“It ain’t what you do, it’s the way that you do it” – hearing this jazz classic at the end of an enervating day, reaffirmed why PINC retains its magnetism. The beauty of life lies not in uniformity, but in diversity. And that is exactly what host and founding father Peter van Lindonk has succeeded in demonstrating for the past eleven years. To quote self-pronounced amateur guitarist Freek de Jonge: “You can’t live a measured life; give it space, give it time.” But if you do, be prepared to allow uncertainty to accompany you on your voyage of discovery. Not everyone has a taste for exploration, but the latest edition of PINC, on Tuesday, May 18, once again attracted people who make every effort to avoid risk in the working lives. A director of operations, a procurement manager, a fiscal advisor, and a business analyst – they all sat in Hotel Figi and were enthralled by 17 unknown speakers from all corners of the globe. Proof positive that more and more linear thinkers are accepting PINC as an opportunity to activate the right hemispheres of their brains. A one-day crash course that brings us all back to the classroom. A fountain of knowledge where you can drink in new insight and ideas. An oasis in the vast Dutch desert of perspectives, pep talks, crisis measures, opinion polls, and political sloganeering.
Music student Laura Trompetter, a percussionist from Fijnaar, swiftly blew the cobwebs out of our collective brains, clearing the way for an incredibly diverse range of stories that leapt from the life of bees to the birthing of book titles, from wireless electricity to A-frame history, from the therapeutic potential of video games to the recklessness of sword swallowers, and from engineering grandmothers in Africa to an overview of earth’s history in twenty minutes.
Don’t take things for granted, never stop asking questions, and keep your eyes peeled – that was the implicit message of professional skeptic Fred Pearce, author of the bestseller Confessions of an Eco Sinner. Fred traced the source of his jeans to Bangladesh, where he met women working in sweatshops, hopelessly underpaid, slaving away endlessly, producing denim wear for Western consumers. They were part of a first rural generation who had achieved a modicum of financial and social freedom, thanks to their meager wage. “Please don’t stop buying our jeans,” they implored.
Practice makes perfect. Beekeeper Irene Koel revealed that bees engage in job rotation, executing no fewer than eight different tasks during their brief lives. Their learning capabilities keep their brains young as they grow older. And speaking of which, experienced Western consultants stand to learn a lot from illiterate women living in some of the poorest rural areas in the world. While more and more of their husbands are moving to the cities in search of jobs and income, an increasing number of African mothers and grandmothers are traveling to India to attend the Barefoot College, established by speaker Bunker Roy in 1972. This is the only college built by poor people for poor people. During their six-month stay, students are trained, without the aid of textbooks or written exams, to become electrical engineers specialized in solar energy. Armed with this expertise, graduates have already supplied more than 6,000 houses in 15 countries with solar energy. All engineered by mothers and grandmothers, and paid for by the villagers. Convincing proof that even the most remote villages are technically and financially capable of supplying their own energy, without help from professionals or NGOs. A great example of how development aid can be achieved bottom-up.
Social entrepreneur Matt Flannery has adopted an entirely different but equally unique approach. “Half the world has to get by on two dollars a day. Kiva gives individuals an opportunity to express their generosity.” This isn’t a dream in the making, it’s a reality, enthused the former computer programmer, whose web-based, micro-financing organization for small businesses has grown exponentially since its establishment. This atypical investment concept is unique in that it puts individual financiers in direct contact with entrepreneurs via www.kiva.org. Flannery started out seven years ago, supporting a woman in East Africa, but in the past five years Kiva’s financiers have invested no less than 140 million dollars in small businesses in 53 different countries. Most of these loans are neatly repaid, even by entrepreneurs living in war-torn countries. Most of the investors prefer to support female entrepreneurs, particularly those working in the agricultural sector. Butchers, on the other hand, are not particularly popular among investors. But there is an entrepreneur in the US who is now being backed by a family in Africa. What a great way to turn things upside down.
The human brain is a recurrent theme at PINC. Hardly surprising, because that 1,300-gram organ is constantly on our minds. “God’s clay” is made up of 200 billion neurons, each of which has 15-20 thousand connections with other neurons. Neuro-psychologist Theo Mulder published his experiences as professor in the field of human movement studies in the popular-scientific book De geboren aanpasser (The Born Adapter). “Even if you tape up your finger, you change your brain.” The scientific director of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences is a born storyteller and proud member of the Society for Lazy People. His motto: “Run the marathon, but never leave the couch. For the brain, it’s the same.” Professor Mulder claims that it is possible for people to benefit from imagining specific actions, even if they have never performed them in reality. “We run on information; we live on information; and we can generate information via our thoughts and fantasies. Without information we do not exist, and yet the workings of our brain remain mysterious.”
The energy we need to run our brains wouldn’t be enough to get a light bulb glowing. But there are ways to transfer electricity without cables. Imagine your laptop, television, stereo and other household appliances all being powered wireless. If David Schatz has his way, the producers of alkaline and lithium batteries could be looking forward to early retirement. He works for a company called WiTricity that has patented an invention making it possible to transfer electricity without the aid of a cable or battery. The exact workings of this system are a little complicated, but it all boils down to resonating magnetic fields. Right now, the first wireless HD television is on display at the World Exhibition in Shanghai. The first consumer electronics containing WiTricity technology are expected to be available in 2011. “We’re trying to change the world,” says Schatz, devoid of false modesty. “We encountered a lot of skepticism, but we simply ignored the nay-sayers and turned our dream into a reality.”
The latter remark seems to be the motto of most speakers at PINC.11. This can-do attitude is also characteristic of the PINC team, headed by Peter van Lindonk. For the past 11 years, they have managed – with the aid of sponsors and paying participants – to attract speakers from all over the world to discuss People, Ideas, Nature and Creativity in Zeist. Who would have thought this was possible? That’s right, the same people who will be organizing PINC.12 on May 17 next year. Which will be preceded by PINC Food on November 8, devised by culinary mastermind Nelleke van Lindonk. As always, the motto will be: it doesn’t matter what you do, as long as you do it with passion.
PINC Lunch in the Lion Cage
On April 20th 2010 PINC organized a lunch in the lion cage of Circus Herman Renz in Sassenheim (Netherlands) for a small group of thirty PINC'ers.
See the pictures
PINC Tea - Concert in the Car Park
Watch the movie
