Good Afternoon People!

For this past couple of weeks, we have been learning about crazy people who changed the world.  Bill Gates, Paul Allen, Jeff Bezos; these were individuals who have changed their respective field from doing others won’t, and seeing things through a different lens.  I have written a full essay on this topic, that will be shown later in this post.  Sit back, relax, and enjoy reading!

Driving Question:  Why does it take a crazy person to change the world?

This project was made halfway through this project, and will be a showcase of what I have accomplished so far.

We started off our research, learnt about crazy people, and watched multiple videos.  A key component in this project was the 1997 Apple Crazy One’s Ad, a video that highlighted the significance of crazy people.  We did a mini pechakucha that delved into one of the people, and how they changed the world.  I got assigned Ted Turner, and had to research multiple things about him.  Overall, it was a really fun presentation, and I got to learn a lot.

After learning a bunch from our research, we could finally go on our trip to Seattle, to further our learning and gain media.  Here’s a bunch of photos:

Like mentioned prior, I wrote an essay dedicated on crazy people, and what made them crazy.  I focused my topic on seeing through a different lens, a vital part of allowing for the success of all of these people.  Enjoy reading!

Seeing Through a Different Lens

By Chrisian Lo

Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, what do these billionaires have in common?  These people are billionaires changing the world through their observation and power to see things through a different lens while also revolutionizing their field.  The ability to notice novel opportunities, interpret these ideas, and put their own creative twists on them are traits that allow the mavericks to not only be able to achieve success but also change in the world.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is a non-profit company that donates over 4.1 billion dollars to places in need (Bill and Melinda Gates Tour).  They counter and attempt to fight modern-day problems, succeeding in many of their ventures.  With the Gates family’s immense wealth and the support of billionaires like Warren Buffet, they have been motivating other people across the globe to support their cause of making the world better.  The educator who gave us the tour around the foundation talked about how his passion for helping, teaching/spreading awareness of problems that we are currently facing.  This job perfectly fit him, motivating him and others to help change the world by teaching the newer generation.  The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation not only fights problems through research, but spreads awareness to others.  Another major venture that Bill Gates had go into was Microsoft, a company that had changed the digital empire.

 

Microsoft was founded on April 4, 1975, between a Harvard dorm and an apartment (Wikipedia).  It started with two young friends living their lives and attending university classes like any regular people.  However, these people were different; these two individuals had an idea which could change the world.  After reading the monthly tech magazine and seeing the first-generation computers, they realized that they had the power to change the tech industry.  This resulted in the formation of their first company, Microsoft.  They embarked on their journey by creating the first operating system for the first commercial computer.  Previously, this PC could not intake any commands due to not having a proper operating system, which led to its not being used much.  When Microsoft came and developed this operating system, it ended up being a success and was the first stepping stone for the company’s future.  Both individuals, Paul Allen and Bill Gates, could use previous inventions, see the flaws and build off that.

 

Another great example of this was when they saw the need for proper business-related applications that could be used to make lectures, essays, and spreadsheets.  They developed it and turned it into the next major hit that allows most people to create high-quality items that anyone can use.  That was the start of their journey; their ability to see what was missing and fill that gap with ideas was what led them to make major hits that revolutionized the digital world.

Another large part of the Seattle culture is the stadium that hosts all of the biggest events around the city, the Climate Pledge Arena.  The Climate Pledge Arena was a stadium that had been the home of the largest Seattle sports teams for over 55 years (Climate Pledge Tour).  It was long overdue for renovations but lacked the funding to change it.  Bezos saw an opportunity in the stadium, and could notice a considerable amount of potential for success.  He decided to fund the arena and chose to name it after an issue we have all been facing, instead of naming it after his company.  He named it after the world-wide problem: climate change.  Climate change has been an issue we have been facing, leading to the destruction of entire ecosystems and heating in our world.  This motivated Bezos to create not only an arena of the future but a completely carbon-neutral stadium that spreaded awareness to this issue.  He saw this as the first step into the future for stadiums around the world, and that making the first one would allow similar places to follow.  Jeff wanted to better the world, step by step, doing his part and leading a generation.  He had an idea and decided to change a place with great potential, leading to his investment to supporting his hometown and turning it into a giant advertisement for Amazon.  He continues to try to do his part and protect the world by making not only his workplaces carbon-friendly but his entire ecosystem of assets. 

All these places are locations that we visited and are connected to my main idea for this essay: seeing through a different lens.  Taking ideas and making them their own, as well as the ability to observe things in a way that no average person can.  Crazy people are the ones who shape us, the ones who take things to the next level and change the world.  One day, I hope to reach this level, to be able to predict the next biggest hit and use it to change the world.  Throughout this learning adventure, I have been creating my own ideas while building it on the key points that I have processed and been exposed to.

Thanks for reading,

-Chris