Educators From The United States

"Technology because it has changed jobs and lots of people haven’t benefited. They have been left behind. They don’t have the skills and they are not in the right place, with the result that their prospects are poor. And the way our whole social contract was predicated on women looking after the young and the old for free – now there are more women going to university than men, globally, not just in the UK, and they are employed, and the cost of them not working is really high, so you want them to work. Yet we haven’t found a way to adjust – a way to look after the young and old without women providing free labour."

"I think at the moment we really are on the cusp of potentially a major change, and I'm quite optimistic about not just all the women we see rising to the top, but also all the young women coming up who will fill those jobs in the future toward gender parity."

"Obviously, it’s a great thing that women are increasingly in leadership roles in top universities. I guess I just sort of feel like it’s about time. It’s my honest opinion. I mean, I don’t wake up every morning thinking, “Oh, I’m the first woman president of Columbia.” You just kind of get on with the job. So I don’t really think about it very much every day. But I think it’s great."

"I’ve worked in a lot of different organizations, and that helps because you often have seen a similar problem somewhere else. Now, organizations all have their different cultures and histories, but it helps to have seen a similar problem. It makes you realize, “I can figure this one out, maybe, or there is a way to solve this puzzle.” The other thing is I’ve worked in a couple of organizations that manage crises, like the International Monetary Fund, or when I was with the Department for International Development, we managed a lot of humanitarian crises around the world. So that teaches you to be calm under stress, and I suspect that skill might be useful in the years ahead."

"The idea that you are successful because you are smart and hardworking is pernicious and wrong, because it means everyone who is unsuccessful is stupid and lazy."

"It is not okay to cast civility aside because the moment is too heated. We must cultivate a university culture that pushes back on the forces that seek to divide us. A culture that encourages empathy, not personal attacks on individuals or identities. Learning to speak, and listen with respect, that is a cherished Columbia value."

"Africa is responsible for only 1% of emissions but will be the hardest hit by climate change. That cannot be right. At the same time, many African countries are rich in sunshine, wind, rivers and forests. With support, they could leapfrog the dirty energy systems of the past and, if we create a better carbon market, provide a huge source of income for countries rich in carbon sinks."

"We know we are in difficult economic times with war, recession, and inflation. Where will the money for this investment come from? In tough times, we need to use our limited resources most efficiently. Given the history of climate change, we need an appropriate balance between responsibility and resources."

"So, the economy of the future is our choice. We face a classic intertemporal investment problem – incur some investment costs now with high returns later or opt for inaction or not enough action but incur very high costs and risks later. Even if you do not take into account future generations (which makes these arguments much, much stronger), it seems to me the choice is clear. Climate change and biodiversity loss are here, and we are already suffering the consequences. Unlike the Pharaohs, we can overcome this climate change by choosing a different kind of economy for the future."

"Like you, I am new to this campus, having started as Columbia’s 20th president in July. And I say as someone who has experienced change once or twice in my life, beginnings are exciting, and hard, and everything in between. They introduce us to new people and ideas, challenge us to adapt to new situations, and open our eyes to new ways of thinking about the world and our place within it."

"I can also paint a different picture of the economy of the future. One in which we make the needed investments and created cities in which we can move, breathe, and thrive. One in which the food we eat regenerates the earth rather than depletes it. Where our economies continue to grow and especially in poor countries, living standards continue to rise, where this growth is greener, more stable and where human well-being is enhanced through co-existence with nature."

"The benefits of open capital markets are clear. They facilitate the flow of finance to where it would be most productive and help ensure global resources are allocated most efficiently. They allow savers and investors to diversify portfolios beyond national borders, and they provide a greater range of funding sources to fast growing economies and businesses"

"Universities and institutions of higher education have existed for millennia, stretching back to the schools of the ancients in places like China, Egypt, Greece, and India. There is something special, even magical, about the tradition of students and scholars coming together to create these unique environments of learning."

"But we must take into account the rights of all members of our community. The encampment has created an unwelcoming environment for many of our Jewish students and faculty."

"The most obvious way to take international considerations into account is by treating risks emanating from abroad as an important input when setting domestic macroprudential policy."

"Today, the critical questions we ask include, “What are you going to do with the training you’ve acquired?” and “How are you going to use the research you’ve conducted for the betterment of society?” Look behind me at the inscription on Low Library which says we want to be an institution that is “cherished by generation after generation for the advancement of the public good."

"Reciprocity also helps address the old problem of asymmetric adjustment of global imbalances. Suppose a deficit country wishes to contain the supply of credit and build resilience in its financial system by raising the buffer. If a surplus country whose banks are lending to the deficit country reciprocates, its banks should be incentivised to lend less to the deficit economy, and more to their domestic economy. That should increase domestic demand in the surplus country, and hence demand for deficit country exports, reducing the overall level of imbalances."

"The growth of market-based finance and asset management is creating new sources of funding, adding welcome diversity to the financial system, particularly for emerging markets. And in some ways these flows are less risky – for example the average maturity of international securities issued by emerging markets is 10 years, reducing rollover risk and exposure to a sudden flight of capital."

"I am honoured to speak today in the country of my birth, a country that has been a cradle of human civilization for millennia, on a topic that will determine the future of human civilization and whether it lasts for more millennia. I am an economist who has worked on development and environment issues for several decades and I wanted to speak to you about the economy of the future."

"Additionally, the University offered to convene a faculty committee to address academic freedom and to begin a discussion on access and financial barriers to academic programs and global centers. The University also offered to make investments in health and education in Gaza, including supporting early childhood development and support for displaced scholars. There are important ideas that emerged from this dialogue, and we plan to explore pursuing them in the future."

"But before doing that, let me start with a story from the past. Over 3000 years ago a different kind of climate change caused by volcanic eruptions and changing weather patterns resulted in persistent droughts that caused famines and political unrest in ancient Egypt. The pharaohs of the Ptolemaic dynasty such as Cleopatra went to great lengths to adapt – transferring grain from productive regions to drought plagued areas, opening up grain stores, crossbreeding cattle to develop more heat resistant animals, and providing tax relief. These foresighted efforts managed to prolong the Egyptian empire for a half century longer but ultimately one of the greatest empires the world has ever known collapsed because of the effects of climate change. The difference between then and now is that we are the cause of today’s climate change, and we have the means to stop it by changing our economy."

"There are many ways in which co-operation on macro-prudential policies could be deepened further. Options which could warrant further investigation range from formalising the exchange of information, to frameworks for reciprocity for tools beyond the countercyclical capital buffer, to common stress test scenarios and risk assessment that are used across the world."

"I know that many of our Jewish students, and other students as well, have found the atmosphere intolerable in recent weeks. Many have left campus, and that is a tragedy. To those students and their families, I want to say to you clearly: You are a valued part of the Columbia community. This is your campus too. We are committed to making Columbia safe for everyone, and to ensuring that you feel welcome and valued."

"What could the economy of the future look like? We have a choice. It could be one based on familiar technologies, markets and institutions. We could continue with polluted air and water where our children suffer from respiratory diseases; where our economies are struck by frequent shocks caused by unpredictable weather events which cause catastrophic losses; where people have to move across borders as their livelihoods are destroyed by rising sea levels or persistent droughts and rising temperatures; and one where the natural world continues to diminish."

"Steering Columbia University through the choppy waters of anti-Israel student protests was never going to be easy for Minouche Shafik, a member of the UK House of Lords who took over as president of the university in New York after a period of relative calm running the London School of Economics.[..] Shafik’s decision to call in the police to break up a student protest camp on the university lawn appalled many on both sides of the dispute. Protesters and their supporters among the academic community complained about police brutality and the targeting of pro-Palestinian campaigners, while Republican defenders of Israel accused Shafik of failing to act quickly enough."

"We also must continue with urgency our ongoing dialogue on the important issues that have been raised in recent months, especially the balance between free speech and discrimination and the role of a university in contributing to better outcomes in the Middle East. Both are topics where I hope Columbia can lead the way in new thinking that will make us the epicenter, not just of protests, but of solutions to the world’s problems."

"Our values—as well as our duties under civil rights laws—compel us to condemn hate and to protect every member of our community from harassment and discrimination. Antisemitic language and actions are unacceptable and calls for violence are simply abhorrent."

"It is going to take time to heal, but I know we can do that together. I hope that we can use the weeks ahead to restore calm, allow students to complete their academic work, and honor their achievements at Commencement."

"[H]ow... information will be reconstituted that will allow... resurrection of the dead. ...[N]o information has been lost (the black holes having been popped by a semi-mystical process...) ...admitting that opacity and thermalisation of information may present a bit of a problem ...we'll just ...conjure up a computer with a storage capacity of 101070 bits ...and to Hell with the lost information..."

"[W]hy worry about a big rock hitting the Earth, destruction of the biosphere by inadvertent human action, accidental nuclear war..? Surely the Boundary Condition rules out those much smaller worries... Don't worry; be happy."

"Ok, the visible universe has around 1080 particles in it. The universe at Tipler's point of maximum expansion is, say, 10,000 times bigger... But... we're not using mere matter to store bits anymore. We're using (drumroll) the Higgs field... And when will this happen? ..."between 10−1010 and 10−10123 seconds before the Omega Point is reached". Whew, saved by the Gong of Doom."

"[U]nless I'm missing something, the wheels fall off Starship Eternity."

"I don't have any trouble... imagining nanotechnology, von Neumann probes, AI exceeding human intelligence within 50 years, or the biosphere expanding to fill... the universe. But none of that is new, and Tipler tells it less clearly than others..."

"I noted many apparent gaping holes in his arguments or assumptions of facts contrary to the best available knowledge... [V]irtually all... dismissed with the all-purpose argument: "...ruled out by the Omega Point Boundary Condition.""

"And how are we going to use the Higgs field to compute, organise information systems out of free quarks and pure energy... the Boundary Condition Postulate... that says that on Easter Day, 2001, Jesus Christ will return, raise the dead, etc. ...inevitable."

"[T]o really test the Theory, we will need the upgrade and either the SSC—the Texas Supercollider—or the European LHC. ...[P]erhaps it would be worth several billion dollars to establish that God exists, and that one day we will all be resurrected to live forever with Him/Her."

"ouch—what a disappointment! Nothing prepared me for just how B-A-D it is."

"I take the last existing copy of the complete works of Tipler and heave it across the event horizon of my TidyTrash™ home black hole."

"I really admired Barrow and Tipler's Anthropic Cosmic Principle, and now... it's clear how much of the actual wordcraft... was the work of Barrow."

"The essential difficulty with divorcing morality from facts is that... there would be no way to resolve moral disputes. Morality would... be... a matter of taste... [I]n... so-called disputes over morality there is... no disagreement over fundamental moral principles, only... over facts. ...[C]onsider ...the abortion issue. There is no dispute over "Thou shall not kill,"... only... whether a fetus is a "person.""

"Suppose there were a computer... which could run a completely faithful simulation of me—even a simulation at the quantum level so good the Pauli Exclusion Principle wouldn't let us in the same room. Would it be me? Would my consciousness somehow be shared..."

"It is often said that the central concern of religion is an attempt to answer... "What is the relationship between humanity and the universe (and/or God). I agree... the factual answers... led to the ethical norms of... religions. The sharp distinction between fact and value which is common in twentieth-century philosophy and in the West was not present in the traditional religions. ...[T]his sharp distinction is ...contrary to the continued existence of science ...The growth and existence of science require certain ethical norms: for example, THOU SHALT NOT IMPOSE YOUR THEORIES ON OTHERS BY FORCE. Only persuasion, based on rational argument and experimental results, is allowed."

"Tipler's Taub universe event horizon can opener makes the black hole horizon go away. What about the singularity? ...[Y]ou now have a very large number of naked singularities... converging toward the Omega Point, which should make things even more interesting for the universal brain emerging there."

"[H]ow would this work if the brain and computer were separated by several light years? And if not, then what difference does it make if 1032 years of death intervene before the simulation begins to run? ...continuity of consciousness?"

"[T]he claim that the central concern of religion is nonsense. Throughout human history, the central concern of religion has been human self-interest. In the Judeo-Christian-Islamic tradition, all morality has been obtained from declarative sentences of the form "Thou shalt not kill—because you'll go to Hell if you do!" In the Hindu-Buddhist tradition... "...—because you'll be born as a cockroach if you do!" ...In both cases, the appeal is to physics, not to fundamental moral postulates."

"With the introduction into physics of the Dirac/Dyson Eternal Life Postulate, science has taken the last independent stronghold of theology."

"A bold claim, perhaps. But not a boastful one. Courage abides in a kind of purposeful detachment, admitting our fears and false steps even as we advance—to paraphrase Sojourner Truth, not allowing our light to be determined by the darkness around us. And in courage, we find freedom—where we dare to imagine and make a different future together."

"Courage is hard, and hard to sustain. But we see it everywhere, steady in the face of war and injustice, sickness and loss, in stories of perseverance for a greater purpose."

"In a deeply polarized nation, Gay achieved a rare feat: bipartisan agreement, with both liberals and conservatives blasting her performance before Congress and her failure to adequately address campus tensions inflamed by the war between Israel and Hamas. When Gay stepped down last week, she cited “racial animus” as a factor in the attacks against her. She took pains to defend her scholarship, largely playing down the corrections she submitted after the plagiarism allegations."

"My name is Claudine Gay and I am the president of Harvard University. It’s an honor to be here today, representing a community of more than 25,000 undergraduate and graduate students, more than 19,000 faculty and staff, and more than 400,000 alumni—including multiple Members of this Committee."