Cool Things Happen at the Edges: Erika Ebbel Angle at TEDxBeaconStreet (Transcript)

Erika Ebbel Angle – TRANSCRIPT

Good morning everybody and welcome. I’m very excited to be here today to talk with you about this idea that cool things do happen at the edges.

Here it is. I’m going to jump right in. So for starters, what are the “edges”? I’m just going to preface this talk by saying that really depends on each individual. So the examples that you’ll see in this talk obviously pertain to me, my life and my story. And I hope that by listening to this you’ll be able to take some of these examples, and apply them to things that are relevant in your life.

“Edges” are uncomfortable places and thus, we don’t spend a lot of time there. They’re less explored. Discoveries are made here. So you’ve probably heard the terminology, if it’s easy it’s already been done before. So the theory is, discoveries are made as a result of people trying to solve hard things.

Innovation also happens here. Those who live on the edge, they “push boundaries”, they “break the mold”, often are called “ahead of their time”, and “start very young.” I showed this image because as I read more and more about the types of people who live on the edge, you start to see that they started pushing their limits when they were very young. And then by the time they were our age, I think they’d gotten so used to it that they were willing to push even farther. To the rest of us, they’re often dubbed as being crazy, or insane.

We tell them: “This stuff will never work.” But in reality, these are inspirational people, they’re envied people, they’re successful, they’re well regarded, impactful, and insightful. Here’s a general question for the audience: Who here would like their legacy to be “I was called a visionary for my work”, or “My research contributed to an awesome scientific discovery”, or “I changed the world”, or “I helped change someone’s life”? Show your hands. Who here would love right! Exactly. The slightly more complicated question is: How do you actually do that? And there’s a problem. So let’s talk about the problem. Everybody wants to be unique.