What qualifies one as a “public intellectual” in present day? As discussed in Stephen Mack’s piece “Are Public Intellectuals a thing of the Past?”, society is worried about the public intellectual class and is fretting about what we, at large, are doing to preserve that particular class of public figures. Mack believes that classification of this group of people is not necessary, however, recognizing what is needed in order to be certified as a “public intellectual” is the essential shift in the way we view this issue. In other words, society must focus on the qualifications over the category and I believe that this shift will allow the public to embrace new intellects rather than exclusively celebrating historically notable minds.
Devoney Looser in “The Making of a Public Intellectual” discusses the issue of true public intellectuals refusing to own the title and how this impacts their work, their field, and the public. Some feel that speaking exclusively to other academics leads to their best ideas and will not take the time to speak, in understandable terms, to the rest of society. Elif Shafak, in “It’s Time we Stopped Denigrating the Public Intellectual” Recognizes that the discouragement of celebrating new, innovative ideas in Eastern countries like Turkey is often times due to the association with collaborating with Western Ideals and several intellects have faced mockery and negative response from the Turkish media. When these scholars are shamed for their theories, it deprives the world’s population from development toward social, environmental, and political issues.
Focusing on one scholar in particular, Evelyn Wang has been greatly recognized for her major break-throughs on sourcing drinking water from alternative methods and has made significant progress for using solar-power technology to receive water from the atmosphere. Dr. Wang has received several awards for her work and was listed as one of 2017’s most impactful global thinkers by Foreign Policy. Her research has astounded the technological industry and has been listed as the one of the Top Ten Emerging Technologies in 2017 by Scientific American. She is currently head of the Mechanical Engineering Department at her alma mater, Massachusetts Institution of Technology, where she contributes to the education of younger generations while progressing in her research.
It is well-known that access to water is a global problem occurring today and becomes a larger worry the longer time passes. According to The World Health Organization, a growing number of approximately 2.1 billion people lack access to clean drinking water. Dr. Wang, in an interview with Foreign Policy, discusses her memories of growing up in Santa Monica, California and how water shortage was always a talked about issue. Efforts to take shorter showers, skip watering the lawn, and preserve water in every way possible were made and she remembers as a young girl thinking that access to water should be a luxury for everyone around the world and more action needs to be taken to solve this issue. She discusses that funds for reusable energy are much greater and more prioritized than the funding for alternative water sources and due to the lack of attention, the issue still remains.
In April of 2017, Dr. Evelyn Wang and her team created a demo model for a completely solar powered technological device that has the ability to source water from thin air in even the worlds driest areas. The innovation was published Science Magazine’s report “Water harvesting from air with metal-organic frameworks powered by natural sunlight” which can be accessed here. The invention is made from a metal-organic surface which is a crystalline material that brings organic molecules and metal ions together and ultimately condenses water and allows the water molecules to stick onto the surface. Atmospheric humidity is now a freshwater source and will change the world’s water shortage crisis. Materials such as zeolites and silica gels have been attempted to absorb water from the atmosphere, however, there has been low uptake of water using these materials. Wang has been using MOFs which allows for greater flexibility and modification in molecules and also have very high porosity which overall makes it the most ideal material used for water absorption. The prototype includes the material “MOF-801”, manipulated by Wang, which is the key ingredient to the device.
There was innovation toward this material before from a research team at UC Berkeley but their surface could only absorb the water molecules not condense them. Wang’s team at MIT teamed up with the UC Berkeley group and now are producing liters of water at a time by this technology. Wang’s goal for this product is to be able to produce enough daily water for a family of four in order to accommodate larger-scale use. One of the most important things to note about the device is it relatively inexpensive to make once the fine tuning of the product is complete therefore, impoverished populations can access the device and have healthy drinking water.
In an MIT student’s YouTube video channel, “Tea with Teachers”, Dr. Wang shows her relatability by speaking about the academic struggles she faced in college, performing poorly on exams, and experiencing the undergraduate social life. Her advice to the college student audience was to “live in the moment” and appreciate all friendships with other students and relationships with professors. Overall in this video, she displays her true potential to be beloved by the public as she speaks in simple terms, shares stories, laughs, and participates in an unpaid interview with energy and positivity.
Dr. Wang and her emerging popularity is a perfect example that great academia and intellect can still be recognized and celebrated in 2019. What she has accomplished has qualified her for the name public intellectual. Her contributions by speaking publically, featuring in podcasts, and teaching a lecture at a major university show that she has earned and where the name of a public intellectual proudly.
I chose Dr. Wang as the first of several bright minds to discuss because although she is well known in certain fields, she is not extremely well-known to people not of the engineering industry, and absolutely should be. My aim is to inspire other bloggers and writers to appreciate widely acclaimed or historical scholars but also spread the word for the less favored if their ideas are worth acclaim. This is a very common issue among scientists, engineers, environmentalists, and other professionals in very specific fields; their work is not displayed on news channels or broadcasted on the front page of news sites. Politicians on the other hand, do not have this issue because their work is dependent on marketing tactics however, I believe that we need to start viewing all ideas, weather they are innovative technologies or public policies as ideas worth sharing. Just as Margaret Heffernan says, “For good ideas and true innovation, you need human interaction, conflict, argument, and debate” I believe that the key to improving ideas are sharing them.
In Stephen Mack’s piece mentioned earlier, the shift from categorical to noteworthy, suggests that all categories of theory whether they are scientific or creative, should be celebrated or not celebrated based on the quality of the work. The reason this change in media is so important is it will interest and inspire young generations to learn more about academia, not just highlight the bias drama occurring in American politics. Blog sites like this one aim to spread the word so that research grows, discussion occurs, and ultimate progress toward beneficial changes is made. For example, when Dr. Wang’s recent 2017 research becomes more widely known, a chain reaction toward the possibility of alternative water sources will be caused, however, this should already be occurring.
An example of poor news execution is the ideas of Stephen Hawking. Most of my generation only know of Stephen Hawking as an icon for ALS awareness and the central character to the heart wrenching drama “The Theory of Everything”. In order for the movie, based on Hawking’s life, to be a success it focused on his love-story with his ex-wife and his disease but after watching, the audience really does not have a clue what he accomplished as a Theoretical Physicist. Even his published essays, about his work in detail, did not sell as successfully as his memoir, A Brief History of Time, because our society has an unfortunate apathy with academia and consuming interest for personal stories. Hawking is one of the most extraordinary intellectuals in the 21stcentury and although he has been greatly recognized, he has not nearly been recognized to the extent of today’s celebrities.
I recommend to all my readers of this blog to seek out places that useful information is talked about and debated. One podcast I have grown to appreciate for this issue is Oprah’s Supersoul Conversations which features great writers like Eckhart Tolle, brilliant civil rights activists like Maya Angelou, and even former president Jimmy Carter to educate, inspire, and motivate listeners.
Dr. Evelyn Wang has changed the dynamic of water sourcing and made great discoveries toward future technological advances. She has taken on a global issue that she had dreams of conquering from a young age and is making the most significant advances toward alternative water sourcing that we have seen. Dr. Wang clearly fulfills the obligations that a bright mind should serve to the public and I look forward to reading about her newest work and successes. I am optimistic about public media and news making the shift and focus on more scholars like Dr. Wang which will ultimately inspire others globally to contribute to these ideals and develop progress toward dire issues more efficiently.
Intellect Insider 