>> ANNOUNCER: Please welcome George Takei.
(Applause)
>> GEORGE TAKEI: Hello, everybody.
I'm honored to be here with all of you today in San Francisco.
The human element.
What makes us us?
For 200,000 years, roughly the amount of time humankind has
existed, we have been walking on two feet, exploring, living with
others, sometimes avoiding others.
Before long, our brains grew huge.
86 billion neurons huge and counting.
Aristotle told us that we're rational animals
seeking knowledge.
Confucius added that humans are benevolent.
Oh, my!
I hope that's true.
I hope we're designed to help one another.
Psychologists say that when we grow up in a group or a family,
we seek to be like one another.
But we also seek to be different.
So if you're good at math, your siblings will either join your
pursuit or excel at something else.
If you yearn to be something that doesn't quite suit your
group dynamic, or if you feel alone, you might seek out others
to form a new community where you can be exactly who you long
to be.
How beautiful is that?
Every mind in this room works in its own unique way.
Like fingerprints, no two brains are the same.
Each thought is informed by your genetic disposition, and your
environment, life experiences, race, gender, age, beliefs,
brain chemistry.
This exquisite diversity enables us to handle problems that might
perplex us if we faced them alone.
This reminds me of a beloved acronym, first uttered over 50
years ago, on Star Trek, The Original Series.
IDIC.
IDIC stands for infinite diversity and
infinite combinations.
You innately think differently.
The very human and unprogrammable future empowers
you to help defend our world.
Some of you are hunters.
You seek out facts.
Others are gatherers, collecting and sharing
intelligence with others.
A number of you are builders, making companies and
inventing solutions.
There are also fixers among you who repair systems and
restore data.
And there are those who think differently, outliers and
dreamers among you.
Together, you protect our world against destructive attacks.
You defend us from any threat imaginable.
In your industry, homogeneity equals disaster.
But unity of purpose among very different people, that's
another story.
No matter what differentiates you, you are united by a common
purpose: Preventing, detecting, and responding to threats.
I ask each of you to think about your personal
human element.
Are you an idealist or an altruist?
A mentor or a student?
A rebel or a collaborator?
We must honor our diverse traits for our species to stay alive.
If we are benevolent about our differences, we can boldly go
where no one has gone before.
As you leave the keynote today, I invite you to explore our
human element installation outside in the lobby and
upstairs in the engagement store.
There, you may choose a human element button that identifies
you to the RSA conference community.
Wear it proudly, as I am.
Open your mind to the people you meet in the coming days.
Embrace your similarities.
Celebrate your differences.
And revel in the possibility that everyone you encounter, so
different yet so alive, might possess the very element you
need to change our world.
Thank you for being extraordinary humans.
Live long and prosper.
(Applause)