On Saturday, Feb. 24, Hamilton College hosted its TEDx event. The topic this year was “Rethinking Today, Reinventing Tomorrow,” and was organized by the Hamilton TEDx board, comprised of about 11 students. These students worked alongside Physical Plant, the Theater Department, the Audio-Visual Department, the Oral Communications Center and Amy Gaffney, and their faculty advisor, Katheryn Doran.
“We plan a TEDx talk event every February,” said Hamilton TEDx co-President Sofia Maeztu ’20. Three speakers, Laura Engelhardt, Vasant Dhar, and Juvencio Maeztu, addressed the significance of challenging norms, sharing both personal anecdotes and research.
The first speaker of the event was Vasant Dhar, a current professor at the Stern School of Business and the Center for Data Science at New York University. After founding SCT Capital Management, a hedge fund that makes use of artificial intelligence to predict the stock market, he was inspired to discuss the question of “When Should We Trust Machines?” and increasing trust in a world of rapidly growing technology. He established two elements for trusting a machine, the worst-case possible and the predictability of a problem.
“At some critical level of cost, we begin to lose trust. This model also explains why we might trust a machine with making investment decisions but not with driving us around,” said Dhar, pointing out that the investment machine is much less accurate than driverless cars.
The second speaker, Laura Engelhardt ’95, is a Hamilton alumnus and founder of Neutrality Now, a provider of arbitration in New York City. Previously, she was a Compliance Officer at Goldman Sachs and an attorney Skadden Arps and Pillsbury Winthrop. Her talk, “Stop Preaching to the Choir and Become the Devil’s Advocate,” centered on a conversation regarding abortion that she had with her first year suitemate. Her suitemate displayed hypocritical views regarding abortion, stating he supported it for younger adults, but not for older adults. This, she said, led her to realize the importance of playing the devil’s advocate in a discussion, as people fear judgement yet are so quick to judge. Engelhardt focused on how challenging ideas generates memorable conversations.
The final speaker was Juvencio Maeztu, current Chief Financial Officer and deputy Chief Executive Officer of IKEA Group. His talk, “Purpose in Business — the Era of Inclusive Leadership,” centered on leading with others, drawing on IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad, as an example.
“It was the way [Kamprad] led the company successfully by putting people at the center of the business,” Maeztu said; doing so created “a supportive environment for workers and the people they serve.”
All three speakers used their own business experiences to focus on the importance of trust, discussion, and cooperation. Well-attended by those who will soon be entering the business and entrepreneur world, as well as those entering the career force, these talks inspired students to challenge previously held notions in order to increase both efficiency and quality of discussions.
