Notes from the President

I have to fly a lot for work and have taken the cute 50 to 70 seater planes from Oita to Osaka several times. When I take this flight I don’t think about how small the plane is or how safe it might or might not be, I pretend that it’s my own private plane, and that I have invited all these other passengers on board because it would be a waste for just me to fly alone. “Come on everybody, please, come on board.” It’s a frame of mind I get into and I don’t know why but strangely it makes me feel very relaxed. Please, you should try it some time. Just don’t actually say any of it out loud. This way of thinking has actually been borrowed from the cultural Japanese figure Shigesato Itoi.

As I’m lost in my little fantasy world I gaze out the window at the clouds. Speaking of which, it still remains unknown as to why airplanes can even fly and it makes me think about a book I read that said it was still in the hypothetical stage.

Forming a hypothesis means questioning common sense, disputing biased views based on common sense and carrying out the process of trial and error until you reach a new concept, a new vision, that can then be designed into the unknown. Your presentations and theses should be full of hypotheses. They should be thrilling and have an impact. For most people however, there is a limit to how many hypotheses or theories they can readily take on board and the hypotheses themselves have in fact a very short ‘shelf life’. Don’t just drop a hypothesis because you aren’t sure about it anymore, preserve as much as you can. It is also important that you don’t criticize your friends’ hypotheses. Show an active interest instead. Spending all your time criticizing other people’s hypotheses will leave you afraid to fail at your own. Look at the vision APU had when it opened! An unbelievably momentous vision!

I love the words ‘creation is born from an individual’s lonely enthusiasm’. Have you ever been completely wrapped up in your work and thought ‘hey, this idea could be a complete breakthrough?’ From there you start to get more people on board with your idea… isn’t it exciting! Before long the hypothesis becomes a reality and that first step forward is taken.

Those of us in intellectual and academic environments don’t just randomly go and get a job, we think, we think some more, we form a hypothesis, we make a plan, and then we take that first step.

On that note, I was fortunate enough to meet some APU students who have recently taken that first step. TED x APU and Okinawa Week. As a speaker I was able to witness the absolutely amazing effort and energy put in by all the TED staff, and during Okinawa Week I watched the Grand Show from the corner of the Millennium Hall. As is almost tradition with the multi-culture weeks, it wasn’t flamboyant or showcasing unmatchable skills and techniques. Instead it was a homely and rustic, but also passionate, performance about the area’s tragic history, telling of the Satsuma Clan’s control of the Ryukyu Islands and the Battle of Okinawa during WWII. The performance really conveyed the Okinawan “Yuimaru” (helping each other out) spirit.

* TAKEUCHI Kaoru, 99.9%は仮説　思い込みで判断しないための考え方. Kobunsha (99.9% Hypothesis – how to think without making assumptions)