Creating change doesn’t start with a sharp critique, nor does it end with suggesting a good idea, but it most certainly can be advanced through thoughtful dialogue. Just ask Zeel Patel.
Zeel is just starting his journey, having graduated from high school in Calgary and pursued post-secondary education at Harvard while working as a research scientist with Exoplanet Discovery at the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics. He co-founded Evera Labs and Omni-Scientific, an award-winning non-profit that he helped launch in grade 10 to connect aspiring young researchers to the world of scientific innovation. Zeel saw the value of intergenerational mentorship and collaboration to spark new debates and new ideas to solve the world’s biggest problems, providing him with the ability to design water treatment tools and cancer research technology as a teenager.
Zeel joined us in conversation to discuss the dangers of polarization, why thoughtful debate can propel good ideas and how we each have a role to play in creating a better balance between people and nature.
What do you think?
- What did you learn from Zeel’s story?
- What does good debate and healthy conversation look like to you?
- Are too many too closed-minded to listen to contrary opinions and tough critiques? Or is it that those who criticize only highlight the negative and rarely propose a solution of their own?
- Is it up to the media, politicians, business leaders and activists to model better debate, or is it actually up to us?