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REMARKS BY
HONORABLE FARRIS BRYANT
DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF EMERGENCY PLANNING
AT THE
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF
UNIVERSITIES ANO LANG GRANT COLLEGES
WASHINGTON, O.C.
NOVEMBER 15,1966
-9-
combined rights of therest of the
population. Florida had a leisurely
130 years in which to accommodate to
the growth of the first 100 people per
square mile. It has less than 20 years
to prepare for the next 100 people
per square mile. The rate of change is
six times as great, and will undoubtedl
increase.
Progress begets progress. Growth
in education does not satisfy -- it
increases the demand for education.
Expanding knowledge inweases demands
for consumption, increases skills in
production, a by-product of which is
increased knowledge, and increased
capacity to consume.
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In a world of three dimensions, with
its leisurely and comfortable evolution
from one stage to the next, there was
time to gather around the pot-bellied
stove to discuss the few changes that the
next several years would bring, time to
debate the pros and cons of different
courses of action, time to adjust to-
changes in life in the way one adjusted
to an occasional new pair of shoes which
were basically the same as the old pair.
But in this day of which the inter-
continental missile is but a symbol, in
which the great antagonist is changing
conditions for which we are not prepared,
leisurely adjustment is no longer com-
patible with progress or even with sur-
vival. We need not just a hot line to
Moscow, to deal with the changes in the
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mind of one man or the actions of one
nation; we need a hot line to tomorrow.
In a world of four dimensions, where
today is yesterdays tomorrow, and
t0morrow has dawned before the sun has
set today, the fourth dimension can be
mastered only by the mind. Muscle will
not perform the task; natural resources
are of no sure value; a strategic
advantage can be wioed out by one inven-
tion; a stockpile can hecome ohsolete
overnight.
England ruled the world with a
powerful navy for aivndred years. The
nation today that is all-powerful be-
cause of its atomic power, its jet
planes or its missiles, can he a second-
rate power, or vassal, tOTTOFFOW.
- IL.
The one sure resource, other than
thelove of God, which need never fail us,
is the educated mind stimulated by dedicated
leadership and committed to enabling man
to live abundantly in this new environment.
I read on Sunday that Columbia
University is creating a new institute
toexamine the the impact of the scientific
revolution on human affairs. l was sorry
to read that because that is what I was
going to suggest as your corporate task.
But you must go beyond the examination
of that impact -- you must prepare your
students to live in a world the outlines of
which cannot be discerned -- a world that
sustains the impact of a continuing revolu-
tion.
The Columbia Institute hopes not only
to be able to cope with change, but to
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anticipate its consequences and suggest
future responses to it. That is the
new challenge to higher education today.
It is the task of every publicly oriented
university to enable its students not
only to understand and master what is,
but also what may be, in this world
of geometric change.
Man lives today on an escalator.
He goes to sleep in one world and
wakes in another. He graduates from
college in one world, but the
worlds in which he must live are far
different - and always changing.
Life's targets are no longer bulls'
eyes, but birds' eyes, and the birds
are in flight.
For today is yesterday's tomorrow,
and tomorrow has already dawned.
SQ. mtg-4.) m.
HQVVQJI Z W
I am glad there is a Natignal
walk
Asso ' n n ver it'e and Land
Grant gglleges, Perhaps I see what I
want to see, but I read into your title
an orientation to the public which, to
someone who has spent his life in public
endeavor, is gratifying and reassuring.
No one expects your institutions to
trim their sails to catch every political
breeze; everyone is reassured when you
give continuing evidence that you under-
stand that man does not live to learn, but
learns to live - and that more abundant-
ly.
Yesterday at noon I spoke in New
York to a conferene of the Grocery
Manufacturers of America, and as I sat
at lunch I was almost overwhelmed by
the realization that I lived in a time
and a nation where for the first time
-2-
in history there is not only enough air
--and enough water -- for everyone, but
also enough food for everyone. Since
Adam tasted the forbidden fruit, one of
the fundamental problems of man has been
food for survival; now that problem in
this nation is virtually solved, and man
can turn his attention to other needs.
The young people of America have already
recognized this, and are seeking in their
rebellious way to solve needs beyond the
elements for survival.
Men orbit the earth, plumb the sea,
release and harness the power of the
universe, while people grow taller, live
longer, run faster, than ever before in
history.
In the perspective of history, we
stand, not simply on the threshold of
-3-
a rearranged society, but on the thres-
hold of a new civilization. A wise
old friend of mine, now passed on, made
a speech some 20 years ago that l have
never forgotten for its symbolizm. He
held a string that was 50 inches long,
each inch representing 100 years, and
he placed on the string a colored button
for every major significant step in the
progress of man. A bead for understand-
ing the use of fire; a bead for the
invention of the wheel; a bead for the
invention of gunpowder. Even at that
time, a score of years ago, the end of
that string representing 1946 was so
crowlded with beads that they could not
all be placed in their proper position.
That congestion was as nothing compared
with the congestion we would observe-
-4
if we tried thus to symbolize the last
decade.
But when I speak of a new civili-
zation it is not in the sense that roc-
kets will be a common mode of individual
transportation, or plankton from the sea
a major source of food, or hospitals
automated -- though these may come to
pass; not new in the sense that the major
characteristic of the new civilization
will be some exotic thing it produces,
or uses, or develops -- though these also
may be true; but new in the rate of
change which has become the common
denominator of life, and new in that
the key to productive living will be the
ability to comprehend, perhaps anticipate,
and make use of the rapid rate of change.
-5-
Einstein, applying this thought to
the physical world, conceived that the
rate of change within apparently in-
animate bodies created a 4th dimension.
To the static, three-dimensional
qualities of the physical world he
predicted the addition of a fourth. What
I say to you now is that there is such a
rate of change, self-sustaining and re-
productive, in the world today that there
has been added a new dimension to living,
a fourth dimension to society.
1 submit it is that fourth dimension
which is the great challenge to education
today. By your mastery of the physical
world you have started a chain reaction
more pregnant with consequences for good
and evil than all nuclear reaction. You
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may have started it before you have
built intellectual fall-out shelters.
Nedical libraries are being adapted
for electronic data storage and retrieval.
So rapid is the growth of medical knowledge
that we may learn to remake man hefore
we learn what to make him.
Two professors at Florida State
University point out that the number of
college studen'i'S in Florida and California
will more than double between 1960 and 1970.
This Florida is preparing for, and i
presume California is not far behind. But
they also predict that in Florida this
increase will be duplicated by l975. We
had a century to prepare for the college
population of 1960, ten years to prepare
for the 2nd 100%, and five years for the
third. The rate of change inzreases.
-7...
A rise in living standards,
advances in medical science and public
health administration, with control of
infectious diseases, have caused spec-
tacular rises in longevity. One hundred
years ago one-fourth of the new-born
died before reaching 5; today they reach
45 before one-fourth die. One-fourth
can expect to live to be 83. But our
economic practices and social laws have
not adapted to this change, and as of
today no satisfactory provision has been
made for the beneficial use of this
bonus of years, either by the individual
or society. The conquest of all com-
municable diseases is a foreseeable
prospect, and that combined with the
development of new weapons for over-
coming the degenerative diseases will
-8-
cause, is causing, change of staggering
potential, at an accelerating rate.
The multiplication of population,
of which Florida is an example, has assumed
such proportions as to defy accommodation.
The rights of individuals, which seemed
properly absolute in a day when the popu-
lation had a density of one per square
mile, or ten per square mile, must be
viewed in the light of the combined
rights of others when the population
becomes, as it has, 100 per square mile.
The right to dig a well, to hunt game,
to allow cows to roam at will, to build a
house, or to dump refuse into a river,
could be unrestricted when their exercise
had no discernable effect on others.
Today these rights, and all others, can
only be exercised with regard for the
PAGE 1
REMARKS BY HONORABLE FARRIS BRYANT DIRECTOR, OFF ICE OF EMERGENCY PLANN ING AT THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF UN IVERSITIES AND LAND GRANT COLLEGES WASHINGTON, D.C. NOVEMBER 15,1966
PAGE 2
combined rights of the rest of the population. Flor ida had a leisurely 130 years in which to accommodate to the growth of the first ItO people per square sile. It has less than 20 years to prepare for the nex t 100 people per square mile. The rate of chane is six times as great, and will undoubtedly increase. Progress begets progress. Growth in education does not satisfy -it increases the demand for education. Expandin knowlede irreases demands for consumption, increase skills in production, a by-product of which is increased knowledge, and increased capacity to consme.
PAGE 3
-10In a world of three dimensions, with its le isurely and comfortable evolution aron one stage to the next, there vas time to gather around the pot-bellied stove to discus the fee chances that the next eversl yearn would br ing, time to debate the Oros and cons of different courser of action, time to adjust to changes in life in the way one adjusted to an occasional new pair of shoe which were basically the same as the old pair. But in this day of which the intercontinental missile is b t a symbol, in which the great antagonist is changing condi tions for which we are not prepared, leisurely adJustoent is no longer Copatible with progress or even with nurvival. Vie need not Just a hot line to toscow, to deal with the changes in the
PAGE 4
-11nind of one -o or the ootionof Sn na ton; oe need o hot line to toTorrow. In a ,orld of four di."n ions, 'h' re today [s yeFterda" 0I 00rr, 0nd tomorrow has daned 1, for tho -o h set today, tie four It dilonr on -on 'e mastered only y the Tind. %00n1 f,[1 no t nerforo the '-ok ; ro-ral renouroeo ore of no 3,re -1u :ootraoooi ,dotore or -oI t, v o InOentoo; o s tock e 7an -oo c'o-.lete overn icht. n[lood rule0 0 he 'o rl" i ti, -,werfuL navy for a hnr year.T'no tior 6od0y ta L iH ,l --roorulecause o f i t" a to "i O r, 's je
PAGE 5
Io : u r r r er o h an ler:rhi ana i 'C to no'r -r c iv n' r in thi r3 env I er cr --n ay th , 'I -' Lr iver i r r ne -r L L, n hrf rr j c r I -r -I -r C 'ir r S in i-'r in r v
PAGE 6
2F1r -i f in r *n F -r t''s -'r. e S ri v 2 re fr 3 r r r'rv F o -'o g r Vn:11h brd rdV '1s rorr r C
PAGE 7
I am glad there is a national 'AFociation of. Universities and Land Grant Colleses rerhans f see what I want to see, but I read into your title an orientation to the public which, tc someone who has spent his life in public endeavor, is gratifying and reassuring. No one experts your institutions to triim their sails to catch every political breeze; everyone is reassured when you give continuing evidence that you understand that man does not live to learn, but learns to live --and that more abundantly. Yesterday at noon I spoke in New York to a confere e of the Grocery manufacturers of America, and as I sat at lunch I was almost overwhelmed by the realization that I lived in a tine and a nation where for the first time
PAGE 8
-2in history there is not only enough air --and enough water -for everyone, but also enough food for everyone. Since Ad-a tasted the forbidden fruit, one of the fundamental problems of man has been food for survival; now that problem in this nation is virtually solved, and Tan can turn his attention to other needs. The young3 people of America have already recognized this, and are seeking in their reellious way to solve needs beyond the elements for survival. ten orb it the earth, plumb the sea, release and harness the power of the universe, while people grow taller, live longer, run faster, than ever before in history. in the perspective of history, ne stand, not simply or the threshold of
PAGE 9
a rearranged society, hut on the threahold of a new civilizatin,. S wise old friend of ine, now assed on, made a speech some 20 years ago that I have never forgotten for itythcliz-. "e held a string that was 5P nchec lorn, each inch represertinn ICC years, and he 'laced on the string a colored bhttor for every Tajor sinificant -tep in the prares of Tan. h 6ead for urderstardirg the use of fire; a bead for the invention of the wheel; a bead for the invention of gun owder. Even at that ti-e, a scor of Years arc, the end of that string recresentirg 12vas so crawXded with 0ead' that they could nt all he placed in their aroer position. That conestion was a noth ing Compared with the conres ion s-e vould observe
PAGE 10
if we tried thds to symbolize the last decade. But when I speak of a new rivilization it is not in the sense that rockets will be a common mode of individual transportation, or plankton from the sea a major source of food, or hospitals automated -though these may come to pass; not new in the sense that the major characteristic of the new civilization will he some exotic thing it produces, or uses, or develops -though these also may he true; but new in the rate of change which has become the common denominator of life, and new in that the key to productive living will be the ability to comprehend, perhaps anticipate and Take ue of the raid rate of change.
PAGE 11
-5Einstein, a Plyin this thought to the physical world, conceived that the rate of chanr ',ith in aparently ianiTate bodies created a th di-ension. To the static, three-disensioral qualities of the physical world he orediuted the adition of a fourth. 'hat I say to you now is that there isuch a rate of change, salf-ousta is ino and reproductive, in the worldd tadaa that there has Teen added a new diTens, or to iv n a fourth dimension to society. I suhTit it is that four th d iron ior ohih is The treat c challenge to edunation today. oy your sa-tery of the physical worl you have started a hain racism Tore -raunant with cns eauences for god an evil than all nuclear reaction. You
PAGE 12
,ay have tartd it to'ere y 'ou hao i ir i-ir 'r -. rel-roni, dat, to~rae and retr eval. o aa is rrowth of nedit' l k note thit e no" learn to renike n iere marn nhat to ako hi. F"a trafe-or at -lcride ,tate Lnivroity oint o't that the nhnr of caitte ,[tdnfS in laria -C -aliforni'a i l ore than de-le tteC 19n' t7 hi' lori Ia i2 renrinn for, 7prc a r aelliforn I in not far ehinz. u+ Viite no n -t t *r Ir co io ir s r Icr 'e 'ta-i ''Cte hv 75. ta't a centuryy to nrenar for the eilee population 'of 1C, ten year to nrenre for thie 2n 'an, arn five years for the t'i rd. The rate of hanee ine reases.
PAGE 13
-7r0 js n liin s tndardr, advannon in ...iool science ond Tul'in halth odnin Hitrotion, ,i th control of infentior F i ear a, v cau oech nontoculor r ise in lonnovitv. onc h'nJred years ago one-for rth of the n-horn died before reanhion ,; today then no ch 4S before one-fourth die. unefor th can expect to live to he 2. .ct our economic pract ices and social la hove not adanted to this chance, and as of today no satisfactory crov sion has been made for the beneficial one of this honus of years, either hy the individual or society. The conoquot of .11 a00Tunicable disease is a foresecaole oropoect, and that coom ined cith the development of enw eapons for overconinC the degenerative diseaoeo will
PAGE 14
cause, is causing, change of staggering potential, at an accelerating rate. The multiplication of population, of which Florida is an example, has acumed such proportions as to defy accommodation. The rights of individuals, which seemed properly absolute in a day when the population had a density of one per square mile, or ten per square mile, must be viewed in the light of the combined rights of others when the population becomes, as it has, 100 per square mile. The right to din a well, to hunt game, to allow cows to roam at will, to build a house, or to dump refuse into a r iver, could be unrestricted when their exercise had no discersable effect on others. Today these rights, and all others, can only be exercised with regard for the
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