Movin’ On Summit 2019 Part Three: Surpetition: Moving beyond competition

July 10, 2019 · 0 Comments

My final interview at the Movin’ On 2019 Summit in Montreal was with Nicolas Beaumont, the senior vice-president of Sustainable Development and Mobility for Michelin. It was the last morning of the event and the North American Director of External Communications, Eric Bruner, was moderating the interview.

Nostalgic cars, music just make you feel good

The sentiment “what’s old is new again” is never more obvious than during summer car shows. During this perfect weather, collectors and car enthusiasts swarm to car shows and fortunately, there are plenty of opportunities to enjoy many classic and vintage automobiles.

Am I past my ‘best before’ date?

I just might be past my prime. While prime cuts of beef are quite desirable, the same can’t be said for humans. I’ve gone from “beef cake” to “jello pudding.”

The Movin’ On Summit 2019Part Two: The Future of Transportation

I expect that our horse and buggy elders thought the same thing when they saw the first car. An end to a way of life, of blacksmith’s shops and anvils and harness maker guilds. Just as our First Nations Elders had seen their way of life change forever with the coming of the tall ships and the white sails. Change is a guaranteed constant.

Immortality could be within our grasp

Human beings have pondered immortality since our brains were capable of deep thoughts. The band Queen asked the question “who wants to live forever … when love must die.” Stephen King espoused that each life “makes its own imitation of immortality.”

Humans are meant to ‘break’ a little from time to time

“You look somewhat like a mouse,” George Little said. “That’s because I am a mouse,” responded Stuart in the classic film. “You look somewhat broken,” said a concerned stranger. “How astute of you, I am somewhat broken,” was my response.

Sustainable mobility: theme of 2019 Movin’ On Summit

Sustainable Mobility is also known as Ecomobility. In a nutshell, it is the policy and application of moving people, goods, and services in a low-pollution, environmentally responsible, technologically efficient, safe and community friendly way.

How do we calculate our own impact?

Once we reach middle age, we tend to become a bit more pensive and perhaps reflective. While it’s true that average human lifespans are increasing, given the advancements in medicine, we still ponder and prepare for the inevitable. I have interviewed many high achievers and those with a long list of accomplishments to be proud of. I sometimes ask them how they would like to be remembered or what they want their legacy to be.

Finding our own sense of ‘salvation’

“We save ourselves by saving others. No one has ever been saved alone.” This quote, with roots in biblical teachings, basically means that we must seek “salvation” on our own, and help others do the same.

Our lives are definitely not made from scratch

Renowned astrophysicist Carl Sagan is often quoted as saying in order to make an apple pie from scratch, you first have to invent the universe. In other words, in order for us to make anything, the universe had to be created first. To expand on this, think of all the things that came before our kitchen: The Big Bang, neutrons, ions, atoms, moon, sun, ocean tides, dinosaurs, homo erectus, fire, water, soil, seeds, cows, milk, apple trees.

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