Lesson 6. Better Together
본문5-1 Many Heads Are Better Than One
백지장도 맞들면 낫다If two heads are better than one, then what could hundreds of heads accomplish?
This question was the origin of crowdsourcing.
The word "crowdsourcing" comes from a combination of the words "crowd" and “outsourcing."
It is based on the belief that getting input from a large group of people can lead to a better solution.
Although the term "crowdsourcing" was first coined by a magazine editor in 2005, people have used this method throughout history.
Let's find out how people have found better solutions to problems by crowdsourcing.
How did the Statue of Liberty get on her feet?
The Statue of Liberty is one of the world's most symbolic monuments.
However, without the efforts of many ordinary people, this gorgeous statue would have never become one of America's most famous landmarks.
The magnificent Statue of Liberty was designed by a French sculptor and given as a gift from the French government to the US in the late 1800s.
The statue was sent to New York in pieces, awaiting assembly.
Unfortunately, the US government could not afford to fund a base for the statue, so the pieces lay in storage boxes for several months.
Then an influential newspaper editor named Joseph Pulitzer had a brilliant idea.
Using his newspaper, he promoted a fundraising campaign targeted at the general public.
In just five months, the campaign raised over $100,000 from more than 120,000 donors around the country.
Most of the donations were less than one dollar.
However, all together, the money was enough to cover the cost of building the base for the statue.
There was even enough money left over to give the sculptor a gift!
How have people created the world's most comprehensive encyclopedia?
Wikipedia, a giant online encyclopedia, was actually born from an earlier project known as Nupedia.
The plan was to publish an online encyclopedia written by experts.
However, there was a major problem:
The content was being written extremely slowly, with only 21 articles written during the first year.
To accelerate the process of writing content, the plan was changed.
In the new project, called Wikipedia, permission to write or edit articles was given to anyone with Internet access, not just to the experts alone.
The scale of collaboration was impressive.
By the end of the first year, Wikipedia contained more than 20,000 articles in 18 languages.
Since then, the site has grown rapidly, swelling to more than 40 million articles written in more than
Every month, Wikipedia receives over 18 billion hits, making it one of the most popular sites on the Internet.
Wikipedia enables people from around the world to build a free, shared knowledge base.
Its volunteer writers and editors, who are united by the joy of sharing their knowledge, have compiled a huge amount of information in a single location and made it available to everyone.
Thanks to them, we see how much we can achieve and learn when we work together.
How do we observe climate change?
Another form of crowdsourcing is citizen science, which is the practice of public participation and collaboration in scientific research.
Through citizen science, people collect data and share knowledge for research projects.
A great example of citizen science is Project BudBurst in the US.
Ordinary participants in all parts of the country observe and record data about the first appearance of leaves, flowers, and fruits from various plant species in their local areas.
Then they send their data to a national database.
Scientists use the accumulated data to learn about how individual plant species respond to climate changes locally, regionally, and nationally.
They will also use it to detect the possible long-term impacts of climate change by comparing the findings with historical data.
Each sample of data, sent in voluntarily by tens of thousands of contributors, is hugely valuable.
In fact, a research project of this grand scale would be impossible without crowdsourcing.
Nowadays, crowdsourcing is being enhanced by technologies such as social media networks and even specially designed crowdsourcing platforms.
Such networks and platforms make it easier than ever before to take advantage of the combined power of the masses.
This collective power helps us achieve a lot more than one of us could possibly achieve alone.
본문5-2 A Very Special Sporting Event
매우 특별한 체육대회A few years ago, a sporting event for disabled teenagers was held.
The day was bright and clear without a cloud in sight.
The early autumn breeze blew gently across the faces of the crowd.
The stadium, decorated with flags and balloons, was packed with excited spectators.
The first event was the 100-meter dash.
Nine teenage contestants were getting ready in their respective lanes.
Standing at the starting line, they fixed their eyes on the finish line.
Despite their disabilities, the contestants had been training hard for the race and were keen to win.
The fact that they had disabilities didn't matter to them.
Once the starting gun blasted, they started running vigorously to take the lead.
However, as soon as the race started, something unexpected happened.
All of a sudden, one boy stumbled and fell to the ground.
For a moment he lay there in shock, and then he started crying in disappointment.
His knees were bleeding and it seemed like he was in a lot of pain.
The boy was clearly very distressed.
The crowd fell quiet and looked at him with sympathy.
What happened next took everyone by surprise.
From further along the track, the other eight runners heard the boy's cries.
Each of them began to slow down and look back toward the boy.
Then, a runner turned around and ran straight back toward the starting line where the boy had fallen.
The others also went back to help their fellow runner.
All the runners surrounded the crying boy and gently helped him up.
One boy with autism brushed the dust off him and patted him on his head.
A girl with Down syndrome softly hugged him and said,
"Chin up.
Grab my hand and get up.
Let's go together."
Then, all nine contestants put their arms around one another's shoulders and walked toward the finish line, smiling all the way.
Without the kindness of his competitors, the boy would have remained in tears on the ground.
Instead, he was making his way to the finish line with joy on his face.
After a moment of silence, the audience burst into applause.
Everyone in the stadium stood up, and the cheering went on as the nine contestants reached the finish line and waved their hands in the air.
Many people were moved to tears by the sight of the young people supporting their fellow runner and walking together across the finish line.
People who were there that day told the story for many years after.
One spectator said,
"Their warm hearts touched every one of us at the stadium.
Winning a medal was not as important as helping their fellow runner.
Deep down, we all know that there is something more important than individual victories.
What matters most is making sure everyone succeeds, even if it means slowing down ourselves."
Those nine contestants taught everyone a very important lesson about the value of coexistence.
After that day, all nine runners were remembered as winners.
