Rebecca Henderson Interview Insights

1. A year from now, what I will certainly remember, at the very least, is the important concept of solution aversion which Prof. Henderson discussed. Essentially, the idea is that humans are reluctant/less willing to believe in or educate themselves about a concept/problem simply because the necessary solution being called for seems too costly. I’ll remember this because it is broadly applicable to many things in life—any time there’s an involvement of decisions and proposing solutions to others—but particularly in the interview, this topic was discussed with reference to climate change, as many people are unwilling to believe in it simply because they think proposed solutions are too extensive.

2. I think the aspect of the interview explaining how entrepreneurial endeavors provide a glimmer of hope regarding the climate crisis will have the biggest impact on our future. Prof. Henderson gave the example of new water treatment entrepreneurs who have made huge strides in more adequate and sustainable water practices. Stories and examples such as these make me think that the future will be filled with more of these private startups and small ventures which turn into wide scale solutions for society.

Link to Interview: https://www.labxchange.org/library/pathway/lx-pathway:825945a0-367c-45dc-82b7-3d160c6e6f7a/items/lx-pb:825945a0-367c-45dc-82b7-3d160c6e6f7a:lx_simulation:6e9eaf62?source=%2Flibrary%2Fclusters%2Flx-cluster%3AModernPrediction&fullscreen=true