“The empires of the future are the empires of the mind.” | Winston Churchill

Over the past week, I have spent many moments reliving the following encounter in my mind. This post is dedicated to doing so one more time, but with the hopes of sharing it within a pool that is beyond my selfish inner-monologue.

It was a sunny Monday morning in September as I was being escorted to the final quarter of a beautiful Jordanian garden. Simply occupied by a humble wooden table and set of chairs, I knew that I only had a few moments to compose and collect myself for whom I was going to be presenting myself to. I was informed that he sometimes liked to have his meetings outside, by the beauty of the space, it would be hard to question why. I gently laid my notebook on the table afore me and then before I could have skimmed through my notes one last time, I lifted my head and looked into the distance. Tunnel vision hit me like a brick. There he was, as if he had appeared out of thin air between a straight line of trees at what seemed to be 50 meters away. As he took his modest steps towards the area, I stood to receive him and out of all things I could only think of how funny the brain works sometimes. Yes, the brain. When I needed the control centre to tighten up on its reins for a minute, my heightened senses seemed to have let matters go haywire. Mesmerized I was, but this feeling was of a different kind. This was an awe induced by the wisdom and experience of the man I was about to shake hands and converse with.

His Royal Highness Prince El Hassan bin Talal is a visionary human being. A thinker, theorist, academic, and truth-seeker. In my view he is the most intellectual Royal of our time, moreover he may just be most intellectual Arab or person in the world – that I’ve come across at least. Trust me with how conservative I attempt to be in describing the very novelty of this moment in my life. It would be rather cliche for me to say that I fall at a loss for words, but in this world I believe that it is only within the power of music that one may explain the unexplainable and invoke or replicate a similar levels of emotion. If I could write it, it would be a multifaceted piece that shines with the brilliance of reality, unity and diversity within our time and for the future. This man is an idol of mine and I don’t pick them easy. He holds the prime position along with only one other person; Dr. Randy Pausch. It is for reasons that are dissimilar but compliment each other in light of my own life goals. Although I hope to couple this memory with more intellectually bound and elaborate conversations with HRH in the future, those who know me well know that this initial instant will remain with me forever. He didn’t have to say anything at all, I was amongst greatness.

As we took our places in the garden and got acquainted, “So you are the one they call the Chief Rascal” he said. Surprised, but I should have known that some homework had been done, a man of such stature wouldn’t have done anything less. Still, I enjoyed introducing myself in my own words and he so graciously lent me his ears. After introducing the concepts, principles, partners, and accomplishments of Amman Tech Tuesdays (AmmanTT), we shared a few laughs and then he questioned how an “Old fart” like himself would be of service to us. Rather than countering against that comment with one of a million jokes that crossed my mind in the moment, I smiled and began pitching our golden opportunity.

Everyone has a father in this world. As sons and daughters of the Jordanian Science and Technology industries, Prince El Hassan laid the foundation that we build our worlds on top of today. in 1970, The Royal Science Socie ty (RSS) came to life. (Read that one more time…1970!) A time when most of the Arab world was off worrying about nothing near the fields of sci-tech, there was a level of forward-thinking back then that perhaps was unmatched and certainly was not executed in the manner by which the RSS was born. As per the Chairman’s letter, the institution was based on the “belief that science and technical application are crucial to developing our human resources.” A statement that elevates and reminds us that our purpose within the field is far more grand and significant. “You simply cannot know where you’re going unless you know where you’ve been” said HRH, and it couldn’t have been said any better. It is imperative that we relive the history, right off of the hippocampus that was there. The time when the very first computers entered our borders, the challenges that faced attempts at local technical manufacturing, and not only where we invested our attention, but how it affected our progress today.

Although we approached the opportunity with an open agenda, we had a few suggestions particularly around business ethics, policy and sustainability within the tech field. HRH is well known for his attention to these areas on regional and global levels. Having been in the field myself, I do think that the habitual nature of individuals can be shaped and molded far better than it is today. Perhaps some of the corruption we are observing now is only the product of bad habits acquired early.

Our conversation carried on and glimpses of very valuable times in our country’s history were being shared. Touching upon the worth of imagination, creativity, curiosity in our lives was priceless. Before we knew it, a rough skeleton for what we at AmmanTT expect to be one of the most important events our local tech-community has ever seen. So very humbly, we were given the green light in the form of a few simple words: “I am at your disposal.” An honor we will all enjoy on the 4th of October, 2011. After a 2-hour session, we stood, shook hands again in thanks and entertained a light story (in Spanish) as he walked with us through the garden to see us off. A genuine sense of pride and happiness encompassed me in the moment, but to make my day even more meaningful, I was given a copy of two books. The first is titled “Winning the Human Race?” and is the report of the independent commission on inter nation humanitarian issues which is co-chaired by the HRH and Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan of Iran. The second was a compilation of essays written by HRH between the years of 1984-2000 and touches on various issues such as the transition between tradition and modernity, the future of the Middle East, human development, civil society, but above all vision and imagination. I only had to take one glance at the title and knew that it would be fitting to dub our conversation and the upcoming event after it;“Continuity, Innovation & Change”. We must discuss and understand it, before we apply it. This is our chance.

I believe that Prince Hassan dreamt a dream long ago and that he dreamt it for us as a nation, but I am hesitant not to doubt that a disconnect still remains and the vision is a bit hazy still as a consequence. Argentinean poet, Antonio Porchia, says it best in his quote: “I know what I have given you, I do not know what you have received”. A wealth of knowledge and opportunity had been presented to us in the past, I still wonder if we’ve made the most out it. Have we been hungry enough to seek excellence? Is Jordan in itself a startup that is going through growing pains? These and more are questions I would personally want to explore with HRH at the event, so take a moment and come up with a few of your own, there will be ample opportunities for questions and answers with the man himself.

Still enthralled by the encounter, I drove off that day with a strong impression. In the name of all of us at AmmanTT and the Jordanian Tech community at large, I thank His Royal Highness Prince El Hassan bin Talal for his time attention and genuine interest that day, but appreciate him even more for what he represents: If knowing others is intelligence; then knowing yourself is true wisdom. Thus if mastering others can be strength, then mastering yourself is true power. Apply this to your life, your work and those around you, I assure you that quality, brilliance and distinction will come knocking. It is exactly what we need.