Here in the 21st century, something wonderful is happening. Have you noticed? 

Everything around us is becoming more beautiful. Compare the ugly 20th-century Wean Hall and the majestic 21st-century Gates Center, for instance. Or go to the grocery store. Have you noticed how curvy and colorful shampoo bottles have become? Or toothbrushes-30 years ago, they came in three colors and one shape. Now there are more sizes, shapes, and colors than in an aquarium of tropical fish.

But why? Why is this happening now? The answer is because it can. We are at a time when a wonderful combination of technology and affluence is letting us shape the world to make it as beautiful as we want it to be. This is the magic of the 21st century. In this unusual century, artists and engineers will have power like never before. But they can't do it separately-they must work together to make wonderful things happen. Consider the iPhone-did the world fall in love with it because it is cheap? Because it is efficient? Because of its great reception? No, they love it because it is beautiful. Engineers never could have built something so beautiful alone. Nor could artists have built something so technological, so overflowing with invention. Only engineers and artists who know how to work together, hand in hand, are able to create magical artifacts of this revolutionary magnitude. 

But is this beauty we are creating only skin deep? That all depends on why we are making these things. I observe that 21st-century creators fall into four different camps. 

First, the Persuaders. They only care about making things for the money it gets them here and now, no matter what damage it does or how frustrated their customers are in the long run. I'd give examples, but you know who you are. 

Second, the Fulfillers. These are the creators whose every waking moment is about how they can surprise and delight people, fulfilling their every wish and fantasy. 

Third, the Artists. Here I use the term broadly, to mean anyone, right brain or left brain, who wants to advance his or her medium for its own sake. This group is not concerned with profit, only creating things that are beautiful and revolutionary. The Artists, whatever their background, create things that make us confront what it means to be human.

And finally, the Humanitarians. They want nothing less than to create things that elevate our minds, bodies, and souls, ultimately making us into the best people we can be. 

Which path are you on? Are you sure? It's easy to fool yourself-or to let others fool you.

True beauty in anything that man makes comes from the heart of the maker. If we can each be skilled enough to master our craft, wise enough to work together, and brave enough to follow our hearts, the 21st century will be beautiful indeed. 
-Jesse Schell