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The Power Of Creativity: Mark Rober

From engineer at NASA & Apple to full-time Youtuber

By Hamza AliPublished 3 years ago 8 min read
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Mark Rober in front of Nasa's Jet Propulsion Institute, where he worked for 9 years

The late 21' st century has witnessed a technological gold rush of astonishing proportions: the headlong and strenuous haste to dominate the online world. This enterprise has proceeded so rapidly that in just a few years, the concept of 'website' has transferred from being a mere database of information, codified in basic HTML, to being a dynamic environment; fast and continuously evolving.

And above all of the opponents, one stood tall and colossal: Social Media.

Just the mere idea, simple and effective, immediately captivated everyone's attention, promising a level of connection that couldn't have ever been imagined before. 

From there forward, the 'Social Media Boom' - as it's often named - proceeded with exponential velocity, finally reaching billions of people.

These platforms have become a global stage, a way to convey your thoughts, to reach the hearts of people all across the world. Billions of people linked together in a net bigger than one could imagine, rocking back and forth on the Data Ocean.

It was in this environment that Youtube was born. Who could have ever imagined this kind of impact? Video creators have influenced a whole generation, sharing their passion and love; spreading ideas.

Too often, however, this platform is seen as something superficial, an online dimension to go in search of cheap entertainment, and - although it certainly is a good source of entertainment - I feel like this perception undermines their real potential. Their potential of informing and educating people. 

Their potential for improving the human condition.

One of my favorite Youtubers does just that. His name is Mark Rober, and here's his story.

Meet Mark Rober

I first came across him on Youtube, as one of his videos found its way into my recommendations. I was immediately captivated by the quality of the video, crafted to the slightest detail, mashed with his charming personality. Still to this day, after nearly three years, I often find myself rewatching it, amazed.

The video featured Mark and his wife showing the story behind NASA's Curiosity landing, from his point of view (he was one of the engineers behind this masterpiece of technology).

He narrated his life story, interwoven with that of the Curiosity Rover - the loss of his mother to ALS, and the birth of his son. 

I remember it being so tense and exciting. He had a kind of genuine and authentic enthusiasm - something so natural about him that kept me glued to the screen. As he watched the maneuvers for the landing of the Rover on Mars, with his lovely wife and dad beside him, Mark was so nervous that he was literally shivering. His eyes were gleaming when the speaker announced that phrase for which he and his three-thousand co-workers had waited for seven long years. "Touchdown confirmed. We are safe on Mars."

It still gives me goosebumps every time I see it.

Image: Reddit

He studied Mechanical Engineering at Brigham Young University, and worked for NASA JPL for 9 years, 7 of which were spent on the Curiosity Rover (Curiosity is basically a car-sized rover which is at the moment exploring the surface of Mars. It was launched from Earth on November 26, 2011, and landed on Mars on August 6, 2012). If you are interested in watching just how much effort and how genuinely Mark Rober is involved in his projects, you should definitely check out this video.

Since then, I watched with almost a religious devotion all of his videos. I find my heart skimming a beat every time he uploads another one. Even though Youtube's algorithm pushes and rewards creators who upload frequently (a video or more per day), it could do nothing to incite Mark to upload more. He makes one video per month (usually) since he started in 2011 because he has decided to choose quality over quantity. And boy, he always delivers quality in abundant quantity!

He went on to make the world's largest: Super Soaker, Lemon Battery, Horn Shatters Glass, Jello-pool, Elephant toothpaste experiment, and Devil's Toothpaste Explosion.

And as if breaking all these records weren't enough, he built the world's first automatic strike bowling ball, a liquid sand hot tub-fluidized air bed, and taught a lesson to some porch-pack-thieves with his glittering bomb trap. 

What I most love about him, is that in almost all of his crazy experiments he involves his lovely nieces and their friends– giving us a deeper look into what he values the most and the type of man he is.

Oh, I almost forgot. He also made Bill Gates drink Nasty Swamp water and fed him a fake burger...to save the planet. 

Source: Dexerto

source: Mark Rober. Created by author.

His videos are quite particular. They have a neat structure with a catchy intro, a brief explanation of the science involved, and the fun part for the grand finale. In a video, Mark joked on this aspect, saying that his approach to science is similar to velociraptor hunting patterns, luring people with a cool concept, and then attacking them when they least expect it.

Moreover, in every video of his, he tries to walk the delicate line between making things simple to understand, without oversimplifying or being condescending.

With his true love for science, funny personality, and contagious smile, he made millions of people fall in love with science. Me included.

His favourite sentence? As a firm believer in the scientific method, I decided to test this hypothesis.

From swimming in shark-infested waters (for science) to building a squirrel Ninja Warrior track; from analyzing arcade games scam science to building an automatic Bullseye moving dartboard; from saving 51 billion lives for 0.68$(!!!) to planting 20.000.000 trees (with the help of Mr. Beast and a bunch of other YouTubers)- this man did it all.

And all of his projects are completely original, never seen before on the internet, or anywhere else - for that manner. Moreover, he always gives clear instructions on how to replicate his creations (unless they are dangerous, like the Devil's Toothpaste).

Mark Rober Build Instructions

Feel free to steal any of these ideas and claim them as your own. Mark Rober. www.markroberbuildinstructions.com

What I love about him is that despite all of his huge achievements and successes, Mark has remained always true to himself and his principles. There are few celebrities who are as humble as him. His genuine smile and almost childish excitement about science and technology are just remarkable. I'm not one to spend much time on Youtube, but Mark's videos keep me glued to the screen for hours! And I have no regrets afterward because I know that I could have hardly used those hours in a better way. I can safely say that I've learned more about science and technology watching his videos than I did during all the countless hours spent in class.

He is a true gem on Youtube.

The Power Of Altruism

The most selfish thing you can do in this world is help someone else. Why is this selfish? because the gratification, the goodness that comes to you, the good feeling, the good feeling that I get from helping others, nothing's better than that. That's where the joy is, in helping others; that's where the success is, in helping others. - Denzel Washington

After all his achievements and world-wide recognition, Mark never stopped caring for the things that are really worth caring for; the tiny and majestic aspects that make life meaningful.

Out of the twelve videos a year he makes, he tries at least in one to show a new, ground-breaking discovery that will transform the world into a better place. For example, in one of his videos, he brought to the public eye a revolutionary invention that is going to save billions of lives in the near future: the FoldScope. Basically, it's a paper microscope that merged with a paper centrifuge can discover malaria in the human blood. Normally this process requires expensive machinery (tens of thousands of dollars) and electricity, none of them available in the truly needy countries. But in 2017, a brilliant physicist, biologist, and inventor, Manu Prakash, was successful in bringing the price of this process down to just 0.68$, thanks to the paper microscope and paper centrifuge.

As I said, Mark never forgets the true meaning of being a human, and always gives time to his family. In this uplifting short clip, you can see his son, who is autistic, laughing and smiling, with his caring parents.

The last video on Mark Rober's youtube channel (uploaded a couple of days ago) narrates the heart-warming story of Fletcher - a 13 years old who has a type of brain cancer that is so rare that he was only the sixth kid to contract it- and Mark's effort to throw him the most epic birthday party ever.

It took Mark 8 months, 150 tests, and over 1,000 total working hours to plan and execute the party to the slightest detail. But, in the end, he pulled it off - like always.

Bottom Line

Mark Rober is one of the few creators on Youtube who can teach you amazingly complex things in such a simple, linear, and fun way. 

I genuinely love how much he loves what he does, and how easily he's able to transfer that uplifting sensation to the people who watch him.

He inspired me to unleash my creativity; to build amazing stuff by understanding and using the fundamentals Law of Physics (with far less success, however. Sigh!) thanks to the clear and simple instructions he gives in the description of his videos.

He helped me clear the doubts about my future. Thanks to him I know what I want to do. Build, create, share, and inspire.

But most importantly, he inspired me to be like him: A genuine, caring, and loving person.

Source: markrober

Thanks Mark!

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About the Creator

Hamza Ali

21 years old student | Wannabe writer| Italy| Polyglot|Bookworm |Broke but hope not for long;)

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