Why does Noah Chon Lee consistently radiate a heart as pure as gold towards public service?
Link:
Welcome to our this new conversation and today this is welcome to public talk organized by Plancker DAO. And today's topic is Why does Noah Chon Lee consistently radiate a heart as pure as gold towards public service? I'm link and I'm a contributor Plancker and 4Seas community. And Noah Chon Lee is a founder of a viaPrize. And let's start. You can introduce yourself briefly.
Noah:
Certainly so honored to be here. Thank you to Plancker DAO because they're certainly aligned in our vision. We want to build public goods, make things open source, help the world. And so very happy to be here. I've been inspired talking with you, link. I had so many great ideas learning from you. We got to meet in Zuzalu. So thrilled to be here.
I'm from Buffalo, New York town in the USA. And I grew up part of a circus family. My grandma was a mom and a fire eater, my dad professional juggler. So my dad started doing professional juggling shows when he was 10 years old with my grandma.
When I was 10 years old, I started my career working, getting paid very small bits and doing shows with my dad. Over time, I built it up into my own business. I use those funds of juggling and performing and then traveled around the world using that and then was doing some nonprofit projects with indigenous communities in the Amazon jungle. Then I was training with the Marine Corps and the military in the USA, paying for my college at UC Berkeley. And then I dropped out so I could work at an AI company. And now I'm founding a platform, the only platform in the world with crowd funded prizes, also known as bounties. And I'll explain more about that later. But in short, it makes it easy for people to collaborate together, for builders become entrepreneurs, for communities to contribute to the projects they want to see become real. And it's a coordination mechanism for communities. It's open source, it wants to be a public good. We've had amazing volunteers helping out with it. So grateful for that and I'm happy to be here.
Link:
Yeah cool and long time no see Noah. It’s really looking forward to see you again. And it sounds like you have a legacy. And the next question is what in your parcel experience have driven your strong concern for society, public service or philanthropy?
Noah:
Yeah, so I guess getting into some of the specific experiences. When I was age fourteen I traveled to little island country in the Caribbean of the Dominican Republic and I met people who really shook up my expectations about what it means to be happy, to have a fulfilling life. Because I met people, oftentimes living in MUD huts, who are so happy and would offer me everything they had. If they had so little food, just like some fruits, they would offer it. And it blew my mind. It seemed like if you had less, somehow it was easier to share in some ways. And because of that, they were happy because they're all sharing with each other. And it also made me feel pretty guilty, honestly, about growing up in the USA where I have a lot more opportunities. And then I went back to the USA and I was spending some time researching genocides and the worst parts of humanity. So when I was age 14, like my family, they would watch comedy TV shows and I'd be up in my room on my computer watching things about, like torture and the worst things I could find because I thought, well, I wanted to understand like the worst parts of humanity and hopefully be able to make a difference about it. But it was pretty traumatizing and I was depressed. I lost love, hope in humanity because what you see on the screen, what you see on the news is the worst parts of humanity. And I had very strong emotions towards certain numbers.
And to this day, like 2997, the number of people who died in 911. About 3 million people per year, the amount of people who die from air pollution annually today. And then one number in particular became more than a number. It became very related to people who I love. There's 1 in 5 is the number, including for USA and other countries, where women are likely to be sexually assaulted at some point in their lifetime. And I have four older sisters and my mom. And that was that moment when I decided I cannot accept a world where my loved ones can become another statistic.
So I decided, okay, I need to dedicate myself to something better. But it was a lot of rage and a lot of motivation where I was searching for hope, but I didn't really have it. And so I was become more depressed. I had some friend who was quite suicidal at the time going through some similar things. And he retreated from the world and, and would like play more video games and would stop spending time with friends. And I decided if I'm going in a similar direction, I'd prefer to go out with a bang. And so I started traveling.
I've been saving up since I was age 10, doing those shows when my friends would go out and eat food together. I would always like see if there's leftovers. I'd scrape the leftovers off their plate to eat it. Otherwise I'd just skip the meal and go hungry because I knew I wanted to save up for something. So I decided, I'd been exploring different religions for a while, trying to find some purpose there. And so I decided when I go to East Asia, hang out with Buddhist and did that. Mostly ended up just getting drunk and partying with random backpacking Germans. So didn't end up being more maybe even that spiritual or anything it was an interesting time because I learned a lot from the different, experiences. And the most important thing I Learned is that life only feels meaningful if you're sharing it with someone. And at the time, I could swimming with whale sharks with these girls from Israel or I had a terrible day and my money was stolen and I didn't eat for two days so I had to sleep form juggling to be able to pay for lunch or it didn't really matter if it was, good or bad day. By the time I hit my bed and was falling asleep, wherever I was happening to be sleeping that night, always a different place. I'd wake up and it was like was all a dream. It didn't matter.
Then finally in my travels I found my way to Ecuador to this community there at an orphanage and a community center where I met Francisco and his family. And I was going there because I was trying to volunteer as a juggler and to contribute. But really, I just felt like they were giving so much to me. And they showed me the biggest difference in my life, which was showing that what I was missing, that big void, the emptiness I felt, what solved it? What I had just been hoping, maybe there's something better out there, I actually found it. I found content. And I found a feeling that life is right. And very normal things where they would invite me. If they didn't have enough bread, they would still give me some. And if they went more hungry, they would still give. And they'd do that for everyone. If someone came to them, they would just welcome them in. You visit them once. You feel like you will always have a home, come back to. And they really stored a lot of my faith, my hope in humanity.
And then just like putting things in perspective, like Francisco's life and the things that he's gone through. He grew up in the jungle without anyone to take care of him, then eventually found a community to be a part of. He started contributing until he became a steward of that community and as a caretaker there. And now with his own family, his wife, Alba, kids, Jim, Weston and adopted baby Damaris. They're like my own family now. And they inspired me to try and do something more. And I realize the happiest people, they're the ones who have a community, who contribute to it rather these mutual relationships or you feel like people will take care of you, whether you have a lot or if you have nothing. We'll be there for one another. And I'm very grateful to them for that and try to carry that with me.
Plus, like also so many random strangers who have no idea they've helped me out in my journey. Little kinuses really have kept me alive to this day of people helping out. I don't know, just like gifting earbuds, giving me a meal along the way, all sorts of little things.
Link: