#250 Dr. Robert Ballard – Discovering the Titanic, Deep Sea Explorations, & Overcoming Challenges
Key Takeaways
Dr. Robert compares finding the sunken Titanic to scoring a game-winning goal, but the mood changed dramatically when they remembered the tragedy that the Titanic was.
“It’s being at peace with the things you find, particularly when there’s a loss of life involved.”Dr. Robert calls himself a “Swiss Army Knife” because of his wide range of life experiences: joining the army, going into college athletics, quadruple majoring in undergraduate school, receiving his phD in Oceanography, and his monumental discoveries as an underwater explorer.
“I just made it a smorgasbord of life and I can play in pretty much any game”Dr. Robert describes the 3 pieces of advice about reaching old age that he learned from Arthur C. Clark:
- Focus on your relationships
- Mentor
- Say no to the next big project you’ll be offered
“When you do something unpredictable, many people have a hard time processing how you pulled it off and why you were the one who did what others couldn’t. They never acknowledge the creative thinking, the willingness to push yourself to the point of exhaustion and yes, the often desperate improvisation that went into it. When it came to finding the Titanic, all of these things came into play, including luck, I readily admit it.” – an excerpt from Dr. Robert Ballard’s book, Into the Deep.
1:09 Discovering Himself & Dyslexia
Dr. Robert talks about how he didn’t realize who he was until fairly late in life. All he knew was that he was living in a box and he was an out of the box person. When his daughter was diagnosed with dyslexia, Dr. Robert realized that he had been living with dyslexia unknowingly his whole life.
“Now I realize it is a gift and I’m celebrating it and I want to encourage the 20% of our population that have this gift to use the gift in the right way”3:32 Finding the Titanic
Dr. Robert tells the story of discovering the Titanic underwater. While they were underwater, their tracking broke and somehow Dr. Robert had a strong intuition for which direction to go and he ended up being correct.
6:30 Creative Thinking Process
“I can dream up things that are real because I study the laws of physics. Those are the rules of the game.”8:22 Future Predictions
Dr. Robert talks about how he is always dreaming up and thinking about predictions for the future.
“We are going to be able to go wherever we want at the speed of light and get a phone bill”
“Not all who wander are lost and that’s me, I wander but I’m not lost. I know who I am.”
12:19 Pushing Through Exhaustion
Dr. Robert had a note on his mirror that said:
“My body is like a racecar and when I learn how to drive it, I’ll win lot’s of races”He describes a pattern he has developed of burning energy in a constructive way. One of the ways that Dr. Robert continues to work out his mind is to work on 1000 piece puzzles, but the catch is that his wife covers up what the final puzzle is supposed to look like so Dr. Robert doesn’t know what the puzzle will be.
15:40 Being a Swiss Army Knife
Dr. Robert was determined to be like Captain Nemo from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and he was told that he needed a phD in Oceanography which he then successfully completed. He talks about developing a variety of skills through joining the army, going into college athletics, involvement in student government, quadruple majoring in undergraduate school,
“I just made it a smorgasbord of life and I can play in pretty much any game”19:24 The Gaia Concept
Dr. Robert talks about how he isn’t too worried about there not being life on Earth in the future because of it’s creativity and adaptability but he doesn’t think the human race will survive the century. He talks about the Gaia concept that was first proposed by James Lovelock – saying that Earth is its own creature.
“It’s a symbiotic relationship between planet and life and there’s one species now that is throwing that balance out of kilter and it’s us”
“That’s why we need to understand the ocean, because we haven’t explored it”22:17 Vellela Project
Dr. Robert explains a project he is passionate about, the Vellela Project, that is an ocean research project studying and experimenting with aquaculture production.
23:30 What’s Next for Dr. Robert
Clearly a voracious learner and curious person, Dr. Robert talks about what’s next for him.
Now that he is at age 79, Dr. Robert says he is ready to begin fading out of his role within the teams that he manages.
“I’m a Swiss Army Knife and I’m getting a person to run each blade”
Dr. Robert describes the 3 pieces of advice about reaching old age that he learned from Arthur C. Clark:
- Focus on your relationships
- Mentor
- Say no to the next big project you’ll be offered
26:38 Regrets
Dr. Robert says that the loss of his son will always make him regret going to sea as much as he has throughout his life.
“You can never spend too much time with your children.”
27:28 Moment of Discovery
Dr. Robert compares finding the Titanic to scoring a game-winning goal, but the mood changed dramatically when they remembered the tragedy that the Titanic was.
“It’s being at peace with the things you find particularly when there’s a loss of life involved.”
“The ocean has more history than all of the museums in the world combined”31:03 Bouncing Back from Failure
Dr. Robert talks about how in athletics and in his career he always sought to surround himself with people who were smarter than him. .
“They’re yin and yang, you can’t just succeed, you have to fail.”32:30 Dr. Robert’s Interview Choice
If Dr. Robert could sit down with anyone and interview them; he would choose Jesus Christ.
Book Recommendations:
The Nature of Nature by Enric Sala
Starting July 3, on Nautilus Live website, you can watch live coverage of Dr. Robert in the command center.
Connect with Dr. Robert Ballard:
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