SOCHI (Sputnik) — The humankind is on the brink of a leap forward, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday at a meeting with the students at Sirius, the gifted education center for children.
"Global change is happening all the time, but at a different speed. In the Middle Ages there was a certain speed of change, in the 20th century it is different, these days, the speed has significantly grown. It is connected to the accretion of knowledge: the more knowledge the humankind has, the faster the changes. Besides, there is such a phenomenon as 'gradual accretion followed by the leap.' So we seem to be on the cusp of the leap forward," Putin said.
The center was founded in 2013 based on the infrastructure for the Olympic Games, on Putin's initiative. The president is the chair of the center's board of trustees.
The center aims to find gifted children, help foster their talents and to provide further professional support.