We do not advance because we are too heavy to be carried by those that can.
Cost of Doing Business: There was a time when the cost of doing business constrained by the associated religious implications (and in some parts of the world religious cost is still a factor). Humans then decoded religion wasn’t as important as money and financial gain became the primary driver of business. Now, financial gain is still the primary decision maker but we might just be on the precipice of another change. Climate implications and privacy concerns are both becoming major business drivers. There are communities whom decode which businesses to use based on global climate impacts and privacy. As businesses progress into the future the shift from financially driven cost model to whichever cost model (most likely financial heavily mixed with climate positive) will have consumer level advantages. I suspect sometime down-the-(time)line societal cost/benefit will be a metric. Until then I will be excited to see dinosaurs try to survive the meteor.
Our Culture Viewed from Future Cultures: I like to contemplate about how our culture will be perceived by cultures of the future; thus, it is with the inevitability of cultural evolution that I present this idea. We are a people of blackmail, coercion, and bribery. I don’t mean the American people, I mean humans that exist at this point in time. The entire global legal framework is built upon blackmail and coercion from domestic frameworks to international relations. The system in built on hurting people and their families if they do not conform to established standards. Any reformation of offenders in the human race are reformed by cultural anomalies and not any recognized, concerted effort to progress the well-being of the society. The rules are essentially, “do as you are told or you will face unpleasant results that in some cases may result in your death and the ostracization of your family for generations.” Humanity is swiftly flinging itself into a system of permanent punishment for the most minor of offenses and has no designs to change course. Soon, (within 100 years) there will only be one kind of person that doesn’t have some kind of permanent stain on their legacy, super wealthy that have avoided too much public exposure.
Misunderstanding Phenomenon: In humanity there is a phenomenon that I like to refer to as the “misunderstanding phenomenon”. The basic premise is that the majority of humanity has a relatively static level of intelligence with little deviation and deviations from this baseline creates misunderstandings. As a single person deviates from the standard the misunderstandings grow, the further a single person is from the standard the greater the frequency and severity of misunderstanding. As the misunderstandings grow it does not matter which party is actually providing the most intelligent information, only the information that is understood by the group closest to the standard will be considered intelligent and correct and all other information will be considered incorrect, illogical, unintelligent and/or unintelligible. The ‘misunderstanding phenomenon’ is quite a strange peculiarity that is awful in its glorious self-defeating humanistic nature.
Competitive Advancement: I find there are two schools of thought when it comes to competition. The first is that competitors can use competition as motivation to achieve the best results the quickest. The second is that competition removes the ability for collaboration, creates solutions that are not well-rounded, solutions are flawed, and it actually takes longer to create a solution. Is competing for a solution really the best or the worst idea, you decide.
Fake news confused: Take a moment to consider why we care if news is real or fake? I believe it is because we (some humans at the very least) use the new to formulate thought, ideas, opinions, goals, plans, and actions and we want those things to have the greatest probability of success. So, I propose adding a new metric to the fake news debate that will help to identify which “news” should be scrutinized for legitimacy because people who ski do not search for snow in the Saharan Desert. I would like to introduce the metric “triviality”. For instance, whether or not a story about a faux pas on the red carpet is true does not matter to people who do not care about celebrities. This thatch-work of fake v. real news needs to be splintered into relevant or trivial first then legitimization only needs to be performed on the ‘news’ that matters.
Being The Best: I don’t want to be the best and I never want to be called the best. I don’t want to be the worst or to ever be called the worst either. I want to be me. I have no interest in competition or personal glory. I have interest in adding benefit and being recognized (occasionally) when that benefit exceeds my usual output. I am no better or worse than my peers; I just have different training and experience than those that are my contemporaries, have come before me, or whom will come after I have gone. I am not the best and have no interest in being the best, I am only me and that’s pretty darn good.
Technological Vulnerabilities Hurt Humans: It is critical to understand that the more humans capitulate the needs of their survival to flawed technology the easier it is to accidentally (or intentionally) subjugate and murder. Right now we are primarily experiencing human driven attacks but as AI become more prevalent in crimeware so too will collateral (human) damage. Also, as humans with lower incomes are literally more expendable (culturally speaking, not my personal opinion) the risk to the poor, disabled, and elderly is exponentially greater. Take time to be wise about what technology is created, how it is created, and how it is constrained to a set of manageable parameters.
How to destroy the [a country]: Create paranoia within the government that forces it to create a system to rate the trustworthiness of employees. For our purposes we will call it a “security clearance”. Then create rules that exclude prospective employees from obtaining a clearance. For our purposes we will call these disqualifies. Next, identify potential prospective employees. Let’s call this an OPM breach or Equifax breach. Lastly, systematically disqualify all potential employees based on a rating system from highest rated to lowest rated. This will create a gap where current employees will eventually “rotate-out” and new employees will be of low competence or easily manipulated. Just something to consider.
Public School Educational Strategy: Teachers teach and students learn in a paradigm that disproportionately aligns curriculum with the power wielded by the institution with little regard of the students’ interests, rate of knowledge ingestion, or goals. What if there was a shift from a teacher/student philosophy to a mentor/mentee philosophy where the student is directly engaged in the pace and direction of the curriculum? What if education stopped trying to engage students in areas that do not directly support their goals or which are indifferent to their personal interests? I imagine there are a number of retired professionals that would love the opportunity to expand the number of mentors if they can impart their life lessons, wisdom, and/or skills. Education that is hinged on quality mentors helping mentees be successful in life by bestowing wisdom, life lessons, a mentee-centric curriculum, and which does not have exams and social indoctrination as the primary motivation might be a scholarly idea.
School Farming: why don’t schools have rooftop gardens that are tended by students whom take gardening classes? Greenhouses can literally be built on school rooftops (which are almost always flat and unused) with a variety of vegetables, fruits, herbs, and spices. I would imagine rooftop school gardens would help students learn a little more about biology, help develop critical thinking skills, partnership, teamwork, as well as provide numerous other benefits that all result in students literally being able to enjoy the fruits of their labors. Rooftop school gardens seems like a fresh idea to reduce student stress, increase vitamin D, and promote a healthy appetite to achieve goals that have tangible rewards.
Law Enforcement Evolution: They are called “law enforcement officers” because their primary job is to enforce the law. We have expanded their responsibility to mental health and substance abuse, homeless outreach, marriage, economic, and career counselor, plus many other things. At some point training for these professionals has forgotten that law enforcement does not mean “do what I say or go to jail.” There are ways to have community members abide by the laws without threat of jail or death. Law enforcement officers should not be community counselors and should not respond to situations where there is not clear violations of law, (where the law does not need enforcing). Initial responders should be mental health resources with less than lethal devices for self defense. They should be charged with resolving conflicts in peaceable ways with law enforcement support only when threat of violence is perceived by the mental health resources. The police force should be broken in to two parts, the mental health resource force that carries less than lethal tools and law enforcement that is only brought in when clear violations of law have occurred, or will imminently occur, and the law needs to be enforced. Just 1 idea.
Grocery Store Produce: why don’t grocery stores have rooftop gardens? This seems like an especially apt question for grocery stores in food deserts.
Next-Gen News – “The Fountain”: Imagine watching a ‘news’ channel, being provided the facts about a news story from one person (without any opinion interjected) for two to five minutes, having a different personality appear to provide another 2-5 minute segment, then another, and another, in a long cycle of rotating personalities bringing just the facts with an overview in a news ‘fountain’. Any viewer would be able to access the news provider’s website for extended coverage on any topic of interest. A single story wouldn’t dominate the news while neglecting equally important stories. More personalities and diversity would be brought into the news network’s cameras. People would have a greater understanding of the world. News is dominated by politics, whether it be coronavirus, protests, voting, immigration, police, it all filters back to politics. What’s happening in science, medicine, technology, philanthropy, wildlife management, natural disasters, global warming, etc. It’s time to decrease news domination and increase news diversity. The ‘fountain’ should be a wellspring of information about current world events.
Plastic Clothing: Organic clothing is wonderful but becoming increasingly impractical. It may be time to start considering clothing that lasts longer and is architected with materials that are non-harmful to humans but which have antimicrobial, antibacterial, and antiviral properties. Harmful organisms can ‘live’ on clothing for extended periods so why not reduce the risk of health issues, extend the life of clothing materials, and create more eco-friendly garments.
Supermarkets Of The Future: Imagine walking into a supermarket or grocery store, selecting the products you desire on a touch screen, then paying for the purchase while all the boxed, frozen, and canned items are selected and bagged automatically while you select the produce you would like. This is entirely possible using a vending-style system where all products are located using a coordinate system. The customer’s selected items can be placed on a multi-lane conveyer so multiple orders can be completed simultaneously. The shelves can be stocked by humans and the groceries can be bagged/packaged by humans but there is no need for customers to walk aisles contaminating and damaging product. This system can also be integrated into inventory systems. A grocery store that nearly eliminates customer-borne contaminants, doesn’t require searching for products that have been moved, and which can reduce floor space because aisles can be narrowed seems like one possible step forward.
Intra-District School Faculty Rotation: One theoretical idea to reduce faculty disparities and burnout between faculties in various schools that lie within the same district is to have all faculties rotate annually between two (or more) schools annually. Example: Faculty A works at school one while Faculty B works at school two the first year then Faculty A rotates to school two and Faculty B rotates to school one the second year. The administration remains at the same school. This rotation would help identify problematic administrative processes, reduce grade-to-grade biases (jack has a personality conflict with Mrs. Allen last year so Ms. Jackson is harsh on Jack due to anticipating problems), and faculty will have (potentially) a chance to rotate to a school with challenges that they are specially equipped to assist with resolving. Intra-district School Faculty rotation, possibly highly controversial but potentially good for administration, faculty, and students.
Pre-employment Proficiency Evaluation: Wouldn’t it be cool if interviews ceased to exist and candidates were selected based on their actual skill, abilities, and proficiencies? Creating industry specific task oriented challenges that integrate some employer specific challenges might just be a step in the correct direction. This type of hiring would create an anonymous and ‘level playing field’ for all candidates. Hiring that eliminates bias, what an interesting idea.