One of the side projects related to The World Transformed book is building a vast collection of ideas. The book itself is a collection of ideas, and the notion was that would could use it a springboard to collect lots more ideas about how the world can be changed in positive ways. I put a […]
An alternative way of distributing a book: rather than going through the normal distribution channels, just give some away. Ask the recipients, if they don’t find the book to their liking, to please pass it on to someone whom they think would like it. And ask them if they do like it to consider purchasing […]
Researchers and practitioners are making dramatic progress in producing usable human tissues via (highly modified) 3D printers. Although we aren’t there yet, eventually we can expect to see whole kidneys, livers, hearts, and lungs produced in vats or via printer-like devices. These will be a godsend for patients who otherwise would be looking for an […]
One of the models for associating individual wealth with productive output in an economy that is predominantly (if not completely) post-labor is to apportion ownership of companies across the population. This could be a matter of distributing shares of existing companies or granting shares or exclusive ownership to new companies. The ideal fit would be […]
The technology already pretty much exists to recreate classic movies with a computer-generated version of you replacing the star. This could be extended to include your whole family or circle of friends. (Do It’s a Wonderful Life for Christmas for example.) Or you could leave some of the original actors in place, depending on who […]
In the future we will be able to interact with virtual versions of celebrities, historical figures, and fictional characters. Of course, these virtual people will be sophisticated software programs designed to approximate what their characters are / were / would be like. A useful variation might be to have a chat with virtual alternate versions […]
One of the most important applications of full-immersion virtual reality will be virtual eating. Like sex, eating is a pleasurable activity that can be disentangled from its risks and downsides in a virtual environment. If people could virtually eat any and everything they want, any time, and the physical experience was identical to the real […]
Humans and their machines are doing a fantastic job of making humanity as a whole wealthier through independent initiatives. But what if we deployed, within certain parameters (e.g., concern for the environment), machines focused on a single task: increasing the material well-being of all human beings? Arguably, the arms race between intelligent trading systems is […]
One of the ironies of a more highly connected world is how isolated and lonely some people feel. There are online services whereby you can rent a “friend” for some task or occasion. (Say you have an extra ticket to the game, but no one to go with.) But there is no continuity there. There […]
While overconfidence can be an extremely dangerous thing, the lack of confidence is one of the biggest inhibitors of progress that we face. People who try something and fail have done something extraordinary. Most people don’t try much of anything — out of fear of failure. Tremendous human potential is held back by a lack […]