All posts are my own opinion and do not represent any organization I am affiliated with.
I prefer to be the filter in incoming communication. I like to take in as much information as possible and filter it myself for what is important. I don't like it when others filter information for me. In addition to making more work them, they might miss something that I would deem important.
This also works the other way. When I am communicating information I prefer to give out the full set of information and let who I'm sharing it with being the filter for what pieces they think are important. Many people don't like this because it creates more work for them. We all assign different priorities to different pieces of information. Since it is inconceivable keep track of how important everyone else thinks different pieces of information are I believe I should not apply a filter to information that I share with others.
I love how much public art there is in Detroit. This is a really cool upcoming art project that will put light
I just started reading Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. A couple chapters in and I am loving the book. USA Today's review sums it up pretty well "Enchanting ... Willy Wonka meets The Matrix."
I'm even more excited because a movie is in progress. Great to read a book first and then see the movie, not many of the science fiction books that I love are turned into movies. (none of Asimov's, Daemon or Darkmatter) Now back to reading!
How can I help?
This is always a good question to ask. I am going to work on asking it more often.
I just finished the book Raising the Floor: How a Universal Basic Income Can Renew Our Economy and Rebuild the American Dream by Andy Stern. Andy is the former president of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), currently the largest employee union in the United States.
His main argument in the book is that with technology and jobs moving to the "gig economy" (think Uber and Amazon Mechanical Turks) more middle-class Americans will have a difficult time earning more than their parents before them. His proposed solution is a Universal Basic Income (UBI) for every American of $1000/ month. The UBI would replace all other welfare programs. I won't go into a full explanation, you can read the book for that.
Although I am not convinced that a UBI is the right answer for the United States, I am interested in how it might work in 3rd world countries. There it would be *much* less expensive and potentially much more impactful. GiveDirectly is going to try the largest ever full-scale UBI experiment in Uganda and Kenya. The UBI will be provided for 12 years to every member of selected communities. Allowing every citizen to spend more time on improving themselves and their community rather than just surviving.
More information is available on GiveDirectly's website. They have already raised $23 million of the $30 million they need to run the program. You can help by supporting one person in the trial program for only $1 a day here!