things I want to help build
The following are efforts I hope to contribute to over the following decades. If you’re researching, building, or excited about any of these – let’s chat!
1. combining journaling + therapy #
Therapy needs to be more scalable. While it can achieve amazing things, its current form generally requires money and is subject to severe 1:1 time constraints. Talk therapy is also limited to the verbal communication channel.
Journaling is an excellent form of self-therapy; and happens to be completely free & accessible to anyone. It can benefit from accountability, external review, and guiding. I see the potential of a hybrid approach combining the two.
2. building towards sustainability #
We’re headed for some pretty complicated physical, social, and economical changes. There are many more important areas here but some particular points of focus for me:
- disaster recovery / internet restoration
- more efficient logistics & transport
- education & awareness
- cheap, weather-resilient, humane emergency sheltering
- renewable energy
- cross-language coordination tools
3. experimental cities in nature #
I want to live in a forest or on a beach with a gym, cafeteria, multiple cafes, high speed internet, a garden, and enough other nerds nearby to join a different salon / workshop / lecture every night. Also:
- tooling for self-managing and maintaining a Social API to rest of the world
- re-configurable, expandable, and financially self-sustainable
- discoverable internationally while maintaining local culture & access
- sliding scale cost structured as hybrid scholarships / exploration grants
- accommodating of both short term/transitory stays and longer-term residencies
- accessible to RVs, cars, and tents
- ecologically balanced
Related efforts I’m following:
4. distributed tools for thought #
Better ways of talking with friends I haven’t met yet. Both ends of the stack are important here: how our phones send raw data to each other and the shape of the digital surface I’m communicating my thoughts through. - can decision-making processes be more inviting and intimate? - varying scales of anonymous:identified, retained and ephemeral, structured vs serendipitous - make publishing to limited/unlimited social networks more natural
Personal efforts:
- relational - building web3 media tools with buzzard.life
- helping friends build cozyroom
- Digital Tools I Wish Existed
5. psychedelics research & awareness #
Seeing as these drugs changed my life, I’m interested in helping more people getting the opportunity for self-discovery and healing with them. Specifically: a) removing legal barriers b) providing safe spaces to experience them c) building online/offline spaces for discussion & education
Related efforts I’m following:
6. libraries of the future #
I owe a lot to libraries as a kid and hope future generations can find as much support access as they gave me. The library of the future:
- open 24 / 7, like internet cafes
- fresh coffee
- beastly computers, consoles, and internet connections
- loaner e-readers and electronics
- 3D printers
- plants + natural light
- local and community-managed
- a default meeting point for online/offline communities
For now, I’m going to hack on these projects with friends as small-scale experiments, notes, and chats. With time I hope to deepen my potential impact by coordinating and creating space for people to come together and collaborate on these problems.