Tuesday, April 14, 2020

The great pause - Pondering empowerment post Corona virus lockdown

During this pause in the human experiment of infinite growth on a finite planet, we all have time to ponder.  Questions like, how should we empower society as we emerge from the corona virus lockdown and what sort of benefits might we expect and hope for from this empowerment?

Something to hope for or just an interesting picture?
Airspeeder motorsport - a mixture of science fiction and gaming
Let's take a moment to further explore empowerment of individuals, how might we do this and what results might we expect.  There are already some pretty well understood candidates (and logically it seems many have self reinforcing aspects for the goal at hand), here are some good examples:
  • UBI providing individual freedom and hence more room for creativity
  • Free Education to degree level, hence encouraging and satisfying a thirst for knowledge
  • Government using and encouraging Open Source and Open Data
  • Prioritise walking and cycling, hence improving health, fitness, mobility, community connections and happiness
Plus, what if we combine these with wise long term environmental and economic goals (doughnut economics style):
With this new world fully embraced, what might this look like over time:
  • A healthy environment in balance with human society?
  • Increased local capabilities and resilience?
  • Increased time for important stuff like friends and family?
  • High levels of innovation and hence productivity?
  • Increased focus on digital tourism and digital sports events (e.g. where digital experience is the product, think visually realistic and physically active esports, think virtual spectator mixed with photo realistic virtual experiences extrapolated to tourism and new high tech sporting areas)?
  • Increased reverence for nature and the outdoors (where international tourism for pure physical outdoor experiences becomes a premium highly sought after product)?
  • Increasingly complex and interconnected local society (more holistic)?
  • A more equal society?
  • Increasing richness in art and culture?
  • Increased general interest in wondering about life, the universe and our place in it?
  • People are energized and alive with tangible opportunities to participate and thrive in society?
  • A society that treats Earth as our valued and cherished home, but increasingly looks beyond our home planet for the future?
I'll leave you to ponder these questions or to create your own list of thoughts and ideas.  Either way, I'm sure you will continue to make good use of your very own and very valuable corona-induced dilated time bubble.