Effective altruism is a philosophy and social movement which tries to work out the most effective ways to improve the world. Effective altruists - conform to old-school utilitarian principles - consider all causes and actions, and then act in the way that they believe brings about the greatest positive impact.
— Jens Martin Skibsted
From NASA putting a man on the moon to DARPA developing what later became the Internet, the U.S. government, through a host of different public agencies, has provided direct financing not only of basic research but also public venture capital; both Apple and Tesla have received direct public funding.
Democracy is not just about voting but about informed voting. If democracy doesn't have access to reliable sources of information and instead relies on social proof, then there is no way of distinguishing between junk evidence and actual knowledge.
Growth is not the end-all-goal of politics, but it is one of the most compelling deliverables.
Anyone can dream up great ideas, but an idea is nothing until it's realized, be it as a website, a physical product, an app, or a user interface.
A structured design approach can heighten the hit rate in the fuzzy front end of innovation processes in public and private sectors.
Looking at the numbers, the transatlantic slave trade matches the Holocaust in horror - maybe even without counting subsidiary effects like internal strife and deaths inflected on the continent, death during transport, death during ownership, collapse of African economies, and such.
National diplomacy strategies are usually focused on promoting one's interests against others' interests. By emphasizing the global 'we' rather than the national 'I' in the climate change debate, COP 21 proved to be a case in point for a change of lenses.
We inadvertently keep oppressing Africans when we label them by an approximated color - and even when we confuse a specific socio-cultural group such as the Afro-Americans with Africans.
If intelligent robots are our competitors and, to some extent, cerebrally alike - enough for us to discuss their ethical standing - why would they be above the law? Should they not contribute to our societies, too? And why would they be exempt from taxes?
Urban mobility is a massive global challenge. The world needs people to use multiple forms of transport - a mix of biking, walking, and other low-energy forms of transportation.
Regardless of our political stance, we cannot afford to perpetuate the Western car-centric model.
The challenge of pollution and global warming is no longer the science, or the rate of innovation, but the rate of implementation: We have the clean solutions; now let's bundle them and install them.
The advantage of using airships in remote areas with little road infrastructure to support development is clear. Airships could ensure the delivery of humanitarian supplies to remote communities.
Just imagine how many more cyclists could help save our cities and prevent further global warming by adopting electric bikes, if they received strategic and financial support similar to electric car drivers.
Even if we accepted the health implications of pollution and the impact on global warming, from a simple space management perspective, mobility will eventually collapse in cities that give priority to the car.
Cities are important because that's where the majority of the world's population lives and an even bigger share of the global economy resides.
The nature of design is to synthesize disparate perspectives and create a richer end product through collaboration and iteration.
Design has long gone from tinkering and sketching of auteurs in isolation to a powerful catalyzer of growth.
Citizens have long been easily influenced by the opinions of others and sought social proof, but social media have amplified the phenomena to unprecedented heights. As digital devices permeate every aspect of our lives, it has boosted the way in which information can distort truth.
Obviously, not all migration relates to global warming, but the correlation is higher than most would think.
Design is a powerful factor in communication between disciplines and stakeholders and can transform knowledge into creative, human-oriented solutions that can promote companies' and countries' competitive ability and foster innovation and growth.
Design negotiates between technology, policy, systems, and users.
The debate on climate change has been tainted by its excessive concern with individual and national interests, short-termism, and lack of solidarity in face of global threats.
A true democracy starts by separating state and bad science.
Humankind has mainly evolved in Africa, and we only left Africa very, very late in our evolutionary path. This means that there is very little genetic diversity among those who left Africa and very much genetic diversity among those who stayed.
I don't think that artificial intelligence means doomsday, and I think many new jobs will be created, too. However, it is becoming increasingly unlikely that these new types of jobs will favor low-income demographics. We need to address the needs of those who will be left out of the new job market.
Consumers do not want a perceived cheap car; they want a car to flaunt. A car is as much about status and identity as it is about transport.
Bundling finance, energy solutions, water solutions, traffic infrastructure, and all general urban infrastructures is too much of an ask for most developing cities.
Curbing pollution and global warming takes a global cooperative mindset. Development aid needs to be rethought in this context.
Airships could be part of the answer to Africa's infrastructure woes - if the financial challenges are overcome.
Leisure activities such as contemplation, going for a stroll or a bike ride boost our overall health, wellbeing, and creativity.
Cities are complex and contain just about any thing or concept ever invented by humans. How the city is built, its topography, and how close you live to your work and a grocery store affects your mobility.
The sun doesn't always shine; the wind doesn't always blow. This is why, if we want to rely on renewables, we need intelligent systems that integrate and coordinate different sources of energy at scale so that when one is scarce or unavailable, the others can automatically compensate.
I believe that to further strategic growth and development via design, we need to have a set of public design policies.
A company's ethical behavior is ultimately triggered by some sense of caring. And care is a sense of closeness to someone or something. A company must bring value to whom or what it is close to.
When democracies don't deliver growth, alternatives seem more attractive.
Being design-led means designers take ideas from the abstract to the concrete, from potential to real value.
Design has become a universal medium for expressing ideas, raising fundamental questions, and addressing social challenges.
The industrialized countries that came to dominate post-slavery have caused the climate to change.
Neoliberalism became the leading economic ideology in the U.S. and in the U.K. during Ronald Reagan's and Margaret Thatcher's mandates. In this way, the leaders of the free world offered a viable solution to the economic crisis at the time: competition, deregulation, outsourcing, to name a few buzz words that have since become common place.
I believe we need to lay race theories to rest: Democracy - and identity - is difficult enough without 'scientific' obfuscation.
I do think we need to at least register artificial intelligence units to be able to monitor and control them. Because we want to control them and not vice versa.
Immigrants are not the main threat to the industrialized world's workforce: robots are - or, rather, artificially intelligent robots are.
It is widely accepted and understood that consumer decisions are as much influenced by emotional attachments to a product or service as by factors like price and performance. So why is it that when it comes to most aspects of human transportation, the world still seems to believe people are rational machines?
Major global institutions need to harvest clean tech knowledge wherever it can be found and integrate it into their major export systems.
The cost of building large airships can be prohibitive. The entry barrier is considerable and could be a show-stopper for large-scale projects.
Urban planning and design are helping us to shift from a car-centric system to a bike-centric one by making bicycles and bicycle infrastructure superior in functionality and attractiveness.
Time hygiene is about finding more time for ourselves: to think, to do what we like.
How people move around their city is a big deal. It affects productivity, security, health, and global warming, among other things.
