alternative futures: the carriers - part 1 (DRAFT)

this is the beginning of another alternative futures story draft.

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synchroncity and déjà vu

a few weeks ago on a call with some of the alternative futures collective, abe mentioned an idea that stuck with me. i can’t remember if it was a question or a statement, but the gist of the idea was that maybe everything can be explained with fiction or non-fiction writing. since he said that, i’ve been looking at all sorts of things through that lens: if i’m reading non-fiction i think “i wonder what it would take to make these same points in a fiction form.” as i’ve thought more about it, i do think there are some things that are better for one purpose or another, but the line for that is blurry.

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multiculturalism and the idea that all life is interaction

back near the end of show about race, tanner kept raising a question about whether or not wanting a multicultural society is elitist. his main argument, which he got from a book he read, was basically that travel far from home is an activity that mostly elites have the opportunity to do. therefore, tribal instincts remain stronger among non-elites because they literally don’t get to see or interact with people different from them often. i couldn’t tell if he was being genuinely curious or disengenuous, but i’ll give him the benefit of the doubt. that question does hold water: what if multiculturalism really is a drive that comes from elites? would that change how social change makers see their work?

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anil dash on the evolution of false markets via the internet

around 29 minutes into anil dash’s interview on design matters he talks about this fascinating and terrifying trend. because he lays it out so brilliantly, i’m just going to rehash his points as i understood them.

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pádraig ó tuama and carlo rovelli on here

sometimes when i first hear something, it just floats by me. well, i guess it doesn’t float “by,” but it definitely doesn’t stick out as important. i suppose it gets processed and internalized, but just remains idle. but then, when another thought that’s relevant comes bombarding in, it lights up that other idea and makes it pop. i don’t know if that happens to anyone else, but this post is a recent example of this occurrence (although to not take too much credit i should be clear that krista made this specific connection in the episode herself this does happen at other times, too).

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