Really inspiring presentation today from the Timebanks group. Edgar Cahn was wonderful to listen to. In reading about the Timebanks project I really feel that there will be room in our society for the reassertion of importance of the “core economy” — that is a socially agreed upon value of home, family, and community. I mentioned in a very brief chat with Mr. Cahn that as labor continues to become more mechanized and automated, our culture will have more time to assess the value of this core economy. He replied that the robots wont be able to do it all, that our culture needs to value looking after each other. I couldn’t agree more. Nima and I had a really interesting conversation about how to bridge the virtual and data analytics with the physical world. We talked about projects we had done outside of our lab, and began thinking about ways to realize data in a physical, tangible, concrete way, one that could have a benefit in an underserved community. We also began to talk about how analytics and nature could interface in a way that would result in something that could benefit a community. How about an environmentally aware (weather, season, location, user preference) seed dispenser for community gardens? Like a data-analytic empowered version of a Seedbomb dispenser, but equipped with fruit and veggie seeds for a nearby garden or park.
