We’re in the middle of an intense political season in the United States, in which those of us who are politically engaged become hyper-aware of those who are not. The cynicism about the ability of our political process to make any kind of meaningful change for people’s lives is both well-earned and misplaced.
Read MoreMaybe losing
cynicism is like anything else, somewhat smaller than faith,
perhaps on the order of sips or kisses, nothing like
the imploring romanticism of clouds
as they appear in the south, large and fluffy.
—Barbara Ras
Read More
We aren’t prepared for the kinds of multi-layered transformations we’re going through right now.
Let’s start with us personally. We’re being asked to change on multiple levels: to switch up our personal behavior in response to a pandemic (wear masks, avoid activities we normally enjoy), while reconciling the negative roles we may have played in a perpetuating racism. (And that’s only in the last couple of months.) Our social context is collapsing in on itself, as we ingest and respond to massive amounts of data in practically real time.
As many have written, our brains simply aren’t wired for this.
Read MoreImportant new research from Pew on how experts predict digital innovation will affect democracy between now and 2030.
Lots of very interesting findings—and disagreements—but a few I honed in on:
Read MoreIn the past few years, I’ve been very interested in the critiques of design thinking and human-centered design more broadly—which mostly focus on the empathy part of the design-thinking process, i.e. whether I, as a white man, can ever truly design for the experiences of marginalized communities.
Read More