Engineering Generosity
Collection to inspire the book
Engineering Generosity
scarce systems do what is most likely to succeed right now, because tomorrow isn’t guaranteed. Abundant systems assume that tomorrow will be there, so it’s ok to focus on longer term goals.
Introduction to Abundant Systems
System timelines - short-term scarcity vs long-term abundance
a scarce system is one in which there are limited resources and one person in the system getting those resources means that everyone else can’t have those same resources. A zero-sum game.
Introduction to Abundant Systems
Generous people view their possessions as temporary; they are joining in a bigger story. Generous people are always looking toward the needs of others by using what they have been given. Things don’t matter; people do. They open their house to others. They open their pool for parties. They let people borrow their cars. They freely give, with no
... See moreJeff Shinabarger • More or Less: Choosing a Lifestyle of Excessive Generosity
People matter
Perhaps the most counterintuitive truth of the universe is that the more you give to others, the more you’ll get. Understanding this is the beginning of wisdom.
Kevin Kelly • 68 Bits of Unsolicited Advice
What is the value of work in a world on the cusp of automation, and how will humans redefine their relationship with it?
Our Centaur Future - A RADAR Report
Work isn’t valuable. People are. People can set a value on the work that is done, therefore, they are the most valuable piece of the equation. Work for the sake of work has no value.
Creators make money so they can make stuff, instead of the other way around.
Dr. Gena Gorlin • Fantastic Builders and Where to Find Them, 5th Installment
This is an important thing to realize.
In practice, a startup nonprofit has several important distinctions from traditional nonprofits: 1) it begins with a large goal and works backwards to identify incremental steps to achieve that goal, 2) it has an iterative, experimental mindset, and 3) it is an internet first organization.
marklutter.com • Startup Nonprofits
interesting framing. I’d been focused on the concept of eliminating the distinction between for-profit and non-profit, but this is an alternative way to examine the same problem, looking like it could have similar outcomes.
While computing power grows in exponential leaps, the pace of transition to a green economy that would cleanly fuel that growth lags far behind.
noemamag.com • Will AI Bring Plentitude or Further Imperil the Planet? | NOEMA
Incentive structures don’t map to ultimate high-value results
Each technology not only unlocks a new state of expanded acceleration (that will be hardcoded into our lives as the new basis for our survival), but will also be used as the basis for new technologies to continue that process. The vast majority of people do not experience this technology as ‘liberating’ them. Rather, they experience it as something... See more
Our Centaur Future - A RADAR Report
Because we don’t think about valuing the work to be done in the future, only the work to be done now, we don’t give people space to explore what the future holds. Instead, we stress people out by giving them vague possibilities of an uncertain future with no time to explore them. By giving people the time, space, and freedom to explore what the future might hold, they will find abundant futures that are bright and exciting. Those are the futures they will work to actively create.