Inspiring sessions this morning. Grant McCracken was over my head, but Barry Schwartz argued persuasively that more choices make us less happy and paralyze us, in big ways and small. He says what makes us happy is not freedom but connection to other people. When we connect deeply with other people it ultimately limits our options -- we must think not only of what we want, but what will work for our counterpart. Sometimes constraints make our lives substantively better. He said it much better. I think I will buy his book.
Ethan Zuckerman then talked about Africa -- getting folks online in Africa, and why it matters. Also how to get the media to pay attention to places beyond the usual hotspots. And David Bornstein is talking about social entrepreneurship and the social change models used by successful entrepreneurs -- micro loans, networks, connectivity, etc. It's not just about charisma of social change leaders. There are blueprints for specific kinds of "business models" for social change -- so it is easier than ever before to use successful models to implement and affect social change. He, too, is saying it better than my paraphrase. Cool.
On an unrelated note, thanks for having lunch -- and for convincing me to post something about Pop!Tech even if it's not my usual subject matter!
Posted by: Rachel | October 23, 2004 at 02:26 PM