[-empyre-] Individual Process Innovation Could Result from Well-Harnessed Human Interest

[Britta Riley]

Henry Warwick says, "One gallon of gasoline is equal to a month of labor by
a human in peak condition"

Rebecca points out that digital communication has brought the individual new
power to circumvent bottlenecks in infrastructure.

Tim asks why "users are required to move through, lean under, bend around
various tubes, screens, tanks, and systems in order to experience the
[DrinkPeeDrinkPeeDrinkPee] piece," as they have to do on the internet.

I wonder if human interest isn't one of the most powerful unharnessed
commodities we've got. What if we got it to the point of peak extraction?

R &D could be an individual mindset, not a just an institutional term. Right
now, we are still relying on the R & D departments of large organizations to
solve environmental problems. These organizations cannot create anything
revolutionary because they are looking at all of us at once. Also, having
these problems rest in the hands of scientists and reserachers whose work is
most often funded if it leads to a saleable product destines us for more
products, rather than more effective processes.

Infrastructure has dealt with human interest thus far in a prescriptive
manner. "We don't care what you think or want, this is how things are going
to be done."

By virtue regarding large scale infrastructure as the only way to go, we
cripple our own efforts. The scientists at Novaquatis, whose work was an
influence on the design of our DIY kits, are designing a system to solve an
environmental problem that will itself create a huge amount of inflexible
waste itself. They are planning to implement new toilets that separate urine
from feces and send them through two new sewage networks to two different
treatment plants. They will then sell the fertilizer back to the people who
literally created it through a chain of middlemen.

Now, assuredly, not everyone is going to want to use our DIY kit to filter
their urine, every time they pee, but a few really smart folks out there
might hear about the idea and have their interest piqued. Then, maybe they
will find new ways of implementing it under the constraints of their own
situation and maybe they'll share their findings.

In our design work, especially with anything digital, Rebecca and I often
have to think about the fickle nature of human interest and its consequences
on the motivation to do something/participate. We often have to ask
ourselves, "Will another human being be interested enough in this subject
matter or way of doing things to contribute their own efforts? If not, how
can we get them interested" Sometimes the question is, "How can we reward
scientists for contributing content to this institutions' public website
when they are far more motivated to publish in scientific journals?"  The
challenge we face may boil down more to brokering exchanges, creating
engaging communities of interested individuals around issues, and becoming
social entrepreneurs, rather than making new stuff.

Our DrinkPeeDrinkPeeDrinkPee work is part of an ongoing study to find
universals in what gets people jazzed.

I wonder, how many units of R & D innovation are the equivalent of a month
of labor by a human at peak interest.

-- 
Britta Riley
submersibledesign.com
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