World-builders update
12 Aug 10 Uncategorized (0)
World-building
05 Jul 10 World Building (0)
A business to change the world
03 Jul 10 World Building (0)
On convention
25 May 10 Unconvention (3)
World-builders update
Haven’t posted in a while… just want to say that world-builders is still in the works, should be getting started on it in the next couple of months. I’m currently working on setting up a driving school (long story as to why I picked it) – www.noyellingdrivingschool.com.au – check out the site. My goal is basically to get it running smoothly within the next couple of months so that I can have some monetary backing to fund my eating/drinking/partying/sleeping habits while I start world-builders. I’m going to be starting it with my friend Kerrin English, who currently owns www.tallpoppytutors.com.au – the company that I co-founded with him, but have since left.
Anyway, just a polite little update.
Matt
World-building
What is world-building?? And why is it important?!?!
World-building is, put simply, enacting positive change on the world. It is identifying serious issues on our planet, teaming up with like-minded individuals, and tackling these issues head-on.
Some obvious issues:
- World hunger
- War
- Education
Some less obvious:
- The typical lifestyle – 40+ hour work weeks, poor nutrition and health, depression, divorce.
- The dilution of real communication in our world. When Paris Hilton is a headline on the news, you know there is a problem. We need more thought-provoking and stimulating communication in our world.
- Lack of support for those wanting to achieve big things.
These issues are in many ways interrelated, and solutions to any particular one would likely propagate in such a way as to address others.
As I mentioned in my previous post, there aren’t many resources out there that promote world-building at a foundational level. This is a problem, as without the foundations for fixing the world, the world will not improve. Small fixes are exactly that. Fixes.
In my opinion, an environment that effectively facilitates world-building would be comprised of the following:
- Educational resources that provide a solid-knowledge base for an individual world-builder.
- A communication medium through which world-builders can effectively identify and tackle world-building projects.
- A means of amassing support for these projects, be it actual ‘supporters’ or monetary backing.
I want to provide the foundation for great projects that legitimately improve the world, be it improving the average person’s lifestyle, promoting ‘having fun’, or providing places for real communication (virtually and physically). All of it is relevant and important, and often overlooked.
A business to change the world
The last year of my life has been rather eye-opening. I started an Australia-wide tutoring company with my friend Kerrin, went traveling to Latvia and Germany, quit said tutoring company (for various reasons), and now I’m sitting here planning to start something much more rewarding, far-reaching, and world-changing.
Before going into details, I’d like to briefly discuss the most important thing I’ve learned in the last year or so of my short life.
That people are infinitely more important than money
This statement applies to both lifestyle and world-building (the term I use for enacting positive change in the world). The people in your life are what/who make your life what it is. The best times in your life will be surrounded by people who you love, who make you laugh, who make an otherwise boring situation highly entertaining and fun. Moreover, money does not change the world. People do. People have to identify and work on a problem to fix it. Money is only one of the tools at their disposal, and I truly believe that it is one of the least important tools where world-building is concerned. Amazing ideas, masterful execution, dynamic team work; all of these are far far far more important than money when it comes to enacting positive global change.
On to why I wrote this post….
A business to change the world
I want to start something that empowers people out there to reach the perspective that I am so grateful to have developed. I want to provide people with the most useful and relevant information and resources for world-building. I want to make a space where people can interact with others who desire change in our world. I want a place where the greatest minds in the world can come together to legitimately make a big difference. A place where people care about improving world education and health. Where gifted and talented individuals can make the most of their incredible minds, extending and enriching themselves so that they can leverage their talents to achieve something amazing.
The logistics of how this is to be achieved are yet to be set in stone, but I’m thinking some sort of web-based resource, potentially tying in with the Diaspora project that has begun recently (an open social network).
p.s. subscribe via RSS for updates… email me at matt.wsw at gmail dot com if you’d like to… finally, I plan on starting a kickstarter.com project shortly, so I will keep all updated.
p.p.s this is a rather succinct introduction to my plans… will flesh it out much more in a post soon.
On convention
I’m really beginning this blog to record and make sense of my thoughts on life and living. I love life and I love living, however, I feel that many people severely limit their happiness by getting caught up in convention. I don’t feel that convention is bad by definition, I simply feel that many of the conventions we laud and embrace make us less happy individuals, and are rationalised only through tradition and precedent.
For this reason, I am going to attempt to document some of my views in this post, with the hope of extending on some of the ideas in weeks/months/years to come.
To begin, let’s define convention.
From trusty wikipedia:
A convention is a set of agreed, stipulated or generally accepted standards, norms, social norms or criteria, often taking the form of a custom.
An example of convention is given by Google Dictionary:
“It’s just a social convention that men don’t wear skirts.”
Now, I’m not arguing that men should wear skirts (though they would no doubt be quite comfortable), but what I am arguing is that as individuals, we need to reflect upon and rationalise conventions before accepting them as true or acceptable.
We’ll often note injustice or idiocy in society, and though it may anger us, few do anything about it. Our goals are set too low, following conventional life paths with rare moments of excitement or real achievement, and though this is perpetuated largely by a money-oriented society, we are nevertheless embracing mediocrity for no reason other than tradition. Question everything, big and small, and don’t accept anything based on tradition alone. Start defining your own frameworks for living, preferably one’s centred on happiness and personal fulfillment, rather than money and more money.
My later posts will focus in on specific conventions and potential alternatives, and I encourage you to submit your own ideas and critiques.
World-builders update
Haven’t posted in a while… just want to say that world-builders is still in the works, should be getting started on it in the next couple of months. I’m currently working on setting up a driving school (long story as to why I picked it) – www.noyellingdrivingschool.com.au – check out the site. My goal is basically to get it running smoothly within the next couple of months so that I can have some monetary backing to fund my eating/drinking/partying/sleeping habits while I start world-builders. I’m going to be starting it with my friend Kerrin English, who currently owns www.tallpoppytutors.com.au – the company that I co-founded with him, but have since left.
Anyway, just a polite little update.
Matt
World-building
What is world-building?? And why is it important?!?!
World-building is, put simply, enacting positive change on the world. It is identifying serious issues on our planet, teaming up with like-minded individuals, and tackling these issues head-on.
Some obvious issues:
- World hunger
- War
- Education
Some less obvious:
- The typical lifestyle – 40+ hour work weeks, poor nutrition and health, depression, divorce.
- The dilution of real communication in our world. When Paris Hilton is a headline on the news, you know there is a problem. We need more thought-provoking and stimulating communication in our world.
- Lack of support for those wanting to achieve big things.
These issues are in many ways interrelated, and solutions to any particular one would likely propagate in such a way as to address others.
As I mentioned in my previous post, there aren’t many resources out there that promote world-building at a foundational level. This is a problem, as without the foundations for fixing the world, the world will not improve. Small fixes are exactly that. Fixes.
In my opinion, an environment that effectively facilitates world-building would be comprised of the following:
- Educational resources that provide a solid-knowledge base for an individual world-builder.
- A communication medium through which world-builders can effectively identify and tackle world-building projects.
- A means of amassing support for these projects, be it actual ‘supporters’ or monetary backing.
I want to provide the foundation for great projects that legitimately improve the world, be it improving the average person’s lifestyle, promoting ‘having fun’, or providing places for real communication (virtually and physically). All of it is relevant and important, and often overlooked.
A business to change the world
The last year of my life has been rather eye-opening. I started an Australia-wide tutoring company with my friend Kerrin, went traveling to Latvia and Germany, quit said tutoring company (for various reasons), and now I’m sitting here planning to start something much more rewarding, far-reaching, and world-changing.
Before going into details, I’d like to briefly discuss the most important thing I’ve learned in the last year or so of my short life.
That people are infinitely more important than money
This statement applies to both lifestyle and world-building (the term I use for enacting positive change in the world). The people in your life are what/who make your life what it is. The best times in your life will be surrounded by people who you love, who make you laugh, who make an otherwise boring situation highly entertaining and fun. Moreover, money does not change the world. People do. People have to identify and work on a problem to fix it. Money is only one of the tools at their disposal, and I truly believe that it is one of the least important tools where world-building is concerned. Amazing ideas, masterful execution, dynamic team work; all of these are far far far more important than money when it comes to enacting positive global change.
On to why I wrote this post….
A business to change the world
I want to start something that empowers people out there to reach the perspective that I am so grateful to have developed. I want to provide people with the most useful and relevant information and resources for world-building. I want to make a space where people can interact with others who desire change in our world. I want a place where the greatest minds in the world can come together to legitimately make a big difference. A place where people care about improving world education and health. Where gifted and talented individuals can make the most of their incredible minds, extending and enriching themselves so that they can leverage their talents to achieve something amazing.
The logistics of how this is to be achieved are yet to be set in stone, but I’m thinking some sort of web-based resource, potentially tying in with the Diaspora project that has begun recently (an open social network).
p.s. subscribe via RSS for updates… email me at matt.wsw at gmail dot com if you’d like to… finally, I plan on starting a kickstarter.com project shortly, so I will keep all updated.
p.p.s this is a rather succinct introduction to my plans… will flesh it out much more in a post soon.
On convention
I’m really beginning this blog to record and make sense of my thoughts on life and living. I love life and I love living, however, I feel that many people severely limit their happiness by getting caught up in convention. I don’t feel that convention is bad by definition, I simply feel that many of the conventions we laud and embrace make us less happy individuals, and are rationalised only through tradition and precedent.
For this reason, I am going to attempt to document some of my views in this post, with the hope of extending on some of the ideas in weeks/months/years to come.
To begin, let’s define convention.
From trusty wikipedia:
A convention is a set of agreed, stipulated or generally accepted standards, norms, social norms or criteria, often taking the form of a custom.
An example of convention is given by Google Dictionary:
“It’s just a social convention that men don’t wear skirts.”
Now, I’m not arguing that men should wear skirts (though they would no doubt be quite comfortable), but what I am arguing is that as individuals, we need to reflect upon and rationalise conventions before accepting them as true or acceptable.
We’ll often note injustice or idiocy in society, and though it may anger us, few do anything about it. Our goals are set too low, following conventional life paths with rare moments of excitement or real achievement, and though this is perpetuated largely by a money-oriented society, we are nevertheless embracing mediocrity for no reason other than tradition. Question everything, big and small, and don’t accept anything based on tradition alone. Start defining your own frameworks for living, preferably one’s centred on happiness and personal fulfillment, rather than money and more money.
My later posts will focus in on specific conventions and potential alternatives, and I encourage you to submit your own ideas and critiques.
Useful Links
