Why the Internet Makes Brainstorming Great

When I was in 2nd grade, my class took a field trip to a rural garbage treatment plant. While on the tour, we were told that the smokestacks of the plant were equipped with an electric grid of some kind that essentially knocked the more harmful particulate matter out of the smoke, resulting in a cleaner exhaust from burning garbage. (How accurate this statement was, I never did find out.) But in my 2nd-grade brain, I hatched an idea: If an electric grid could make exhaust from burning garbage clean(er), why not build a smaller version of that technology on the tailpipes of cars, thereby reducing the pollutants in their exhaust. I mentioned this to my teacher, who suggested I write a letter to an automotive company asking them this same question. I don't think I ever did write that letter. But cut me some slack; I was in 2nd grade.

This idea I had in 2nd grade possibly could never go anywhere. Did the technology the tour guide described at the plant really work the way he described it to us? Would such a thing work on a car? Could it be cheaply replicated on a miniature scale? I have no idea. And because I did not go into mechanical engineering, nor did I amass a large amount of money that I can use to fund random research projects, I am not really in a position to contribute to this idea. Also, even if I had written that letter as a 2nd-grader, chances are it would have never made it to the desk of someone in a position to investigate it.

But the really great thing about living in an age of global communication is that all the current 2nd-grade-children in the world can throw these ideas out in a public forum, where they could be seen by any Net-connected person in the world. Suppose I had been able to post my idea online in 2nd grade. Maybe it would have been picked up by someone searching for information about reducing auto pollution and who, unlike a small boy in rural Wisconsin, would be in a position to either directly investigate such a possibility or to pass it on to some engineer. Or maybe the electric-grid-on-tailpipes idea really is not feasible, but to the right person it contains the spark of an idea that could result in a useful new technology. This simple question from a person not in a position to carry it any further might be a catalyst for something worthwhile.

The Internet makes brainstorming great. Don't get me wrong: brainstorming is always great, but the Internet makes it transformative on a much larger level. Brainstorming is how we approach any problem--from "How do we feed the world" to "What should the monster look like in my horror story"--and a good brainstorming session is the first step to coming up with solutions. Not every idea in a brainstorming session is useful, but gather enough ideas and some of them are bound to be good. So just imagine the possibility of billions of people brainstorming ideas to address social problems, new technology, or even new art forms. Lots of bad ideas will get created, but more than a few good ideas are bound to come out in the process.

So what kinds of things might make Internet brainstorming useful? I have a few ideas:

1. People should write often about their skills, interests, and dilemmas. They should write constructively, but also they should not be afraid to pose questions or toss out crazy ideas. Doing this in some kind of publicly accessible forum (like a blog that can be retrieved in Web searches) boosts the possibility that an idea will drift across the right person's screen. More to the point, people should contribute to the global discussion on issues in which they have either particular knowledge or particular interest.

2. People working on a solution to a given problem should--with some regularity--do Web searches that might put them in touch with the brainstorming blog posts. Over time, people will innately standardize their language so that such posts get picked up more easily. Working on research for neural mapping? Why not do the occasional Web search for "neural mapping" and "brainstorm"? Over time, people might start seeing the terms appear together more often and start using them to get noticed. Granted, this is setting the incautious researcher up for a lot of Web results that lead nowhere. But researchers are good at finding needed information, and over time they can figure out more efficient ways to spot good ideas.

3. Websites that serve as idea banks could make Web brainstorming a new social networking phenomenon. Suppose someone created a wiki-style idea bank for automotive technology. It could have categories for different topics (Alternate fuel sources, Efficient engine design, Automated cars), and users could contribute their ideas. The site's operator could vet ideas to catch the inevitable spam and troll-ish comments.

In fact, I think the "Web idea banks" idea is great. I wonder whether anyone has thought of it....

The Worldview Shopper App

I've been thinking lately about ways that computers can help make us think better. This idea is appealing to me in part because it seems so scary to some people. The idea of having computers think for us is fodder for countless science-fiction stories, but why not have computers leverage their computational skills to do some things for us? I mean, I've yet to meet the person who fears using a calculator because a computer cannot be trusted with the precious mental activity of arithmetic.

One idea that came to be is for a program that uses recommendation systems to help us make more informed and socially responsible purchasing decisions. I started with a phrase I first heard working at Whole Foods--"You vote with your dollars"--which I have taken to heart. Every time I choose to buy Product X, I am endorsing that product and, implicitly, the model with which it is made. At the same time, every time I do not buy Product Y, I am rejecting that product and its means of production, even if I am not consciously boycotting it. For example, say I buy a pound of coffee that comes from a large corporation, is chemically treated for flavoring, is grown on former rainforest land that was clear-cut, and is prepared by workers who are paid less than a living wage. I am supporting this model, even if I am intellectually sympathetic to a rival system, like a fair-trade, organic coffee grown in small cooperatives.

I might buy (and not-buy) against my conscience for lots of reasons. Maybe I don't know about the practices of the companies involved. Maybe I don't have enough money to buy everything from companies that support my worldview. Maybe I've heard that just buying organic isn't enough and I should also consider the relative value of a local product with fewer standards in place. Too much confusing information makes it hard for me to make any kind of informed choice, and easy to just go with what is cheapest or most readily available. And I know that, in the process, I am propping up the kinds of business models I disagree with, but I don't have the ability to process all these details to shop smarter.

However, who does have the ability to process all those things? My computer. So here's my idea for a "worldview shopper" app:

When I first sign in to this app, I fill out my profile. It includes information like where I live, how much I am willing to spend each month on different types of goods (food staples, beverages, toiletries, transportation, etc.). Then it gives me a questionnaire to determine my social view. The questionnaire might include things like "I think small, worker-owned businesses are better than large corporations," or "Buying local products is more important than buying organic products," and I can agree or disagree. All of these choices are things I can go back and revise at will.

Then the program collates this information and gathers recommendations on products I should buy to support my worldview. It can do this because the participating companies have tagged their products according to a set of business models, and those tags have been verified by an external agency. The program shows me which products support my ideals in a ranked order, so I can see what will be the most effective item to purchase. It even includes a pseudo-shopping cart, where I can plan out, say, my grocery shopping so I know I am not overspending in the store. And I can sort items by price as well as fidelity to my worldview. I can buy the one good that is 100% in line with my beliefs, even if it costs more, and save money on something that is 80% in line with my beliefs but is on sale.

My worldview shopper app does not force me to buy one thing or another, it just helps me make sense of a bunch of information I would probably never bother to learn on my own, but that if I did know, I would clearly use. And it could evaluate many different factors (organic vs. conventional prep, how the company treats its employees, maybe even which political or social groups the company donates money to), and show how close the aggregate of these details is to my beliefs. If Netflix can tell that I like horror movies with a strong female lead (and I do!), then my social shopper app could also show how my spending can support companies that promote diversity in the workplace.

Postscript: It is entirely possible that someone has already built an app along these lines and I have just not seen it yet. I originally called this my "social shopper" app, but I see that term is already in use for apps that make shopping easier in the age of social networking. I did not want to cause confusion.