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.
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