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Dmytro Taranovsky
July 29, 2002; Last Modified: September 7, 2002
This document describes some aspects of how the society should work and why. The emphasis is on simple changes from the current society.
Food:
Current Problem: The food most Americans eat is bad for
health--it has insufficient nutrients and too many calories.
Restaurant food is expensive (and much of it is still bad for
health). Cooking food is time consuming (especially if the food is
to be tasty and with variety), requires special equipment (kitchen),
and special knowledge.
Solution: Experts will develop combinations of foods that
are nutritionally complete, that is have all nutrients in the correct
amounts. Such combinations are mass produced to justify the
initial investment on their development and keep the costs low.
Since the number of acceptable combinations is very large, by selecting
appropriate combinations, healthy food would be cheap, tasty, and have a
large variety. Food sales tax will depend on how good the food is
for health.
Transportation:
Current Problem: Travel is required to go to work, to shop,
to meet people, and for entertainment. Travel often requires
cars. Cars are expensive to own and require special maintenance;
traffic congestion makes safe driving impossible. Public
transportation often does not meet the requirements. Taxis require
special ordering and waiting and are expensive because of the large
time investment on the part of the driver.
Solution: A comprehensive public transportation system
will be developed. Such system will also solve road congestion,
reduce the waste of driving time, and greatly reduce air
pollution. Telecommunication will replace some of the need for
transportation.
Services:
Current Problem: Services are not cheap and are either very
expensive or of low quality. Product prices are inflated because
of the human services involved with the products.
Solution: The problem is one of the most difficult and
important porblems for the twenty-first century. However,
improving basic education and access to knowledge, streamlining and
automation of services, and separation of products from services will
alleviate the problem.
Knowledge:
Current Problem: Although humans have discovered so much
knowledge, knowledge is often very difficult to find. Technical
knowledge requires a very long preparation. Internet has much
information but websites are often of low quality; webpages sometimes
disappear.
Solution: A comprehensive and logical knowledge base will
be compiled. The knowledge base will allow quick searching and
acquisition of knowledge. Unneeded interdependencies of technical
knowledge will be greatly reduced. The government shall subside
private discovery of information and high quality informative websites.
Archiving of internet preserves disappearing
websites (along with multimedia content). Books are preserved by
scanning and then distributing electronic copies. Digital copies
of audio and video are preserved (in a readable and not copy "protected"
format). Software, including games, is preserved through
archiving (with copy "protection" removed so that the software can be
used), preferably on the internet. Emulation is used to make
non-native software workable. (Lack of archiving would cause
irreparable loss of knowledge.)
Education:
Current problem: Education takes a very long time to
complete. Despite twelve years of schooling, most Americans lack
much of basic knowledge. Learning often requires unneeded detailed
knowledge, long meaningless practice sessions, and understanding poorly
written (low information density, and/or imprecise and with explanation
gaps) texts.
Solution: Textbooks should be logically and compactly written
to convey enough knowledge. The curriculum should be comprehensive
and cover all basic knowledge. Learning should consist of
learning of information, practice of knowledge, and development of
thinking skills. Learning should be done at individual pace. Most
practice must be individually customized because of the large
differences in relative learning abilities and preferences.
Special sessions are used to encourage logical thought and creativity.
Teachers should answer questions, guide practice of knowledge, provide
opportunities for further study for interested students, and assess the
students. Most education (starting with time that this
choice becomes feasible) should involve computer for easy selection of
information, powerful presentation of information, interactivity, and
relatively easy communication. High school diploma should reflect
achievement of basic knowledge plus reasonable achievement of
student-chosen additional knowledge.
Practice should be used primarily for
internalization of knowledge and development of (subconscious) skills.
All significant knowledge should be easily available in the
ordinary form instead of just through practice.
Learning from textbooks and from computers should be used to save costs.
Clothing:
Current Problem: People spend much money on clothing; yet,
the clothing is often inconvenient. Clothing has unneeded
qualities and messages. Convenient clothing may be difficult to
find. Some clothing is expensive.
Note: The problem is relatively minor.
Solution: Clothing is clearly separated into normal and
additional clothing. Normal clothing is clearly separated by
type. Normal clothing is designed to serve its physical
function-to shield skin, to protect from cold, to protect from pressure
of contact with a hard object, etc. Normal clothing should not
cause undue restraints on movement. When the purpose of clothing
is simply to cover skin, then the clothing should be thin, flexible, and
of a smooth texture not irritating to the skin. Shoes (including
sandals) should be designed for convenience of movement. Normal
clothing is carefully designed and then mass produced to keep prices
low. Additional clothing is used to serve fashions.