TED Talk: Open-Sourced Blueprint for Civilization by Marcin Jakubowski

The ideas that come out through TED continue to amaze me. And this is just a 4 minute video!

Marcin Jakubowski has a project called the Global Village Construction Set, which aims to provide all know-how necessary for constructing basic tools needed to sustain a small farming community. I can imagine that the potential for helping less developed countries through information like this is immense.

Building a tractor or bulldozer for yourself in a workshop sounds less cost-efficient than buying one created in a factory, but the project claims their products are 8 times less expensive. This seems due to keeping the design simple and matching small scale farming needs. Keeping parts modular and building everything locally will allow for lower long term maintenance as well.

I would hope a project like this will be backed by international development assistance organizations like UNDP.

To me, this project shows the power of what highly skilled, intelligent, and socially responsible persons can begin to achieve. It is the antithesis of highly skilled and intelligent persons who cannot see beyond personal interest or corporate profit. I don't have a project like this that I am directly involved in yet, but I hope to do more; and I definitely want my students to see how important this is.