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freeideas.net


There’s a quote I like from architect Christopher Alexander:

“Really one of the very largest problems that is facing the Earth just now is rarely mentioned—and that is the spread of ugliness.”

In some ways, I think Alexander is right. (Many things about modern life are better, but it is hard to argue that the things we make today are more aesthetically beautiful).

I’d like to add an extra angle: Alexander’s quote would be just as true if it said “the spread of boringness.” Boring-ness, same-ness, ugly-ness—these things are like viruses. If a hundred other people make ugly things and watch boring movies and start boring companies then it’s easier for you to do so, too. [0]

There are so many ways to make the world a better place, but I think one of them would be to introduce more interesting ideas. [1] More fun, creative, interesting ideas.

So, once a week for the past year, I’ve been sending out ideas to a group that’s grown to about a thousand people. Ideas like:

  • WhosMyBoss: Job board sorted by hiring manager instead of role, because your manager determines your experience.
  • Duolingo but for accents: App that trains you to speak in specific accents.
  • Beef License: Like a driver’s license, but to get it you have to kill a cow. The license lets you eat beef.
  • Writing hackathon: competitive event where people produce books or essays in short periods
  • Pressed: An app that tracks your typing, like Strava for writing productivity.
  • Troll Road: Toll both where an animatronic troll asks you a riddle that you must answer correctly before you can pass.
  • Text Time Machine: App that pulls up random text conversations you had 10 years ago so you can stay humble.
  • Master Credit Card: Enter all your credit cards and it automatically chooses the most optimal one for each purchase.
  • Eating competition but everyone is on Ozempic: Because it’s harder to force yourself to eat when you are biologically induced to feel fuller.
  • Midlife Crisis: Enforce that everyone has a mini-retirement for a year, maybe when they’re 43 or so. Social security can pay out during this time.
  • Your Top Priority: Computer that shows your top priority in the top right of your screen at all times.
  • Under 6 Foot Basketball League: Pro basketball league where only players under 6 feet can compete (to give more opportunity to shorter players).

So far, I have sent out more than 300 ideas. People have also submitted their own.

I finally put all of those ideas on a platform, and you can check it out here: freeideas.net.

On freeideas.net you can:

  • Upvote your favorite ideas
  • Submit your own
  • Subscribe to get the weekly email

Are some of these ideas ridiculous? Sure. But none of them, I hope, are very boring.

Disclaimer: if you would not like the world to be a more interesting place, we do not recommend subscribing to freeideas.net

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[0] Luckily, the world is a mirror, and you can always find interesting-ness if you look for it.

[1] Of course things like death, murder, poverty, cancer, oppression, etc. are all more important to solve than coming up with fun, creative, interesting ideas. But we can do both.


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