Law, Government, & Politics
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The issue: When selecting an individual for a job, an unavoidable aspect of the process is the physical appearance of the candidate. A job candidate might be unfairly penalized because of preconceptions about their age / sex / race / etc. Not only is this unfair to the candidate, but the overall situation also opens…
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Background: Certain mountains require that climbers obtain a permit before embarking. Sometimes these can be expensive, but rarely is any mountaineering competency required. Everest permits, which are issued by the government of Nepal, cost approximately $10,000 (Wikipedia link). The issue: If too many people are crowded onto a narrow high-altitude route, disaster can result from…
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Background: In order to support technological progress, many people are willing to endure great hardships. The issue: For example, most Americans are willing to drive for 30–60 minutes every day on their commute, just so that they can help create a market for new types of transportation [*]. One might imagine that a person in…
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Background: Copyright laws are generally over 100 years from the creation of a work. For example, a book written in 2020 will not be part of the public domain until after the year 2120. The issue: But if extending copyright so long is good, why is it that we allow it to expire at all?…
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Background: Many years ago, only the elite members of society were literate. In some places, it was even ILLEGAL for commoners / peasants / slaves to be literate, for example: 1500s Korea: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hangul#Opposition 1800s America: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-literacy_laws_in_the_United_States Proposal: Now that we are allegedly in a more enlightened era, there is no way to use the alphabet…
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Background: Every US state has a flag. But only a few states have an icon—something immediately recognizable (and ideally, easily drawn and memorable). For an example of icons, we can look at Japan’s provinces (or “prefectures”), nearly all of which are represented by a distinctive single-color icon (Figure 1). Proposal: The proposal is as follows:…
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Background: Taxis in many cities operate under what is called a “medallion system” (Figure 1), whereby the supply of taxis is limited by a fixed quantity of tokens (“medallions”) that are issued in controlled quantities by the city. Proposal: For some reason, almost nothing else is regulated in this manner. But there are other services…
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Background: In the Western custom known as “the handshake,” two individuals greet each other by smooshing their hands together, transmitting every disease (Figure 1). Additionally, this custom can serve as a mini-battle between people with differing ideas of handshake firmness. Fig 1: A clammy and moist hand is offered for your approval. The issue: There…
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Background: Many web sites require a user to agree to a long and incomprehensible “terms of service” before they can use the site. Since these contracts are dozens (or hundreds) of pages, everyone just scrolls to the end and clicks “AGREE.” (See two examples in Figure 1). While you’d think that a company could slip…
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One trick of common courtesy that would give you a new sense of satisfaction from paying your taxes!
Background: It’s always polite to write a thank-you note when you get a gift. Especially if it’s a large sum of money! For example, a thank-you note from a child might look like this: “Dear Grandma, thanks for the money for my birthday. I used it to buy a bicycle. Here’s a picture… (etc).” Proposal:…
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