The H(app)athon Project Video Introduction from The H(app)athon Project on Vimeo.

This fall, H(app)athon is coming to Boulder as a happiness challenge with Somerville, Mass. We're excited to be part of the compitition. Bring it on, Somerville!

As advocates for conversation that create change, VHG would like to say, kudos to you Mr. Dorsey. Kudos. 

Director of the MIT Center for Digital Business, Erik Brynjolfsson presented a much more optimistic argument in his TED Talk, "The Key to Growth? Race with the Machines". Brynjolfsson says that innovation builds on top of "general purpose technologies", like computers, and as a result, productivity is at an all time high. The problem with this is that a de-coupling has developed between productivity and jobs. Technology has raced ahead of us, and it is our "great challenge" to learn how to "race with the machine".

These two men's arguments both end with challenges: one, to match the innovations of the past, and the other to continue to innovate and catch-up with modern technology. Brynjolfsson's argument, however seems more relevant to a world where technology is growing at an exponential rate. Gordon asks us to compare today's advancements to those of the past, but we don't yet know the full effects and potential of modern innovation. Big Data, the Internet of Everything and renewable energy are opportunities for U.S. economic growth and innovation, not the death of it. 

After taking a closer look, however, one can identity a major problem: the decrease in biological diversity in the world's agriculture. What does that mean? Well,  Dr. Cary Fowler, the Executive Director of the Global Crop Diversity Trust and long-time biodiversity activist, discusses its importance in his TED Talk: "One seed at a time, protecting the future of food".

Dr. Fowler explains that we should be concerned about the biodiversity of food because thousands of species of fruit, wheat and rice are going extinct each year. Some would argue that those stains are "undesirable", in that they are smaller or don't taste as good. So why keep them? Dr. Fowler would explain that a skimpy, "undesirable" strain of apples could have that one trait that allows it to grow in extreme or abnormal conditions. Since we're living in an era of climate change, such unknown traits are more important than ever.  As Dr. Fowler says, “You don’t look in the eyes of a carrot seed quite in the way you do a panda bear, but it’s very important diversity.”

Hopefully, this "boutique" image around sustainable energy in the United States will change in the next 20 years or so. According to several studies, and the New York Times Sunday Review, it is scientifically and economically possible to power the U.S. using renewable energy. In fact, a team of Stanford engineers recently published a proposal showing how the state of New York could be fully powered by renewable energy by the year 2030. The problem arises when we can't accept the benefits of renewable energy socially and politically.

We seem to have accepted the inaccurate montra that says we need oil and we have no other options. This just isn't true. Countries like Spain, Portugal, Denmark and Germany all produce more than 20% of their energy from renewable sources. Even our northern neighbor, Canada, has managed to produce 63% of their power from renewable sources, mostly from hydraulics. 

These countries' efforts to move towards more sustainable energy sources are impressive and trail blazing, making it even more inexcusable for the for the U.S. not to follow suit.  

"Gardening is my graffitti. I grow my art." - Ron Finley

Below is a short excerpt from Kelley's interview with Charlie Rose on 60 Minutes.  At the end of the clip, Kelley profoundly concludes, "If you think of yourself as being creative, then you can create a new future." 

The full interview covers David’s pioneering work in design thinking, co-founding IDEO and Stanford’s d.school, and his ’54 Chevy pickup truck.