Colten Jackson Log

March 10, 2014

Morning

Woke up and made a pot of coffee, collaboratively planned a breakfast. Basically made a pot of eggs to feed 12. Put on the Bandcamp Weekly radio for some tunes. Always have some chill music going, why not?

Made another pot of coffee. Learned what "bulletproof coffee" is. Butter in your coffee? It's supposed to prevent any kind of coffee-related-indigestion. I didn't try it.

Enjoyed hearing about Marcin's big ideas of what the Factor E Farm will be. Got my mind going - for those of us in college, this might be the first real hands-on project planning-and-execution we've ever done. As I participated in the enginnering/design process for a soil pulverizer, I thought to myself, "how could you ever decide you're going to university to be an engineer if you never had the opportunity to be on an engineering team first, to see if you enjoy it. Other "global villages" can offer an auxiliary education, learning a lot of skills you're probably not going to learn in a classroom. I've found you retain new knowledge way better if you have a project you need that knowledge for - everyone here is dedicated to progressing the projects at Factor E Farm, and so we're going to be more focused on learning whatever we can to help.

Oh! Had a thought provoked by Marcin explaining that the Global Village Construction Set isn't just for starting in the middle of nowhere, but potentially as an alternative to suburban housing developments: instead of neighborhoods designed to consume, this is one designed to produce: energy, food, new inventions. A neighborhood designed to produce things of value, to always progress and become re-invented over time. I think it sounds like a much more fulfilling way to live.

I've often found myself wondering about this strange dynamic between urban and rural cities that has existed ever since we started farming the fields and concentrating our population in city centers. The political and military might of the city protects the peasants, and is reliant on the food the create, but there's always been strife there. Peasants that feel they're completely self-sufficient, what do they need a city for? The city has existed to facilitate the flow of goods (trade, cultural exchange), but also to concentrate wealth. So the rural livelihood has become increasingly associated with poverty. I see the GVCS as a way to buck that trend - whether you're in the country or the city, you can be self-sufficient, and also a part of a global network trading ideas - even trading items online, through sharing the CAD files or designs that can be 3D printed (or knitted!)