VogelWorks

While I’ll continue to post on a variety of topics, I’ll focus my essays on three themes over the next few weeks.

1. The Future of the Digital Space. I’ve already set the stage for this theme.  The time has come to dive in.  This will be an epic set of essays.
2. Education. I graduated from college this past June, which marks the end of my formal education as far as I know.  Upon reflecting on my education, I wish many things had been different.Education is ripe for innovation–both structurally and technologically.  I hope people will begin to become more aware of the loss in potential caused by our current system and, further yet, begin to gain a vision for what it could be.Education is a complex and important topic.  It likely will remain an ongoing theme at VogelWorks (especially since understanding the world is a core value.)
3. Government 2.0.  While this term still means different things to different people,  Tim O’Reilly’s description gets it right; Gov 2.0 is about government “as a platform.”  You’ll find a primer on Tim’s views here: Gov 2.0: It’s About the Platform .  These thoughts are important, and I’ll spread these ideas, along with my own input and additions, as far as I’m able.

Kevin
10.3.2009

I moved VogelWorks because I had the feeling that it needed its own domain to grow.  It’s time that I gave VogelWorks a direction so it can begin its journey.

The Danger

We’re inundated with news stories, headlines, and the barrage of noise on the internet.  The danger is that we take our eye off the real value and don’t give proper attention to the important trends and ideas that will shape our perceivable future.

The One Value

A defining characteristic of any entity are the values it upholds, whether it be a company, an individual, or a something else.  As of now, VogelWorks only has one: understanding the world.

Real values aren’t fluff, they’re functional.  Focus on understanding the world delivers real value to the VogelWorks audience:

• Understanding the world is key for personal growth.
• Gaining a deeper understanding of the world increases appreciation for the world’s beauty.
• Understanding the world leads to heightened sense of the world, which, quite simply, creates greater opportunity to do good.  With heightened senses, you’re able to make better decisions for yourself, others, and the future.

Admittedly, understanding the world is quite broad, but for a value, I see no reason to impose narrower limits.

A particularly special implication of this value exists.  The most rigorous exercise in understanding the world is the attempt to understand the perceivable future.  Therefore by association, a perspective on the future is also valued here.

The Content

The world turns upon three pillars: institutions, technology, and people.  Each is distinct; each is its own animal.  People discover technologies that are already written into the fabric of the universe.  Institutions are not the sum of the people who comprise them.

These three pillars provide a framework; the content of VogelWorks falls within the space bounded by these pillars.  And from within this framework, specific themes will be chosen to focus on.

The VogelWorks Framework

VogelWorks is here to key in on significant issues, trends, and ideas–things that matter.

The Methodology

While this provides a conceptual framework, unless reduced to practice, this all means nothing.  VogelWorks needs a methodology for understanding the world to be effective.

An epidemiology professor once told me, “There’s a big difference between someone who just teaches thermodynamics, and someone who does research in thermodynamics.”  He knew what he was talking about. If you want to become educated deeply on a subject, you should tune into the community of people who are as intimately involved as you can find.

If you want to study the world, you should go to the people at the forefront of the world’s bleeding edge–people who are passionate about a subject, that ponder it deeply, that are involved, that push forward in spite of the risks, and that understand their responsibility to share their insight with the rest of us.

The Coda

I think this provides a clear understanding of the purpose of VogelWorks:

Provide a platform to further understanding  of the world.  Publish content and incite discussion on things that matter.  Engage the people intimately involved with defining the future.

Kevin
9.30.2009