Editor’s Note: This article was originally written for The Literate Epoch in 2014 at a time when Chicago Time Exchange was experiencing a revival and is the product of a timebank trade for which I received tickets to the show. It was my initial introduction to our local timebank at the time and may be credited as one catalyst for my …
Nicholas Christakis: The hidden influence of social networks
“Our experience of the world depends on the actual structure of the networks in which we’re residing and on all the kinds of things that ripple and flow through the network. Now, the reason, I think, that this is the case is that human beings assemble themselves and form a kind of superorganism. Now, a superorganism is a collection of …
On Social Commons: Timebanking in Barcelona
How best to restore the social commons in a way which creates a deeper interaction between altruism and economics? Build a complementary community currency which straddles the nexus between assisting a neighbor and incentivizing participation in broader community. This is timebanking where we restore connections to community and expand our capacity for empathy. We need a common infrastructure where we …