It can be hard to believe that a visionary future is possible.
But take this last few months for example. What do they consist of?
A meeting at the lab, discussing the emotional framework and perspectives on research influencing the thinking of new immersive emotion concepts - exhilarating discussions with Dr. Barrett on live simulations that could experientialize the Theory of Constructed Emotion - or portable deployable scalable experiences to improve caregiver relationships - meeting with David Desteno and his lab, on out of lab experiences that could harvest insight into the social influence of environmentally minded choice making, while overcoming the Tragedy of the Commons - gave a lecture on design strategy at the Robin's School of Business - on ethnographic interview taking at the Darden School of Business - on designing for a new paradigm of connection at Charlottesville Design week - Meetings with inclusion and diversity directors of the CFA Institute, and the dean of Williams College, on immersive learning on gender awareness and racial equity experiences - knowledge deep dive from Dr. Karen Quigley about the the mechanics and measurements behind cardio-graphic data, and ambulatory physiological measurements - A lecture at the Harvard Center for European Studies by political philosopher Rainer Forst, about Kantian interpretations on alienation - A discussion on the history of emotions in language by Barbara Rosenwein - A dinner with artist Nick Cave where we talk about living in an imaginary future and immersive costumes - A long phone call with our advisor Ben Cerveny, founder of the Foundation for Public Code, where he maps out his implementing of open source data hubs in Scandinavia - Acceptance into the Byron Fellowship, where I got to meet with brilliant young and seasoned entrepreneurs working towards an exciting future - developing a project on empowering a sense of connection in NYC, with Jillian Richardson, author of Unlonely Planet, and The Joy List - receiving an award to attend SOCAP, San Francisco's annual social capital conference - invited as a keynote speaker at SOCAP - inspiring talk with our advisor Deanna Van Buren on restorative justice - giving a lecture at Creative Mornings on cultivating wonder by understanding the brain - flying the immersive gender awareness experience to the Education First Conference in Arizona, and discussing decategorization with 40 education policy makers - multiple meetings with Dallas Ducar, psychiatric lead of the Transgender health program, then sharing the experience with directors at Massachusetts General Hospital - applying for 2M in grant funding together with the lab (IASL) and the Transgender Health Program at MGH, to provide STEM learning through immersive co-design in marginalized gender expansive youth communities - discussions within our network at UCSF, on combining methods of outreach and immersive simulation as a means of perspective taking. There is no doubt that Playground of Empathy and a collaborative visionary creative of The Future is possible and coming.