Stuff for the Mars Colony

It's not difficult to find conventions and cultural artifacts that really aren't very good. For instance, the customary system of measurements, or telling time on a 24 hour clock. It's relatively easy to develop solutions, but getting them implemented is always a struggle.

The problem gets even worse when you spend time talking about big ideas with smart people. Over the last several months, my friends and I have identified quite a few examples. I've been keeping track of them as "Stuff for the Mars Colony." Here's what we have so far

• Time Scales
• Electrons are positive
• Base-12 system
• Better way to measure acidity/baseness
• Logical engineered languages
• Reasonable sleep schedule
• Standardized education terminology

I'll be doing posts about some of these over the next few weeks. The discerning reader will notice almost all of these are examples of coordination problems--a running theme we'll be exploring.