Freethink

It's FREE! "What's wrong with it?" 27 million likes on TikTok. A $0.00 product. How does the ‘FreeWater’ company work? What is your attention worth? FreeWater is begging us to rethink our current economic model by passing out completely free water bottles that leverage advertising on their packaging to cover the cost. This concept challenges the conventional notion of monetizing resources and advocates for a paradigm shift toward accessible goods, looking to expand into other products, vending machines, and even become “the Whole Foods of free product.” What if we could move away from scarcity-centered economics towards a more inclusive, socially beneficial framework, with water distribution serving as an initial stepping stone? #freewater #freestuff #marketing #socialexperiment

Could robots end food waste?

From climate to healthcare, the world’s biggest challenges demand bold new solutions. We partnered with The Skoll Foundation to share how social innovation is proving that when communities lead the way, change is not only possible—it’s lasting.

"How would a historian in 50 or 100 years talk about what's taking place around us today?" — Peter Leyden Introducing our newest Freethink Voice: Peter Leyden. Read the first edition of The Great Progression: https://lnkd.in/g5uitXcu

We're using our streets all wrong. @Blaine Merker @Ewa Westermark

How do we balance the speed of progress with potential risks? Jason Crawford argues that health and safety aren’t separate from progress—they *are* progress. For more details on the unsung technical work of health and safety, read the latest installment of The Techno-Humanist Manifesto: https://lnkd.in/gp-FVbYC

What if your Roomba looked like you? It might happen sooner than you think. Jason Carman Bernt B?rnich 1X #humanoidrobots #ai “If we are successful, to me that means that in 2027 this is no longer a product mainly for people who have a special interest, who are early adopters or anything like this,” says B?rnich. “We’ve crossed the chasm into this just being a mainstream product that everyone has. If you are in an income bracket where you have a car, you most likely also have a robot.” For more on how the dream of a robot housekeeper is finally becoming a reality, read this week's Future Explored by Kristin Houser. https://lnkd.in/gji3vjpy

What if we could build houses in days? Cover "Almost everything else in our lives is made in factories—our electronics, our cars—it's high quality and lower cost. Why can't homes be that way?" — Alexis Xavier Rivas

What if we could build houses in days instead of years? Cover is building homes using factory-built panels — kind of like life-size legos. And the result looks like it was designed by Apple. For the full story on how Cover is helping LA build back after fires read this week's edition of Future Explored by Kristin Houser: https://lnkd.in/gd3-iX_5

Can we rebuild Los Angeles faster, cheaper, and better by assembling homes the way IKEA assembles furniture?