We start with one simple question: what does it take for people to accept a change towards a more sustainable future? This question could be addressed from many disciplines or paradigms.
We follow with:
1. what kind of world do people want to live in? how much do we vary? do we have enough imagination to think of a different world? how much time do we spend thinking of it? and how do we feel about different ideas of what the world could become?
2. what do we think of as the main problems facing our world today? where is the main injustice? what do we attribute those to? do we blame human nature or do we believe in it? how open are we to a different story? how much do we care and how does context and framing affect our perception?
3. do we feel empowered to make a change for the better? do we feel like its our job to change this world? and if not who’s is it?
4. are there economic or game-theoretic aspects that can better explain the tragedies of our time, or are there specific cultural factors that stand behind them?
5. how much of these cultural factors lie in the “story of separation” so ubiquitous in our society?
6. are love and greed easily dissociable? how much do they matter to the kind of world we are creating?
7. in past and current utopian experiments: how well do people do? how much do they achieve their ideals? and why are they so uncommon?
To Apply
Email us your interest and we will send you an entry questionnaire: rustlingroots@gmail.com
If you are from UVA you should contact us through the IPP (Internship Placement Program).