There should be unicorns

I want people to pursue their dreams.

I want more mad and not-so-mad scientists and inventors. More people pursuing awesome projects. I want them to create fun and wholesome things that make our civilization simultaneously a little bit more grown-up and a little bit sillier and child-like.

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I want there to be unicorns.

Perhaps a secret bounty, for genetically modifying an animal into a unicorn; and releasing it into the wild; and pranking the world, once someone randomly meets a pack of unicorns in a forest.

Like that GPT-2 story, but for real.

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I want people to look at their lives with fresh eyes and bring about incredible amounts of fun.

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We can already see six colors (thanks, the guy who sent me hexachromatic glasses).

We can already feel the direction of north (contact.ms/compass).

But there’s so much about the world that we cannot experience, but could.

I want people to develop new senses.

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I want people to speedrun everything.

Speedrun museums: optimize for meaningfully experiencing as much of what they find most important, coolest, enjoyable, or feelings-causing as possible in some limited amount of time.

(Prior to going to the museum, perhaps while you’re in a queue or on your way there, look up the most important stuff and select what of that you want to see; walk past random other stuff and see if anything catches your eye; but do not waste time on stuff that’s not valuable to you.

I’m certainly not alone here.

Seeing the most interesting things and sequence-skipping everything else is a much more fun way to spend time than mostly seeing average things!)

Speedrun London transportation: find 3D maps of London tube stations and ignore the misleading signs, sometimes changing between stations in tens of seconds instead of minutes.

I’m using the Station Master app, but it’s paid

Speedrun brushing teeth (thanks Lumina!) and tying shoelaces (spend five minutes to learn this and never again spend over a second to tie them).

Skip turning the lights on and off manually.

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I want people to be agentic about what they’re spending their time on, and how efficient that is according to their values and aesthetic preferences. (What are some non-fun parts you spend time on, because that’s the default, even though you’re allowed and would prefer to skip them?)

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I want people to throw parties that bring fun in weird and unusual ways.

I once saw a joke on Twitter that there should be a party where people are only allowed to communicate in cat noises. We actually hosted the party.

I didn’t know people could imitate cats that well. People were meowing even outside the 20min intervals. Catgirls were jumping between the furniture and whatnot. Huge cardboard boxes were occupied.

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We are the universe experiencing fun; and we should have more of it.

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I want you to actually stop and think of one fun thing that is technically possible, that should exist, that doesn’t currently exist.

It can be very weird; it can be very mundane.

What is it? Can you make it happen?