"nobody trained claude to do anything like this" except like. one bajillion sci fi books and undergrad philosophy essays they threw into the hopper

That's why almost every group photo of us is outdoors :)

And now for the DAIR lore: Monitoring CO2 is also part of how we mitigate risk at DAIR retreats! When we all meet in person, we always meet and eat outdoors or, rarely, in indoors spaces with low CO2 levels (400-500) and ample airflow and/or air filters running.

Anyways, this has perhaps my favorite characteristics of a tech solution: it's simple, transparent, and does one small thing well.

We love to see it. Other things are possible.

Sure, tracking doesn't stop the CO2 from building up. But that information is empowering. Which panels do you maybe want to stream from your room instead of attending irl? Where would you prioritize using limited air filters? Is there somewhere I can unmask and sip my coffee? 😭

This is not a six-figure building upgrade, it's not bundled with opaque surveillance tech. Like, some enterprising high schoolers with a small budget could outfit a school with these as a senior project!

Putting together a real-time, room-by-room carbon dioxide monitoring system might sound super expensive and hard. But it doesn't have to be. Here's the tutorial for one sensor display—the parts are easy to get, you don't even need to solder!
learn.adafruit.com/matrix-porta...

It's a thoughtful, sensible intervention. If you want people to feel energized and alert, and want to help people avoid the post-convention nightmare of "oops everyone is sick", monitoring CO2 levels is a great way to influence behavior and create transparency.

Cut to New Zealand's Kawaiicon cybersecurity convention (image of graph). The conference organizers built out a panel where you can track the CO2 levels in every room of the convention.

Not to mention, if the CO2 levels are super high in a space, you can start to notice cognitive effects, like feeling foggy-headed. Ever left a stuffy room and felt immediately more awake and alert? That might be why.

Clean air is a game-changer if you want to avoid spreading disease— when you're not steeped in people's "air backwash", you're way less likely to get sick from them. This is easy to approximate using CO2 levels that build up in a room (from all the exhaling).

If you've met me irl, you know that I mask indoors. I do this for a variety of reasons, but they mostly come down to the fact that I do not know how clean the air around me is, so I filter the air I breathe. (There are other reasons masking-as-praxis, but that's for another thread)

Nothing is on the calendar yet but more are in the works, I'll announce them when they're public on my personal account and at @dairfutures.bsky.social

I am planning more virtual ones to come in the future :) Be sure to follow @dairfutures.bsky.social or join our newsletter at the dair-institute.org website to make sure you get updates on future workshops!

It's why I'm coming to see these kinds of imagination exercises as foundational— I'm finding that removing ourselves from everyday constraints makes our common ground so much easier to see.

Thank you to everyone who attended this weekend ✂️🎨✨

Stay tuned for the final zine soon!

This isn't to say that every difference is navigable, or every conflict should lead to a stronger relationship.

But when you can find alignment with someone on *anything*— even if it's just "we both care about the wellbeing of others"— it gives you a place to start. It's somewhere to build from.

This is essential!!

When we share values and a vision of the future with others, conflict and tension and difference can be generative. They strengthen us.

But ask any mediator: without a sense of shared goals or values, those same conflicts and tensions can decimate a relationship (or movement).

So, another evergreen reminder: other things are possible! People are building alternatives now!

FMI, check out their website: www.steamconnection.org/skobots