Volume 5 · The Great Indian Bazaar · Essay 241
Social Swarms
Social Swarms is a lens. Nothing in the world changes when you pick it up, but quite a lot becomes visible.
The idea is simple, and like most simple ideas it is easy to nod at and hard to use. The nod is free. The use costs attention, every day, in small change.
During the monsoon, one clogged drain teaches the whole lane about the commons. Everyone kept it clean, everyone assumed someone else owned it, everyone waded home together.
Society is a long conversation; the only question is whether you are listening or merely waiting to speak. A word is a lamp. This one is now yours to carry.