> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://joeschram.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Freakout @ Hopescotch - URL: https://joeschram.com/freakout/ - Published: 2016-09-09T17:29:28.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-24T03:08:12.000Z - Author: Joe Schram - Tags: writing On September 9th, 2016, I gave a talk at [Hopscotch Design](http://hopscotchdesignfest.com/?ref=joeschram.com) festival in Raleigh on the topic of *Designing for Hope and Action*; here are selected images from that talk annotated for anyone who wants to take a deeper dive. ![Side-by-side photos: a small white dog, and the cut end of a banana whose markings look like the same dog's face.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1e/74/1e74c831-e288-4fea-acaf-7e7b1ec3dfb5/content/images/2016/09/hopscotch-wide2.021r.png) ![Side-by-side photos: a brass door lock shaped like a duck's bill, and a platypus with a nearly identical face.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1e/74/1e74c831-e288-4fea-acaf-7e7b1ec3dfb5/content/images/2016/09/hopscotch-wide2.022r.png) ![A tan leather handbag hanging on a hook, its buckles and opening forming a startled face.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1e/74/1e74c831-e288-4fea-acaf-7e7b1ec3dfb5/content/images/2016/09/hopscotch-wide2.023r.png) Friends [everywhere](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apophenia?ref=joeschram.com). --- ![eBay listing titled 'Virgin Mary In Grilled Cheese NOT A HOAX! LOOK & SEE!', showing a toasted sandwich with a face-like scorch mark.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1e/74/1e74c831-e288-4fea-acaf-7e7b1ec3dfb5/content/images/2016/09/hopscotch-wide2.024r.png) This grilled cheese sandwich [sold for $28,000](http://www.nbcnews.com/id/6511148/ns/us%5Fnews-weird%5Fnews/t/virgin-mary-grilled-cheese-sells/?ref=joeschram.com#.V9LW6xArKHo). [This really happened](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perceptions%5Fof%5Freligious%5Fimagery%5Fin%5Fnatural%5Fphenomena?ref=joeschram.com). --- ![Cover of Action Comics #1 (1938): Superman lifts a green car over his head while terrified bystanders flee.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1e/74/1e74c831-e288-4fea-acaf-7e7b1ec3dfb5/content/images/2016/09/hopscotch-wide2.025r.png) [Where it all began](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action%5FComics%5F1?ref=joeschram.com), [mostly](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doc%5FSavage?ref=joeschram.com). --- ![Illustration of early humans working together to build shelters from branches and stones.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1e/74/1e74c831-e288-4fea-acaf-7e7b1ec3dfb5/content/images/2016/09/hopscotch-wide2.026r.png) [Keep those eyes open](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pattern%5Frecognition%5F%28psychology%29?ref=joeschram.com). --- ![A white corrugated-metal building with a red door and planters along the sidewalk, on a sunny day.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1e/74/1e74c831-e288-4fea-acaf-7e7b1ec3dfb5/content/images/2016/09/hopscotch-wide2.032r.png) An [open and shared workspace](http://bldg-co.com/?ref=joeschram.com) of community-minded people and business. I'm proud to work here. --- ![Cover of Billy Joel's single 'We Didn't Start the Fire,' designed as a newspaper front page listing historical events.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1e/74/1e74c831-e288-4fea-acaf-7e7b1ec3dfb5/content/images/2016/09/hopscotch-wide2.034r.png) History teachers still [love this song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFTLKWw542g&ref=joeschram.com). --- ![Marshall McLuhan in front of TV screens reading 'The medium is the message,' beside the cover of his book 'The Medium is the Massage.'](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1e/74/1e74c831-e288-4fea-acaf-7e7b1ec3dfb5/content/images/2016/09/hopscotch-wide2.035r.png) A first step for [understanding media](http://www.marshallmcluhan.com/?ref=joeschram.com). TLDR; the format of the content delivery changes the content itself, and us… --- ![Front page of The New York Morning News, Friday, February 7, 1845.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1e/74/1e74c831-e288-4fea-acaf-7e7b1ec3dfb5/content/images/2016/09/hopscotch-wide2.036r.png) Newspapers used to print multiple editions *per day*. [Can't do that anymore](http://www.businessinsider.com/2009/1/printing-the-nyt-costs-twice-as-much-as-sending-every-subscriber-a-free-kindle?ref=joeschram.com). --- ![Aerial view of Niagara Falls, with water pouring over the falls into the river gorge below.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1e/74/1e74c831-e288-4fea-acaf-7e7b1ec3dfb5/content/images/2016/09/hopscotch-wide2.039r.png) [Big and beautiful](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niagara%5FFalls?ref=joeschram.com). --- ![Edward R. Murrow seated in a CBS television studio in the 1950s.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1e/74/1e74c831-e288-4fea-acaf-7e7b1ec3dfb5/content/images/2016/09/hopscotch-wide2.040r.png) Truth to power and *[See It Now](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward%5FR.%5FMurrow?ref=joeschram.com)* --- ![Two breaking-news alerts on a phone lock screen: a reported high school shooting in Alpine, Texas, and Ryan Lochte's swimming ban.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1e/74/1e74c831-e288-4fea-acaf-7e7b1ec3dfb5/content/images/2016/09/hopscotch-wide2.042r.png) Consider whether or not this is helpful, but if you want it, [here it is](https://www.breakingnews.com/about/?ref=joeschram.com). --- ![Still from the 1980s anti-drug ad showing an egg frying in a pan, captioned 'Partnership for a Drug-Free America.'](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1e/74/1e74c831-e288-4fea-acaf-7e7b1ec3dfb5/content/images/2016/09/hopscotch-wide2.045r.png) 80's kids know this [silly Regan-era bit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This%5FIs%5FYour%5FBrain%5Fon%5FDrugs?ref=joeschram.com), but I'll say this: [it was catchy as a slogan](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ub%5Fa2t0ZfTs&ref=joeschram.com). --- ![Wikipedia article on the serial position effect, with a U-shaped graph showing people remember the first and last items in a list best.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1e/74/1e74c831-e288-4fea-acaf-7e7b1ec3dfb5/content/images/2016/09/hopscotch-wide2.046r.png) [Recency bias](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial%5Fposition%5Feffect?ref=joeschram.com). --- ![Wikipedia article on negativity bias: negative experiences affect us more strongly than equally intense positive ones.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1e/74/1e74c831-e288-4fea-acaf-7e7b1ec3dfb5/content/images/2016/09/hopscotch-wide2.048r.png) [Negativity bias](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negativity%5Fbias?ref=joeschram.com). --- ![Travelers crouching on an airport floor during a false alarm, under the New York Times headline 'Shooting Scares Show a Nation Quick to Fear the Worst.'](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1e/74/1e74c831-e288-4fea-acaf-7e7b1ec3dfb5/content/images/2016/09/hopscotch-wide2.049r.png) It wasn't [just Raleigh](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/30/us/shooting-scares-show-a-nation-quick-to-fear-the-worst.html?ref=joeschram.com); people scared as hell from…nothing. --- ![Shoppers with their hands on their heads being led out by police, under the headline 'Experts: Crabtree Valley Mall panic fueled by fear of terror attacks.'](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1e/74/1e74c831-e288-4fea-acaf-7e7b1ec3dfb5/content/images/2016/09/hopscotch-wide2.050r.png) Here in town, officials [couldn't find evidence of any emergency](http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/crime/article97906297.html?ref=joeschram.com), other than injuries caused by the stampede. --- ![Newscaster Howard Beale, arms raised mid-rant, in the 1976 film Network.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1e/74/1e74c831-e288-4fea-acaf-7e7b1ec3dfb5/content/images/2016/09/hopscotch-wide2.054r.png) "[I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network%5F%28film%29?ref=joeschram.com)." --- ![Two open hands offering a red pill and a blue pill, from The Matrix.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1e/74/1e74c831-e288-4fea-acaf-7e7b1ec3dfb5/content/images/2016/09/hopscotch-wide2.055r.png) This is from *[The Matrix](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The%5FMatrix?ref=joeschram.com)*, but don't re-watch that. Instead, [read Oliver Burkeman](https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/jul/02/how-to-be-happy-when-the-news-is-bad-brexit-trump-oliver-burkeman?ref=joeschram.com). --- ![Bar chart of worldwide battle deaths per 100,000 people: above 20 in the 1940s, falling to near zero by the 2000s.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1e/74/1e74c831-e288-4fea-acaf-7e7b1ec3dfb5/content/images/2016/09/hopscotch-wide2.056r.png) Stephen Pinker [explains this image](http://www.vox.com/2016/8/16/12486586/2016-worst-year-ever-violence-trump-terrorism?ref=joeschram.com). TLDR; violence is down everywhere. --- ![Bar chart: people living in extreme poverty fell from 1.93 billion in 1990 to a projected 836 million in 2015.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1e/74/1e74c831-e288-4fea-acaf-7e7b1ec3dfb5/content/images/2016/09/hopscotch-wide2.057r.png) ![Bar chart: deaths of children under five fell from 90 to 43 per 1,000 live births between 1990 and 2015.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1e/74/1e74c831-e288-4fea-acaf-7e7b1ec3dfb5/content/images/2016/09/hopscotch-wide2.058r.png) "[People have never lived longer, better, safer, or richer lives than they do now](http://www.vox.com/2015/7/13/8908397/11-charts-best-time-in-history?ref=joeschram.com)." --- ![Infographic, 'The War on Death': since 1990, deaths from tuberculosis and maternal and infant causes are down about 50%, measles 71%, and AIDS 24% since 2005; life expectancy rose from 47 years in 1950 to 70 in 2011.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1e/74/1e74c831-e288-4fea-acaf-7e7b1ec3dfb5/content/images/2016/09/hopscotch-wide2.059r.png) There is [no better time to be alive than now](https://thinkprogress.org/5-reasons-why-2013-was-the-best-year-in-human-history-392c4888e603?ref=joeschram.com#.z1s4xerff), anywhere in the world. --- ![Table of Americans killed each year by cause, with arrows on Islamic jihadist terrorists (9) and lawnmowers (69); being shot by another American tops the list at 11,737.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1e/74/1e74c831-e288-4fea-acaf-7e7b1ec3dfb5/content/images/2016/09/hopscotch-wide2.060r.png) A War on Lawnmowers? Are we [prosecuting these guys](https://www.deere.com/en%5FUS/regional%5Fhome.page?ref=joeschram.com) yet? --- ![Line chart, 2000–2013: US firearm deaths stay around 30,000 a year, while US citizens killed by terrorism stay near zero.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1e/74/1e74c831-e288-4fea-acaf-7e7b1ec3dfb5/content/images/2016/09/hopscotch-wide2.062r.png) What we're spending to protect us on one versus the other is insane too…it's [a 1000x mismatch](http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/07/on-terrorism-and-gun-violence-a-1-000-to-1-spending-gap/260267/?ref=joeschram.com). --- ![Cartoon skyline of Orbit City from The Jetsons: saucer-topped towers on tall stilts against a starry sky.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1e/74/1e74c831-e288-4fea-acaf-7e7b1ec3dfb5/content/images/2016/09/hopscotch-wide2.064r.png) *"Their boy [Elroy…](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The%5FJetsons?ref=joeschram.com)"* --- ![The original Star Trek crew laughing together on the bridge of the Enterprise.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1e/74/1e74c831-e288-4fea-acaf-7e7b1ec3dfb5/content/images/2016/09/hopscotch-wide2.065r.png) If you've never seen any of them, [start with these 10 on Netflix](http://www.avclub.com/article/10-must-see-episodes-of-istar-treki-83853?ref=joeschram.com). Energy and charm turns trash throwaway culture into a pop phenom, and [a force for advancement](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space%5FShuttle%5FEnterprise?ref=joeschram.com#Service). --- ![Tim Berners-Lee beside a CERN computer showing an early World Wide Web page.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1e/74/1e74c831-e288-4fea-acaf-7e7b1ec3dfb5/content/images/2016/09/hopscotch-wide2.066r.png) [Sir Tim](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim%5FBerners-Lee?ref=joeschram.com) is just…the best. He could have kept it for himself, he could have owned it, but he didn't. He set us free. --- ![19th-century engraving of two men smashing a mechanical loom with a hammer and a bar.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1e/74/1e74c831-e288-4fea-acaf-7e7b1ec3dfb5/content/images/2016/09/hopscotch-wide2.067r.png) These are luddites, scared English textile workers. They smashed machines [for good reasons](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luddite?ref=joeschram.com). --- ![Thank-you slide, 'thx to:', listing the ten friends named below.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1e/74/1e74c831-e288-4fea-acaf-7e7b1ec3dfb5/content/images/2016/09/hopscotch-wide2.085br.png) Thanks to these friends for helping me think about these ideas, and for helping me feel more hopeful when I needed it. Follow these smart people! [Tina Haver Currin](https://twitter.com/tinacurrin?ref=joeschram.com) [Grayson Haver Currin](https://twitter.com/currincy?ref=joeschram.com) [Niki Litts](https://twitter.com/Niki%5FLitts?ref=joeschram.com) [Sarah Mason](https://twitter.com/sjm%5Fsprk?ref=joeschram.com) [David Millsaps](https://twitter.com/eyevariety?ref=joeschram.com) [Marie Schacht](https://twitter.com/mariegrizz?ref=joeschram.com) [Kate Thompson](https://twitter.com/makermanager?ref=joeschram.com) [Kathryn Thompson](https://twitter.com/kathrynthompson?ref=joeschram.com) [Marnie Thompson](http://f4dc.org/author/marnie/?ref=joeschram.com) [Ben Watson](https://twitter.com/bunnybusatsu?ref=joeschram.com)