Poem 11
Thirty spokes
meet in a hub.
Where the wheel isn’t
Is where it is useful.
Hollowed out
clay makes a pot.
Where the pot’s not
Is where its useful.
Cut doors and windows
to make a room.
Where the room isn’t,
there room for you.
So the profit in what is
is in the use of what isn’t.
—Taken from Ursula LeGuin’s version of the Tao Te Ching
https://www.wired.com/video/watch/wired25-2020-audrey-tang-taiwan-covid-19-pandemic
Watch this video/ read the transcript. I love this for several reasons:
- The Taiwanese are my people
- “Digital Minister” is the best title of all time
- Taiwan’s national response to COVID is a model for the world (Taiwan: fewer than 1 death per 100,000 vs USA: 66 deaths per 100,000)
- The transparency of information and the building of trust: the government published its COVID and mask data with open API’s so private industry and nonprofits could build 100’s of apps to improve healthcare and the commonwealth
- The POETRY of Taoism!
CMIO’s take? It is worth a watch. Informatics applied effectively at the national level. And, bonus: mindful Taoist philosophy applied to transparency of information. Zowie!
