Ben Hyink

Currently, I am in the Masters Entry into Nursing Practice (MENP) program at DePaul University. Long term, I may pursue a PhD in nursing to do research that advances the field, but I'm interested in many avocational and career opportunities within or related to nursing.

Existential Risks and Global Catastrophic Risks are a concern of mine.

http://wiki.lesswrong.com/wiki/Existential_risk

I also try to be rational. Check out Ivan Phillips' new non-profit, "The Rational Futures Institute," as well as LessWrong and Overcoming Bias:

http://www.rationalfuture.org

http://lesswrong.com

http://www.overcomingbias.com

Less central interests include the idea of cultivating "resilient communities" (see John Robb's blog by that name) including the new proposal to create "open ventures" that provide desired innovative products and services to the world while reinvesting most capital in the local communities from which they are offered. While sustaining a market in which traditional corporations still could concentrate wealth, open ventures would help to stabilize the economy by investing wealth locally and providing good compensation for all partners who add value to the enterprise. Mark Frazier, one of the authors of that model and founder of OpenWorld also co-created the "predictive innovation" method. I am a fan of the experiment-based rapid-cycling "lean start-up" method developed by Eric Ries and sometimes attend meet-ups of the Chicago Lean Start-up Circle (LSC).