Editor | On 17, Jan 2018

Darrell Mann

Feedback loops are an essential element of any and all complex systems. Its always a good idea to understand what loops are in place. And which new ones you can create.

2017 has been a year of some quite bizarre politics. Which for some strange reason reminds me a lot of this feedback loop:

Speaking of politics, I think this is my favourite new product of the year…

…I loved it even more once I learned the full – feedback loop – story: Trump Paper is a new brand of toilet paper created by the lawyer Antonio Battaglia. Battaglia is based in Guanajuato, Mexico. He conceived the new product as a way to support migrants and those who have been deported from the United States.

After hearing much of the anti-immigration rhetoric coming from Donald Trump during his presidential campaign, as well as the negative way in which Mexican immigrants were being portrayed by Donald, Battaglia wanted to do something about it. He created Trump Paper as a way to counteract some of the negative influence that the election had on people’s views on immigrants.

The new toilet paper brand features an image in Donald’s likeness, and – here comes the inspired feedback loop – some of the proceeds from the brand’s sales will go to support migrants and individuals who have been deported.

If there’s a criticism, it’s the time it might take for the loop to cycle. This is a problem that wearable technology looks set to solve for us. Enter SI-favourite cartoonist, Tom Fishburne…

…on the other hand…Here’s a new version of the old Gary Larson ‘Steady State’ cartoon… I’d have to say Larson understood the concept of ‘Time Constant’ better

…unlike this rather insightful example of what happens when we combine Inventive Principle 13 with the Hawthorne Effect. Douglas Adams would be proud.