Project 4 University Toll Tunnel

I've often been bothered by toll roads (and also toll bridges, toll tunnels, etc.). Here is my problem, why are there toll roads, while most roads are just free to drive on? It makes some sense that toll roads are generally with less traffic, better road conditions and shorter distances in some occasions, so you kinda pay some money to buy some time. But why should the governors make such difference between roads? Can they just make every road free to pass and maybe still save people's time? All I learned is that toll roads are funded by collecting tolls, while most other roads are financed using other sources of revenue like gasoline tax or general tax funds. So it looks like toll roads can raise more money than normal roads get from tax. But again, why the difference? Roads cannot speak, but it's likely that normal roads are mad with toll roads because of the discrepancy there.

As for me, I personally believe that every road on earth should have the same rights and responsibilities. So if there is road collecting money by requesting a toll, every road should have the right to do the same thing. So I have made a notice (shown on the right), and declared that a tunnel in Siebel Center has become a toll tunnle to test my idea.

The design of the scenario is like this (looking at the floor map below): most students enter Siebel Center from the southwest entrance. If one has a class at room 1111, the shortest path from that entrance is to go through the path to which the red arrow points. This path now becomes a toll one. Every adult with weight less than 1000 lbs will need to pay 2 cents to gain the access to it and those with weight more than 1000 lbs are requested to pay 5 cents instead. If one does not want to pay a toll, he can also walk north for several yards, turn left, take a small path and turn left, walk south for several yards to reach the destination. That being said, this is a traditional setup of a toll road situation.

So I used a frisbee to collect tolls from people. Then I just stood aside and watched how people would react to it. Many students that did not necessarily take the path show some interest in it, read carefully and wondered who did this. On the contrary, those who took the path every day did not pay any attention to it but simply walked through the way. This says one thing -- if you want to make a toll road, ask for the toll before people first ever use the road. When everyone can walk free on it, no one would take it seriously if being asked for a toll later.

When I came back during the evening, I was surprised to find that the collector was no longer at its original position. I looked around and saw that it was moved to a classroom door nearby. Ok, maybe someone wanted to borrow the idea and collect some money for his/her class ...

Networked Economies: Six Degrees of Boggs

When I first got to know the "six degrees of separation" from my friend, I challenged him, "So, how do I connect to Bill Gates?" -- The then Microsoft CEO, richest person on earth, a man that seems so far away from my life.

My friend thought for a while, then said, "You are in touch with your organization head (our organization is a student organization that has a close tie with google), he is in touch with Kai-Fu Lee (founding president of Google China), and Kai-Fu Lee is in touch with Bill Gates."

Only three steps.

Sometimes it just freaks me out when thinking of social network as a canvas. You cannot really see anything, yet everything is there. Things like seven deadly sins are like the palette, concepts like politics and religions are like the brushes. Everyone is the painter, and everyone is being painted.

And that may be the reason for the term sociopoetics to be born. Although I still doubt whether it could be categorized as "artwork", it certainly does take positive steps exploring the society we are living in. It may seem crazy, but is it really THAT crazy? Or are we educated in a way that we no longer view such kind of actions as acceptable?

So I am very confused. But like that you need to stand away from an oil painting work to appreciate it, you probably need to leave your surroundings -- the society -- to observe what has been happening.