The Believer’s Idea Share

The web site for The Believer has a feature called Idea Share. Here’s a sampling of ideas that people have shared:

There should be a tax break for perfect attendance at the voting polls. Unlike the law in Australia, which forces you to vote, this would just award those citizens who are consistent participants in our democracy, kind of like a bribe. Small but noticeable: $25?

Invite different kinds of people—architects, cartoonists, plastic surgeons—to attend a lecture on an undisclosed subject. Tell them that they will be tested on the information. Instead, take their notes, doodles and all, and display them as an exhibit, perhaps in conjunction with a transcript of the lecture itself, or perhaps with the subject of the lecture remaining a mystery.

There should be more novels about sentient animals.

There should be a device hooked up to your car’s stereo system that displays whatever song and artist you’re listening to—whether it be tape, CD, MP3, even radio (it would look it up using the Internet)—in a scrolling LED ticker tape­type display on your bumper or running boards.