One of the better trends happening in the world of social software is the push to band together to help each other out -- to advance the larger concepts and breakthroughs together. The Hawaiians have a word for it, "Ohana", which underscores cooperation, often extended to friends and family. In social software, it's called WikiOhana. There's a couple in San Francisco who are using the very same concept to improve your life, especially the last 50 years of it, one neuron at a time.
As the Chronicle chronicled yesterday, Zack and Casey Lynch have wholly dedicated themselves to improving global mental health. Through NeuroInsights, and separately NIO, an industry trade group, they are helping to create focus on the neuroscience research that will aid your mother or father or brother who may be experiencing Alzheimer's, stroke, Parkinson's or other brain-related illness. They're also two of the best individuals you'll ever meet.
Zack has always had a strong drive to help others around him, where, in his case, others extends to the whole human population. He also has uncommon visibility into the subtleties of social interaction, including a clear understanding of the sibling relationship between cooperation and competition. I learned this early when we'd spend late nights while roommates in college diving deep into the complex and adaptive systems of ant colonies, lianas, memes and neurons that made up our undergraduate study. Zack gets it.
In any new ecosystem or market, when a measure of cooperation can be applied, especially early on to bootstrap efforts and collaborate on standards, the system has a better shot at surviving -- and creating value. The Lynches are the coordinating catalysts for improving mental health through neurotechnology. They are bringing companies, labs and groups together for the greater whole. They are pioneering NeurOhana.
The article tells the backstory.
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