What thread ties unsung heroes, child inventors, and hidden value together?
What Humboldt's Home Is Looking For: A Working Map of Essays
A behind-the-scenes look at the essays Humboldt's Home wants to write next, from unsung heroes and angel professions to children inventors and paradigm-shifting science, and the thread that ties them together.
- People Like Summer Willis (on remarkable individuals whose work benefits everyone)
- Organizations That Recognize Exemplary Individuals (25 groups, e.g., CNN Heroes)
- Unsung Heroes (50 under-recognized changemakers)
- Where Are They Now? The Journeys of Young Inventors (follow-up to Bright Sparks)
- Conservation Without Local Buy-In (folly of ignoring stakeholders)
- Dangers Faced by Conservation Workers (20 examples, including murders)
- Children Inventors (e.g., Lydia Denton and others)
- 100 Ways to Spend $2,000 to Do Good (U.S. + international, thematic groups, with sources and 2 ways each)
- Investigative Journalism (first “Angel Professions” essay)
- Unsung Professions (50 examples aligned with HH values)
- Recursive Self (Rothman’s Becoming You, essay on identity/selfhood)
- Speciation by Symbiosis (paradigm-shift in science essay)
- Microbes in the Built Environment (essay with potential sponsors)
Reflection Moment
Pause and capture an insight. Your reflections are private — saved only in this browser — and they help your curiosity grow.
- ◆What surprised you most?
- ◆What does this change about how you see the world?
- ◆What other questions does this raise?
Now do something real
Spot one unsung helper in your day, like a janitor or driver, and learn one thing they do. Notice the hidden value holding everyday life together.
Curiosity is worth more when it leaves the screen. Try this, then come back and capture what you noticed.
Where will your curiosity go next?
Pathways branch from here. Follow one, or several — there is no wrong way.
Questions this opens
Curiosity never ends. Each answer is the start of another journey.