Summary: If the Ai Sakai is a goal, Action Signal.Org can be a website where progress toward the goal is tracked. The name comes from the idea that actions speak louder than words, and so would send a strong “signal.”

It will be important to measure the growth of various programs—both the amount and intensity of participation. Having participants know how fast these programs are growing would help inspire them to continue to participate—and it would maybe inspire them to recruit others.

ActionSignal.Org should keep statistics on 20-50 indicators of human suffering, so that we can estimate progress on the Ai Sakai. Measures could be deaths from war, number of people in extreme poverty, deaths related to pollutants, political prisoners, domestic abuse cases, etc. Unfortunately, there is not likely to be an appreciable drop in these numbers for 10-20 years if the main vehicle for change will be the component projects of Mighty Plan, especially Helpers Helper, PTTN and superprograms. Therefore, to maintain optimism and build enthusiasm, there should be an emphasis on measuring the growth of programs that cause actual change. Examples:  

·        Amount of time and money produced through Helper’s Helper

·        Number of full participants in Proof Through the Night

·        Number of active participants in All Around and other superprograms.

·        Number of participants in any other programs or movements that cause actual, measurable, long-term change from the individual level. 

Other indicators can also be added to the website as secondary indicators. One example would be foreignpolicy.com’s Failed State Index.

One of the most important aspects of the website is track rates of growth, and estimated time of arrival of the Ai Sakai. That helps make the vision more real.

Another way to measure the Action Signal is to define a fully world-sustaining lifestyle, and to track the evolution of people's lifestyles.  For instance, a fully world-sustaining lifestyle could be approximately defined by the following:  

-  good health, diet and regular exercise habits
-  good relationship skills to maintain healthy relationships
-  enough political activity 
-  mental health and life-management skills (solving problems, reaching goals, reducing stress)
-  responsible limited of the number of your children
-  socially responsible investing
-  socially responsible shopping
-  strategic volunteering, to return something to the community
-  ecological living habits  (and offsetting any damage that you cause)
-  donations to help the disadvantaged, to create equal access to needed resources
-  socially responsible activism at your workplace  (to help the organization be socially respons.)
-  periodic self-assessment (and contribution to the Action Signal.)
 

Imagining that change-the-world projects begin to achieve real results and fast growth, there needs to be a mechanism to avoid the human tendency to become complacent, and say to oneself, “The world is getting better just fine without my help.”

   

Status: We own actionsignal.org.

   

Plans and Needs: We need someone willing to do research to come up with sources of data to track the Ai Sakai. We also need to test public reaction to the idea, and the chosen indicators.  

We believe that the Action Signal will evolve over time.  We welcome feedback and suggestions for measuring and "broadcasting" our Action Signal.  


Potential Impact: It should help inspire people to take the Ai Sakai more seriously. Later, once good growth rates are documented, it should give people some hope and optimism.