ALL ORIGINAL PHOTOGRAPHS BY ME

    
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Zoë Poole


 © Zoë Poole 2024



Tech

Your Attention Please (documentary)



Earth.net presented by Vitalik Buterin and Christopher Kulendran Thomas at the ICA in London, 2022







I’m fascinated by technology and possible future worlds. 

I’m hopeful that new tech can help us prevent the worst of hypercapitalism, techno-feudalism, wealth plutocracy, democratic collapse, and environmental destruction.

However I’m definitely not a technosolutionist, which is why I’m trying to learn as much as possible about systems change.



WEB3

Working in web3, I’m most inrigued by the political-economic models decentralized tech may bring to life and its social implications.

What if instead of cryptolibertarianism, the tech fuels a regime where monetary production is collectively owned, i.e. cryptocommunism?

I think it’s important we shift towards more cooperative economies, collective intelligence, and co-organization.



AI + RESPONSIBLE TECH

Ethics in AI interests me as well – I’m familiar with key issues from my involvement with an “ethics and technology” reading group and All Tech is Human’s Responsible Tech community.

In 2023 I met a fellow RT member filming a documentary about attention. You might see me featured if my interview makes the cut!
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Nature

Wildya
Biosphere Expeditions

Snow leopard captured in a camera track retrieved during conservation work in the Tien Shan, Kyrgyzstan



I grew up visiting farms, taking long country walks, and riding horses whenever I could. I’m deeply interested in the effects of nature on our psychology, from TCM’s ‘five seasons’ to the neuroscience behind human–animal interaction. 

Reading Bill Plotkin’s Nature and the Human Soul and hand-feeding Bactrian camels at the zoo inspired me to find ways to re-center nature. 


 
WILDYA

I’m a community architect, product strategist, and web marketer for Wildya, an online platform empowering people to build a wilder world that’s also part of “1% for the Planet”.



SNOW LEOPARDS

In August 2024 I joined a snow leopard conservation expedition in Kyrgyzstan. We tracked and observed the elusive ‘ghost of the mountains’ through the Tien Shan range, where their status and distribution remain relatively unknown.





Psychology & health


My master’s dissertation in philosophy of psychology evaluated theories on ‘mirror neurons’ as the neurophysiological basis of empathy.

My undergraduate philosophy degree also had a psychological leaning, with my dissertation focusing on what ancient philosophers had to say about happiness amid uncertainty, misfortune, and fear of death.



OTHER QUALIFICATIONS

 I am certified in Mental Health First Aid. I’m also certified in teaching restorative yoga, a practice I use in my daily life for its mental health benefits.

I’ve taken a class on the neuroscience of mindfulness at University of Toronto and am highly interested in somatic practices. I plan to become a psychotherapist and a death doula in the second half of life.




Writing

Lizards in the Metaverse*
Running Games*
Creative writing samples*
Storied book club

* Password protected – please message for access!






I love storytelling and always have twenty ideas for future projects in my head. :)



CREATIVE WRITING

I’m enrolled in the Certificate Program in Creative Writing at the University of Toronto and am experimenting with my first novel draft.



PERSONAL ESSAYS

My personal essays have been published in print and online magazines, with commissioned work also appearing in marketing materials.



Volunteering

Annex Cat Rescue
Moontime Connections


Volunteering is important to me as a practice of seva or selfless service.



COMMUNITY

I was a crisis line responder with the Distress Centre of Greater Toronto in 2021 and a peer mentor with Youth Assisting Youth in 2022.

I regularly participate in an annual fundraising event combatting ‘period poverty’ in indigenous communities in Canada’s North.



ANIMAL WELFARE

I’ve been involved in rescue work for street cats since 2016. My involvement mostly involves fostering cats and kittens, socializing feral cats, participating in fundraising and awareness campaigns, and email coordination. I currently volunteer for Annex Cat Rescue.



Jewelry
Etsy


My Etsy shop began as an attempt to recoup costs for jewelry-making supplies. It’s on pause right now but I plan to close it permanently after one more re-open.



JEWELRY AS LUXURY, NOT NECESSITY

The jewelry industry inherits a legacy of violence, exploitation, and environmental harm that I wish to minimize my participation in. Plenty of products exist already!



MY FINAL COLLECTION

Using the hundreds of beads and findings in my possession, I am slowly preparing a final collection. It will be environmentally-minded with re-usable packaging and any profit (revenue – operational expenses) donated to nature-related causes.




Philosophy

Essay on metaphysics of fictional entities (Brigham Young)
Essay on Plato’s Symposium (UC Berkeley)
Essay on Barthes’ Death of the Artist (McGill University)






I obtained my undergradate degree in joint honours philosophy and political science from McGill University and my master’s in philosophy of psychology from King’s College London in the United Kingdom.



PUBLICATIONS

Essays of mine have been published in academic journals by universities including McGill University, UC Berkeley, and Brigham Young.



PUBLIC PHILOSOPHY

Through the Philosophy Foundation I gained training in teaching philosophy to children in primary schools. I was also briefly involved with a non-profit running philosophy workshops for youth but parted ways due to ideological difference.

I’m mostly interested in philosophy as a therapeutic tool or as a way to improve public life.

WITH GRATITUDE TO THE FOLLOWING



 My family / Prof. Martijn Dekker at the University of Amsterdam / Prof. Silvio Bär at the University of Oslo / Prof. Carlos Fraenkel at McGill University / Nathalie Mathias from the Quiet Studio / Devin O’Neill  and Connie Yang from EY Law LLP / Sheila Lam / The Down to Earth team in London, UK / The Philosophy Foundation / Prof. James Stazicker at King’s College London / L. Lew. / G. Vukets and the DCOGT coordinators / Alina P. / Pat Harada Linfoot and Darcie Ladd  from Octopus Garden / Seonaid L.  / Laura Lush, writing teacher at the University of Toronto / Karina W. / My writing pals / Storied / East Room Lunch Club / The Reset community / Oliver Duaert /All those who’ve read my work and those who will in the future...