--- description: Pushing for better-educated police, a possible democracy movement in Africa, curbing conflict minerals, researching magic mushrooms & more. title: These Are Today's Best Ideas image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Ideas](/section/ideas/) ## Ideas Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Innovation](/tag/innovation/) ## Innovation Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Five Best Ideas of the Day: December 2 by [The Aspen Institute](/author/the-aspen-institute/) ## The Aspen Institute Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 2, 2014 5:01 PM CUT by [The Aspen Institute](/author/the-aspen-institute/) ## The Aspen Institute Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 2, 2014 5:01 PM CUT **1\.** [**Let’s push for more college-educated cops.**](http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/12/01/are-college-educated-police-safer.html "undefined") By Keli Goff in the Daily Beast **2\.** [**As strongmen — often U.S. allies — attempt to lock up lifetime power, an African democracy movement takes shape.**](http://foreignpolicyblogs.com/2014/11/29/burkina-faso-the-black-spring-blossoms/ "undefined") By Mark Varga at the Foreign Policy Association **3\.** [**Being connected is more of a good thing than a bad thing.**](https://gigaom.com/2014/11/30/being-connected-is-more-of-a-good-thing-than-it-is-a-bad-thing/ "undefined") By Mathew Ingram in GigaOm **4\.** [**Beyond diamonds: Conflict minerals are a growing blight. Enforcing a global standard can stop abuse.**](http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/conflict-minerals-global-supply-chains-by-michael-gibb-2014-12 "undefined") By Michael Gibb in Project Syndicate **5\.** [**Changing the way we classify psilocybin — magic mushrooms — could open the door to research and new treatments for depression.**](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/30/opinion/sunday/can-mushrooms-treat-depression.html "undefined") By Eugenia Bone in the New York Times  [_The Aspen Institute_](http://www.aspeninstitute.org/ "undefined") _is an educational and policy studies organization based in Washington, D.C._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3613436/five-best-ideas-of-the-day-december-2/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3613436/five-best-ideas-of-the-day-december-2/"},"headline":"Five Best Ideas of the Day: December 2","datePublished":"2014-12-02T17:01:38.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:06:51.148Z","description":"Pushing for better-educated police, a possible democracy movement in Africa, curbing conflict minerals, researching magic mushrooms & more.","url":"https://time.com/3613436/five-best-ideas-of-the-day-december-2/","keywords":["Innovation","Depression","Internet","Education","police","iPhone","Phone","Mobile","Sudan","Nigeria","Ferguson topic","Michael Brown"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"The Aspen Institute","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/the-aspen-institute/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/innovation/","name":"Innovation"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3613436/five-best-ideas-of-the-day-december-2/","name":"Five Best Ideas of the Day: December 2"}}]}] ```