--- description: A vision for a new hope movement in America, a crack team of data analysts at the LAPD, using Minecraft to reach autistic kids and 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 19 by [The Aspen Institute](/author/the-aspen-institute/) ## The Aspen Institute Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 19, 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 19, 2014 5:01 PM CUT **1\.** [**America needs a new testament of hope: “Demanding that we trade confusion and bewilderment for a fight for change that only hope and radical optimism can sustain.”**](http://www.fordfoundation.org/equals-change/post/a-new-testament-of-hope "undefined") By Darren Walker in Human Parts on Medium **2\.** [**Data Integrity Unit: A team of detectives and data analysts is boosting the accuracy of crime statistics in Los Angeles.**](http://www.latimes.com/local/crime/la-me-lapd-crime-stats-20141217-story.html "undefined") By Joel Rubin and Ben Post in the Los Angeles Times **3\.** [**This remarkable community gives autistic children a connection inside the world of Minecraft — and might save their lives.**](http://www.buzzfeed.com/charliewarzel/this-minecraft-community-is-saving-the-lives-of-children-wit "undefined") By Charlie Warzel in BuzzFeed **4\.** [**Experts are debating whether artificial intelligence is a threat to humanity. It’s very possible that machines with far less intelligence will cause us harm.**](http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn26716-fear-artificial-stupidity-not-artificial-intelligence.html? "undefined") By Mark Bishop in New Scientist **5\.** [**The Innovative State: Governments should make markets, not just fix them.**](http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/142496/mariana-mazzucato%E2%80%A8/the-innovative-state "undefined") By Mariana Mazzucato in Foreign Affairs  [_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/3641802/five-best-ideas-of-the-day-december-19/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3641802/five-best-ideas-of-the-day-december-19/"},"headline":"Five Best Ideas of the Day: December 19","datePublished":"2014-12-19T17:01:08.000Z","dateModified":"2026-07-09T08:19:56.512Z","description":"A vision for a new hope movement in America, a crack team of data analysts at the LAPD, using Minecraft to reach autistic kids and more.","url":"https://time.com/3641802/five-best-ideas-of-the-day-december-19/","keywords":["Innovation","Crime","Autism","autistic","Minecraft","Data topic","statistics","Markets","LAPD","AI"],"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/3641802/five-best-ideas-of-the-day-december-19/","name":"Five Best Ideas of the Day: December 19"}}]}] ```