Erudite altruism: It’s something that might, at first, arc an eyebrow or raise a smirk. Selflessness is antithetical to so much that we learn and see, from Darwinism to, say, The Wolf of Wall Street. Yet model and now digital do-gooder Lily Cole possesses it in spades, and she’s very convincing as to its verity.
Enter Impossible.com, a recently launched website by the Cambridge grad that “encourages people to do things for others for free.” The idea is based around that of a gift economy, only in a bitmapped realm: Simply, it’s the magnanimous giving of goods and services to others, without the expectation of reciprocity. Impossible.com is meant to make you feel good, even enlivened, by ditching the normal modes of transactional behavior in favor of something a little more human and a bit more heartstrung.
And if you’re in the boat that might think, “no way, altruism is dated and done with,” consider this: Impossible.com has the support of such bigwigs as Jimmy Wales, who started Wikipedia, and Nobel-prize winner Muhammad Yunus, who pioneered microfinancing. Clearly, Cole is onto something.
The entrepreneur spoke with Vogue.com yesterday while en route from Washington, D.C. to New York—Cole had a speaking engagement last night at NeueHouse, Manhattan’s cutting-edge new work space collective, and will also appear tonight at the Apple store in SoHo alongside Chelsea Clinton. Our talking points include: Utopias, South by Southwest, and free houses.
I’ve read that your thesis at Cambridge suggested ideas of what now informs Impossible.com—can you tell me a bit about that?
My thesis is called Gabriel Orozco: Impossible Utopias, and it was actually published this week through Claire de Rouen Books. In it, I discuss the idea of utopia, which originally meant “no place” and “good place.” I argue for its relevance as the ever-present existence of possibility—something we are all able to envision. I question the ideas we might have that frame how we understand what is possible versus impossible, and argue that much more than we might imagine actually is doable. It also reflects on the value of small gestures, and of observing and interacting with the world around us, which is much of what Impossible.com is about.
So is this where the idea started?
It is not directly related to Impossible.com—I didn’t talk about the gift economy specifically—but they are bound by an underlying philosophy, and I think the thesis inspired the platform in many ways.
You launched Impossible.com quite recently in the U.S. What has the response been so far?
It’s been great! It has been hard to keep up with the wishes, as they have been flooding in, but we’ve had a very positive response. I feel inspired!
You were just at South by Southwest—how was it? Were you promoting the site?
Yes, I talked about Impossible.com at a breakfast hosted by the British government’s GREAT campaign and also at a Neiman Marcus panel where we discussed women in pop culture. It was really fun . . . surprisingly fun, actually, for what I thought would be work! Someone described it as a “weird combination of a conference and a festival,” which I think was pretty apt. It was also great to be able to see so many people I know from the tech world in a short space of time, and [get] some sunshine!
What’s the most outrageous wish you’ve seen on Impossible.com?
There have been some remarkable ones, but really the emphasis is on lots of small gestures, the small acts of kindness that people can do for one another.
To that, what’s the most outrageous gift that has been granted?
A man gave away his house.
Visit Impossible.com and download the app here.