an anthropology of creativity and freedom
As I begin to acquaint myself with twitter in March and April 2020, I notice one of the big stories in the twitter community ‘during corona’ is whether or not Elon Musk has really given the ventilators he promised to a hospital. It seems to send ripples of joy through the community of tweeters (are... Continue Reading →
How can I allow myself to be in awe of what Elon Musk does? Didn’t I read what he said about those divers who didn’t want his too complicated and beside-the-point submarine? Haven’t I read Noam Chomsky or Naomi Klein (who for some reason for me blur into the same person) and what would they... Continue Reading →
Off the coast of Finland lies an island called SuperShe. It was purchased in 2017 by Kristina Roth, who had recently sold off her $45 million company, Matisia Consultants, to “seek out something even more fulfilling” (Bloom 2018). Or as she put it more bluntly to a room of Latvian tech students during her speech... Continue Reading →
According to Robert Crossley (2011) utopian fiction relocated from Earth to Mars towards the end of the 19th Century. By then most of Earth was mapped and the chances of finding uncharted valleys significantly reduced (ibid.:90). I bought a pile of the utopian novels referred to by Crossley. According to this literature, Mars was the... Continue Reading →
I remind myself of my intent to explore the youtube angle further and holed up in my own little room at the writer’s retreat, I pull out my DIY equipment: a thick sketch book, four pencils H2, an eraser, a pencil sharpener, and a set of 24 color pencils which will turn out to be... Continue Reading →
Nick and I were lying in bed one night in our rented apartment at Ibiza. The kids had just fallen asleep after a long evening of card games and laughter followed by me reading aloud a few chapter’s from The Bend Coin. Such harmonious and close-knit evenings with the kids happen rarely to us, the... Continue Reading →
“Of the six people who started PayPal, four had built bombs in high school” (Thiel 2014: 174). Thus Peter Thiel begins chapter 14 ‘The Founder’s Paradox’ in his book Zero to One: notes on startups, or how to build the future. In this chapter, Thiel explores the differences and commonalities between the founders of PayPal... Continue Reading →
Having said apocalypse, Sam Altman, Peter Thiel and thinking about the Sillicon Valley tech elite my mind jumps to Elon Musk and outer space. At the dawn of 2019 three of multibillionaires have their eyes set on space fare and are building rockets that will take some of us into space. The visions that guide... Continue Reading →
Mars: A Room of My Own 