Kyoto, Part 1

The first commuter train came around 5am. My eyes still closed, my body warm in bed, I imagined faceless people in black suits and students in uniforms, riding silently in the darkness. The rhythmic sounds of the tracks are comforting, as are the black crows, swirling and gliding on wind currents around Toji Temple. I […]

Blundering into Oblivion

Where are we going, and why are we doing this? – is the question that comes to mind when I think about big tech these days. Usually there is a “f***” in there too. Why the F are we doing this? Why, as a society, are we choosing this? What in the world is going […]

the difference between ‘craft’ and ‘success’

The way I see it, there are two paths to get work done. In Path 1, I am anxious and agitated. I have tunnel vision. I am self-focused. There’s a constant heaviness in my chest and a lump in my throat. I am doing-doing-doing, like a hamster in a wheel running a race to nowhere. […]

The Future of Humanity: Losing and finding ourselves again

We live in some interesting times. Digital technologies effortlessly connect us to strangers and loved ones all over the world. Artificial intelligence and automation is becoming smarter and more capable, reducing the need for human labor or even human-to-human interaction. Planet Earth is teetering on crisis – climate change threatening famine, war, natural disasters and […]

What if people run out of things to do? Automation, Basic Income and the “Purpose” problem

Imagine this. Your basic expenses are covered. You don’t need to work anymore. You have Monday to Friday free. Nowhere you need to be. Nothing you need to do. You can live (reasonably) comfortably. You have all the time in the world. Now what? With the rise of automation and technological advances, some researchers predict […]

Questions for the AI revolution

In the societal fear of machine super-intelligence taking over the world (a.k.a. Man versus Machine), the scenario we all fear is this: Man programs machines to learn how to learn. Machines become more intelligent than man. Man loses control over machines. Machines overtake man. Man is exterminated or become enslaved by machines. Or another scenario: […]

Addictive technologies and the race for our attention

Let me start with a confession. A (not-so) well-kept secret. In the five years since I’ve started this blog, this is the first post I’ve written about technology. The very first. This might make me a terrible computer scientist. Or it might make me a really focused one. Let me explain. Researcher Dr. Eric Baumer […]

A beautiful, honest mess

I’ve been pondering the nature of spaces. How their design can make us feel the way we feel, and the subtle ways our environments can impact what we do and how we interact with each other and ourselves. Take where I’m at right now. A Starbucks in Calgary, Canada. It’s -20°C outside, cold wind and […]

The next right thing

It has been one month since I’ve moved from Switzerland to Germany. A month since I defended my PhD dissertation on cultural barriers in globally distributed teams. The PhD feels close, yet far away. I’ve been learning how to slow down, to relax, and to take time. I’ve been learning not to measure the worth […]

Surf school, Portugal

Day 1: Funny how time works. Just the other day, I was sitting in the “Bitte Ruhe” room at the University of Zurich, proof-reading my PhD thesis one final time in air-conditioned climate control. Now, I’m here – surf school in Baleal, Portugal. Ocean wind, the smell of seaweed and the sound of crashing waves. We’re […]