Polarizing conversations with strangers in social media

Hey, you! Yes, you. How do you feel about climate change? Would you say its more or less important than issues of immigration? What about universal basic income? Or the legalization of narcotics use? What about the COVID-19 vaccine and vaccine passports? If you’re someone who frequently gets into online conflicts with strangers online, we […]

This creative life, part 2

The way I see it, there are two ways to live a creative life. In way 1, I am tense, anxious and agitated – with myself and with everyone else. I am self-focused. I have tunnel vision. There’s a constant heaviness in my chest and a lump in my throat. I am doing-doing-doing, like a […]

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 […]

I looked to see what was holding me back – and realized it was me.

** Hi there. I know Sandberg has been in the media lately in scandals involving Facebook. To me, this reflected a lack of integrity. Nonetheless, I left this post up as I know from personal experience that taking on new challenges, requires a lot of inner work. Just showing up and trying, is already a […]

Questions for the AI revolution

There sure is a lot of fearmongering in the media these days. Watch any clip of mainstream news and you’ll get scared out of your pants about terrorism, nuclear war, biosecurity, climate change, and machine intelligence taking over the world. Yes – these are real and important global issues ripe for discussion – but jeez, […]

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 to Germany. 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 of my days (and indirectly, myself) by how productive I’ve been. I’ve been learning how to sit […]

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 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 gathered […]