Month: april 2017

On people who live on in our dreams
I dreamt that the late British American public intellectual Christopher Hitchens was walking next to me. He was bald, like in the last months of his life when he underwent chemotherapy, but appeared in excellent health and was obviously not aware of his impending death. The image was so vivid that I could see the ...
The contiguous society
The exponential growth of computing power has created unprecedented possibilities for the democratic organization of a people. Looking at the current voting system of democracies around the world however, very little of these digital innovations to improve the finding and execution of the 'will of the people' have been realized. It is largely unchartered territory, ...
Denken is de onzichtbare autoriteit van de ratio. Retorica is de geslaagde poging, deze onzichtbaarheid te realiseren.
Two types of religion
A father can call the deepest motivation of his child the tentative and most fragile design of his heart morally reprehensible. So he summons the energy that will self-destroy his child. There are two types of religion In one, there is a Father and He shall forgive you In the other, you shall forgive the ...
Digital Detox
I woke up one day wondering how long it had been since I last went an entire week, or even a few days, without an Internet connection, without being absorbed by the virtual reality of our all-encompassing communication network. I couldn't remember. Was it 1996, the year before I purchased my first laptop computer? Was ...
Ik heb teveel herinneringen
Ik heb teveel herinneringen. Wanneer ik rustig achter mijn bureau zit om een stukje voor de maandag te typen spoken er caleidoscopisch fragmenten door mijn kop van mezelf in de talrijke steden en dorpen waar mijn schaduw het plaveisel heeft mogen versieren. Het houdt me uit mijn concentratie en voelt als een ouwelullenstigma. Ben ik ...
Licht
het licht botert mijn kamer in vormloos, geestloos. lumineuze snot. apatisch licht, dat vermoeid reikt tot in de hoeken van mijn werkvertrek toch is het licht dat van buiten komt Platonisch licht: licht genoeg om alles te moeten zien maar niet om gezien te worden melkig tralielicht dat walmt van inertie licht van een oud ...
Eroticism
Early on, I have eroticized being driven somewhere. In a vehicle I become a healthy corporeal thing sweating excitement along its thighs Do you know that experience when your body agrees with everything when it has only friendly exchanges along its periphery and there is no need for pain?
Learning by improv theatre
Dear Miru, You are four years old now. We have real conversations. When I pick you up from kindergarten and I ask you what have you done today (in Dutch) you tell me brief but wonderful stories about making a snowman, observing insects and hedgehogs, dancing or taking the bus together with all the other ...