Have you ever been overexcited to read a book that could change your way of thinking? Have ever been disappointed by the same book that promised to teach you something valuable? Luckily that’s not the case here. Don’t get me wrong you won’t read the book and change in the blink of an eye. But […]
Climate change may be a direct threat, but there is still a lack of real action. Climate targets, for example, based on the Paris climate agreement, do not go much further than paper. Like most human good intentions, the action phase is never reached. All we have left is the imagination, which confronts us with […]
In a world where we feel that we have insufficient understanding of new developments, the journalist is increasingly emerging as a clarifier of the near future. Well-founded speculative journalism is required. This article originally appeared in Dutch in ‘Ontwerpen aan de Journalistiek’, published by the research group Journalism and Responsible Innovation (Lectoraat Journalistiek en Verantwoorde […]
Or, how the fragmented specter of rave spreads through the digital network. Rave has been declared dead several times. There is hope. In this new decade, the spectre of rave manifests itself online and spreads through the digital network like a virus. “Hard to Say” by Djrum leads the way. The moment the beat comes […]
Why we need to reimagine our future This article is originally published at Envisioning. When we google the words “futuristic city,” the image above is the first that appears on the results page. This image isn’t, in any way, unusual. Indeed, all the other pictures on the page also portray a set of blueish skyscrapers, […]
“Man becomes, as it were, the sex organs of the machine world, as the bee of the plant world, enabling it to fecundate and to evolve ever new forms. The machine world reciprocates man’s love by expediting his wishes and desires, namely, in providing him with wealth.”Marshall McLuhan, Understanding Media (1964) In Coded Bias, MIT […]
Monsters are everywhere. In different sizes and shapes. In disguise or in plain sight. Sweet monsters, evil monsters, adorable and scary ones. There is one common feature: their behaviour is unpredictable and uncontrollable. That’s why we are afraid of monsters. They show us a mirror. In essence, we humans are the monsters. The worst kind; […]
“Who do I trust?” Christopher Wylie repeats the question so slowly that you can hear his brain cracking. After some stuttering, he admits: “I don’t want to say that I don’t trust anyone. Let’s say I go through life with a healthy dose of scepticism”. All clear: Wylie does not trust anyone. Christopher Wylie is […]
Last week, the ‘definite’ edition of New Order’s Power, Corruption & Lies was released. Thirty-seven years ago the first single of the recording session wasn’t included on the album. Blue Monday went on to become the best-selling 12-inch of all time. Three million copies were sold. This is mainly due to the song itself, which […]
What does the explosive growth of Artificial Intelligence (AI) mean for humans? Do we have to worry? Will we become slaves to our own technology? The Westworld series holds up a mirror: our fear of AI is the fear of ourselves. Note: spoilers! “To be more precise, science fiction is neither forward-looking nor utopian. Rather, […]