License to Kill

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If you enjoy a quality turn of phrase as much as the next guy, or as I do, look no further than one of my favourite angry old men, Christopher Hitchens.

His book God is not Great is quite addictive and conveniently available as an audiobook. I like it not so much because I'm interested in the debate or the history, which is obviously highly engaging, but more because the debate is long gone and it's just nice to hear the burn. Listening to him read his own words is a treat not to be missed.

You should probably be somewhat of a fan already, though, and as one reviewer puts it, "he often delivers his ideas like he's trying to splash his martini across your face at a party." He is by no means for everyone.

While you may be inclined to listen while multitasking(!) you will likely find yourself stopping whatever you're doing and rewinding(!) certain parts over and over, just to bathe in his sparkling correctness. If you're not convinced yet, maybe this Amazon review will tip the scales:


Listen here

Nassim Nicholas Taleb

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Now here is a chap that you should follow on facebook (at the very least) for his illuminating and thought provoking ideas. I first read Fooled by Randomness about two years ago and was mightily impressed. I have since been following him on facebook and on his website. This is a sample of his interesting (and topical) thinking:

Nassim Taleb Kerrin Naude.jpg

For one of the smartest big-picture conversations out there, listen to this 45 min Interview. He talks mostly about the deleveraging of the banks, proper global finacial leadership, and risk in general, from the perspective of someone who truly has the survival of humanity at heart.

I like everywhere that this man's head is at. Nassim Taleb will make you smarter and more interesting

The Dude

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"I don't know anything about music. My job has very little to do with music. It has more to do with taste and culture and balance."

Rick Rubin is a music producer behind some of the best rock, metal and rap of the last two decades or so and his contribution to the likes of the Red Hot Chili Peppers is immense and different.

I like the idea that what makes his albums successful is the creation of what is in effect a high bandwidth link between the marketplace and culture, and the artist and their creative music making process. His understanding of the General Vibe allows him to produce music that is not just a novel creative package or original just in a musical sense, but relevant too. Creative and relevant music is a combination that is hard to beat. His ability to blend moments of straight-up good music with references steeped in the present makes for ever more remarkable musical moments of consciousness.

He's so good in fact that he got his photo taken by everybody's favourite lesbian, Annie Leibovitz. This is him at home, accessing his shit for your and my listening pleasure.

You need to watch this

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...if you haven't already.

A while back, my sometimes very inspirational mother sent me the transcript from J.K. Rowling's commencement address at Harvard in 2008. I really love a great speech, and this is way up there.

I've read and re-read it a number of times, and it still makes me mushy inside. I actually feel honoured to share a birthday with her!

This is the video. Full transcript here

Proust Questionnaire

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What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Respect for everything and everyone, by everyone. No really.

What is your greatest fear?
Going blind or deaf, or not being able to run.

Which historical figure do you most identify with?
No-one really.

Which living person do you most admire?
Renzo Rosso.

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
Over sensitivity.

What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Hypocrisy. There is no escape from that one.
Or amorality - similar vibes.

What is your greatest extravagance?
A good haircut.

What is your favourite journey?
Any long ski-lift to the top of the Alps.

What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Teetotalism. Never trust someone who tells you they don’t drink.

On what occasion do you lie?
To protect others’ feelings.

What do you dislike most about your appearance?
I appear too normal.

Which living person do you most despise?
Robert Mugabe. George W Bush just doesn’t know any better.

Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
Vibe. But is it really over-use?

What is your greatest regret?
Not seeing Nirvana unplugged.

What or who is the greatest love of your life?
My friends. No question.

When and where were you happiest?
The sunset set at Origin Festival, front right speaker - with my mates of course.

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
Better feet.

What do you consider to be your greatest achievement?
Open mindedness - to anything new.

If you could choose what to come back as, what would it be?
Ryk Neethling. He must have a lot of money, get laid a lot and not have any health problems…

What is your most treasured possession?
Good taste.

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
The inability to really chill out.

Where would you like to live?
Lake Como.

What is your favourite occupation?
Music, sex, maybe both.

What is your most marked characteristic?
I'm me.

What is the quality you most like in a man?
Enthusiasm.

What is the quality you most like in a woman?
The ability to talk proper shit.

What do you most value in your friends?
Their sheer coolness and perspective on life.

Who are your favourite writers?
Everyone has their moment, some for longer than others

Who is your favourite hero of fiction?
Patsy Stone.

What is it that you most dislike?
People who don’t think before they talk.

How would you like to die?
On the dancefloor. Or in space. Though those could be the same thing.

What is your motto?
“Those who know do not say. Those who say do not know.”

The Second Enlightenment

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Finally, my decision in my last year of high school to drop from higher grade to standard grade mathematics seems vindicated. I didn't enjoy it and any talent I may have had for it was spoiled by a certain teacher fairly early on. It soon became clear to me that my talents lay elsewhere.

Only very recently it seems, though, that people are beginning to be able to gain any kind of real recognition or status for being talented in any other areas, like the arts or subjects like marketing or understanding of human behaviour. I think the reasons for this are numerous and come from very different angles. The world's centuries-long obsession with science and progress, or rather, progress through science only, seems to be reaching it's end. Sir Ken Robinson made some very good points at last year's TED. Well worth it.

Linear programming to save the earth

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As Stephen Hawking says, we are in fact going to have to leave the planet in order to stay alive. Assuming that this is the case – we definitely need to prepare to leave at a certain rate if we are to leave in time and stand any chance.

The time we have left will also be determined by the extra time we give ourselves by doing what we can, now, to save the environment. Of course we want to save the environment for its own sake anyway, but now we have a second reason - to win us time for the preparation to leave. The preparation itself will be determined, largely, by the amount of resources that can be allocated towards it, i.e. not toward saving the environment.

In other words, we need to put the greatest amount of effort into the environment and insodoing acquire the most time we can get, with the least expense to the preparation itself (in case we don’t make it).

If my memory serves me correctly (which it probably doesn’t), the mathematical tool needed to optimise two such grand plans is something called linear programming. But we will need an enormously complicated version of it, similar to the calculations used to determine our personal or corporate environmental footprint. Plenty of people are good at these calculations and it strikes me as something that needs to be calculated too if we are to really not waste any time and allow for the most pleasant time we have left here.