New Phaistos

Summer reflections There is something very pure and relaxing about summer holidays. I am not sure if it is the heat that forces you to take it easy and be in awe of life or the sea itself with its equally captivating character. What I am sure of is that summer holidays create the perfect conditions to reflect and observe! On my summer vacations this time at a Southern European seaside resort, my attention was focused on the locals themselves and I quickly noticed a growing issue. Locals were hotly debating the yacht culture developing in their village that were concerned that it might actually limit their ease of access to their lovely bay. My freedom ends where yours begins I find this is a really tantalizing question of freedom. Imagine you are a yacht owner: part of the appeal is that you are free to go wherever you like. If you see a nice sea-side location with a bay and a beach, why should you be limited from going there? This is probably the reason you bought a yacht in the first...

A chess game played at a two hundred kilometers per hour That is how the sport of modern fencing is often portrayed by its practitioners, or, frankly, anyone with an inclination to dramatize. Often, in student fencing circles this phrase is used ironically to juxtapose how simple, pragmatic and brutal this sport can sometimes be. However, I am inclined to approach this phrase by visualizing its contents; fencing is indeed an ancient game, requiring wit and is supplemented with technology unimagined by previous generations. It really is a marriage cold calculation and passion. A passion which is shared by the previous blog exploring modern fencing technology, and which drives one to explore developments of fencing technology even deeper. How Horses Became Formula 1 A common passerby would not think of modern slender, antenna-like blades as swords. And they would be completely right, none of the three fencing weapons (saber, foil and epee) are swords. Assuming the sole purpose of a sword...

History is the best teacher This weekend, I spent my time doing something I truly enjoy: reading history. I couldn't help but reflect on how little we have learned as a species. But could we perhaps do any better? Could we build complex systems that manage our resources optimally and work for the good of all? Since we are taking a look at history, perhaps the best case to study would be the Dutch Empire - arguably the first modern state. It introduced a proto-constitution ( Union of Utrecht ), the stock exchange and early ideas of freedom of religion and freedom of speech , along with many more aspects of modern life.  Protestant David vs Catholic Goliath All right, to the Dutch Golden Age we go then! But first, let's make a mental picture of the setting... Imagine a society that has little resources to speak of, surviving constant floods only through collaboration. This society is in danger: because the Catholic Spanish want to subjugate the Protestant Dutch . So, what ca...

The digital agora The importance of the internet to our culture cannot be overstated. It offers us a common ground to share music, opinions, conduct transactions, learn, travel and many more. But crucially, it acts as a metaphor for a central square: it is our primary means of talking with each other and exchanging opinions on a mass scale. This is very similar to the ancient Greek agora and the Roman forum . Our digital existence is almost synonymous with our public existence. Politicians address people via tweets , rallies or strikes are organized asynchronously via chatting and even companies mostly interact with customers or the public via the internet. This level of mass interaction can potentially enable a true representative democracy . Given then the importance of a healthy public life, we all understand it is very important to introduce clear rules of engagement to how we operate in our shared public spaces. It shouldn't be possible for a single, anonymous lie to ruin on...

Innovation golden age ... without the gold Sociologists say that we live in the 4th industrial revolution . An age where digital means are used to their max extent to enable new exciting ways to leverage data and automate everything. Where every company scrambles to find a way to incorporate AI into its strategy. It is only natural then, to expect that innovation will be very high on the agenda of all organizations, public or private. Yet an observant reader might notice that our actual daily life appears to be even more static than before and no breakthrough innovations are around. Of course, the aforementioned AI trend and Electrical Vehicles (EVs) have entered our lives, but did not dramatically shift our day to day experience like electrification, the gene theory or pasteurization . It looks like our innovative era isn't as innovative as it claims to be. Thought stall The main causes of the lack of earth-shattering innovations are related to broad macroscopic trends. The last...