Not a cyber Utopia

I was still thinking about Steve Lambert’s We are all going to die ...

when I came across these mighty words today:

Bruce Sterling | SXSW Interactive 2016 

despair is an act of intellectual arrogance. If you get really confused it can be very healthy because if you become despairing, you falsely imagine you have everything figured out. And in fact none of us do.

It's an inspiring rant.

Quick thoughts: Steve wants people to think about Utopia as a direction, a spectrum, not as a permanent destination, and Bruce wants us to rethink our fear of confusion. Both want us to admit that we don't have the answers, but it's not a reason to despair. Both see uncertainty as a compass for Eutopias (positiv Utopias).

Utopia as a direction is possible, if based on constant change.

Before I stumbled up on Bruce Sterling today, that was the thought I was trying to write a blog post about. I don't think I will finish it today.

Since this blog is about sharing thoughts on Utopia, but also me, trying to understand what Utopia means for my life. I decided to start posting links as I encounter them, even if I am not ready to write about them yet. They are resources to come back to. Should be helpful to have them all in one space trying to explore how they might fit together.

Here are two more recommended readings, I came across today while thinking about Utopia:

This was the first time I read about the “Overton window” (Bruce mentions):

I argue that Trump's rise is a sign of media's increasing weakness in setting the terms of discussion. In the NYT: https://t.co/IpYGwwoAss

— Zeynep Tufekci (@zeynep) March 31, 2016

and this...just read it:

Top Trump strategist quits, writes an open letter warning America about him https://t.co/CS1GArP906pic.twitter.com/FpPtHvEbIH

— Cory Doctorow (@doctorow) March 29, 2016