Algemeen

Uit mijn lezing ‘time between worlds’ van 19 september jl. kan afgeleid worden dat we in een tussentijd leven. Een heden tussen verleden en toekomst, oftewel tijd is creatie– en anders is hij helemaal niets. De ervaring van het procesmatige, temporele en steeds veranderende karakter van de werkelijkheid. In een wereld waarin gefixeerde structuren en concepten onder druk komen te staan en ons leven steeds meer door het hebben van ‘geen tijd’ wordt bepaald is het noodzakelijk gestolde en verouderde concepten, denkwijzen en manieren van waarnemen te doordenken en te vernieuwen. Als je jezelf geen tijd gunt en daarmee het…

Mijn motivatie voor studie, onderzoek en werk komt voort uit mijn bezorgdheid over de toestand van de wereld. In mijn leven ben ik nog nooit zo bezorgd geweest over de inefficiënte focus op de complexe, gelijktijdig opkomende kwesties van de omslagpunten van het Earth System, de toenemende ongelijkheid, mondiale conflicten, convergerende DeepTech, hulpbronnen, gebrek aan integriteit en waarheid, de onaantastbare korte termijn focus op winst, enz. We lijken onze menselijkheid te verliezen. Ik zal blijven bijdragen aan de noodzakelijke systeemverandering om de bovengenoemde fundamentele en existentiële uitdagingen aan te pakken. En nu ik de tijd heb…..  ik heb het grootste…

Contemporary research on comparative cognition supports the claim that the difference between human and non-human minds is one of degree and not of kind. It must be emphasized that specific physical and social environments create selection pressures that lead to the evolution of certain cognitive adaptations and evolve independently from each other as a concrete result of specific selection pressures, and thus have appeared in distantly related species. Thus, there is not one cognition. The biocentric perspective focuses on each species in its own evolutionary history. In accordance with this biocentric approach there are several aspects of cognition, from sensor-actuator mechanisms to…

  The development of Humanity is defined by gradual, linear progression. This linearity is not just a geometric metaphor but a reflection of our cognitive, emotional and societal evolution. Human cognition, deeply rooted in the structures of our neocortex and limbic system -the part of the brain involved in our behavioral and emotional responses- has maintained a consistent pace over millennia. Our emotional responses, learning processes, and memory formations follow a path that is more evolutionary than revolutionary. While individual learning can display moments of rapid growth and adaptation, the overall cognitive development of our species unfolds across generations. Similarly,…

There are no longer any places left on Earth untouched by humans. The chemical and biological signatures of our species are everywhere. Transported around the globe by fierce atmospheric winds, relentless ocean currents, and the capacious cargo-holds of millions of fossil-fuel-powered vehicles, nowhere on Earth is free from humanity’s imprint. Pristine nature has permanently blinked out of existence. The significance of this goes beyond statistics documenting melting glaciers and shrinking species counts. It signals a new geological epoch. What is most startling is not only how much impact humans have had but, more important, how much deliberate shaping they will…

As Albert Einstein justly noted, the experimental physical world, with its infinite diversity, directly contradicts the idealized simplicity of the mathematical description. How can one explain this, accept it, and include it in the scheme of a mechanistic vision of the world? Worldviews have different origins, stemming from various social, cultural, religious, political, and economical systems that have developed over millennia. These different origins can inform and create similar worldview realities shared by different groups of people and societies. The present and outdated worldview is based on our all-pervasive and sub-conscious habit to interpret and represent the World surrounding us…

Without setting the stage for where we actually are, how can we truly understand where to allocate our energy? By observing the major issues of our time we get to witness what the opportunities are for impactful and useful innovation and design. To start with an apology. Unintentionally this reflection became longer than intended. But halfway through writing I realized that it is a big story we have to tell and came to terms with it. Unveiling the harsh reality of the state we are in it became a sobering story. Based on personal narratives, experience and expert insights, exposing…

A dream of a sane world governed by logic and rationality has been the cry of many philosophers,  scientists for millennia. What is rational is real and what is real is rational; and if one devalues rationality, the world tends to fall apart. And yet here we are, in a world run by post-truth, post-factual and post reality politics and discourses. Anything goes and no one cares – all of us liberated in our own respective and self-serving bubbles of cognitive dissonance. Instances of the severe destabilization or even collapse of societies are not historically unique and often occur for the same…

We find ourselves surrounded by the paradox that society can do so much and yet so little at the same time; it is concurrently so powerful and so fragile. It is capable of deploying unprecedented technological power, yet it cannot guarantee development that is balanced in legal, social or environmental terms. The world is facing a set of risks that feel both wholly new and eerily familiar. We have seen a return of ‘older’ risks – inflation, cost-of-living crises, trade wars, capital outflows from emerging markets, widespread social unrest, geopolitical confrontation and the spectre of nuclear warfare – which few…

Today’s world is consistently described by the dominance of national interests, a low degree of multinational combined efforts as well as a decoupling of the Global South. In a highly individualized world, people are losing trust in politics, administration and public media. At the global level, this is also weakening the role of nation states, so that various interest-driven actors – from companies and lobbyists to civil society groups and numerous regional and local entities – are stepping into this gap. Urban areas in particular are becoming actors in their own right on the world stage, so that overall one…