On Creativity/ On Internet Communication/ Outline of a Dystopia/ Vienna


On Creativity


It becomes harder to 'will' yourself into a new creative phase when you get older. I remember clearly the momentum I had when taking an interest in new creative things in my twenties. First music, literature, music again, then even computers. It takes a lot of effort to believe in what your doing, almost a kind of faith, because there's nothing there to really encourage you except your own belief, there's no feedback from the outside. Its like what Bob Dylan said about his early musical creativity, when he wrote Mr. Tambourine man and about destiny - that it was a kind of magic that only you have, its like this special thing that you have that no one else has. The twenties is really the time for that, when your not concerned about things like marriage or job and money. In your thirties this strange fear grips you. Suddenly you become disillusioned with things and more cynical and at the same time your mind doesn't have as many free associations anymore. The idea of starting again from fresh starts to get further from reach. You see trends changing and the new generations come along with this energy that you don't have.

On Internet Communication

Communicating via the internet is strange. Its a pseudo-time capsule. You're forcing the mind to be in several different spatio-temporal locations at once, but the fact is its just impossible. A message from someone seems relatively innocuous but it can trigger all sorts of unconscious activity, affecting dreams and daily routine. Conversations leave a kind of bitter after taste - knowing you cant actually be present with the person leaves you with a sense of abandonment. You invest a lot of mental energy in conjuring up old memories to relive common experiences with others, but the present always intervenes - the result being that you end up in a kind of catatonic stupor, recounting the past but existing in the present. not moving forward but not staying still either.


Outline of a Dystopia

In the future society is divided into two groups. Those who have opted out of having their personal data on the net and those opted in. Those who opted out still use computers but they do not connect to the internet. It started with implants for viewing images on the eyes. Governments will be able to directly intervene in thought processes, through chips installed in our brain. Those who opt out are not permitted to access services of the global village, so they have to maintain their own storage of data like music, books. Those who opt out also do not provide bio metric data so they are not given a status. The mobile device is much more integrated in every day life. You need it for every interaction with public services, hospital, public transport, airport, malls. You basically need it everywhere you go. It becomes illegal not to have your mobile on you at all times.


Vienna

Vienna has been consistently rated the No. 1 city to live in the world for the past ten years. Its main quality is the efficiency and ease of getting around. The inner city is meticulously laid out in a concentric circles which are connected like spokes in a wheel. All of the roads are connected by trams and buses, and the whole city is serviced by an extremely efficient and comfortable underground network. The architecture is spectacular. Many of the buildings in the inner city are designed in the 'historical' style, imitating ancient Greek and Roman architecture. They are all visible from the main 'Ring Strasse' (Ring road) which is the center-most of the surrounding roads. All of the structures are paragons of architectural beauty: The opera, the natural history museum, the national theater, the parliament, and the post office. The inner city is carefully planned so that you cant avoid stepping into one of the many lush verdant parks on your walks. Having grown up in the city, I felt like I was living in a fairy tale land. I spent many hours in the quaint downtown Cafes, drinking and smoking and talking about literature and art. A few blocks away was always a supermarket boasting a variety of Austrian dairy delicacies, and thanks to the transportation I never had difficulty getting home, even when drunk.

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