Shows
The Logic Leap54: Seeing systemsOn an Aeroflot flight from London to Moscow in 2004 something struck me as extremely odd. Looking up at the air vent above my seat, there was a hair spray painted onto the air conditioning grid. Not only this, but the grid was also clearly manufactured by hand. The more I investigated the interior of the old Ilyushin 86, the more I became aware of the remnants of the hands who had manufactured this plane.After years of flying in the machined plastic interiors of Boeing and Airbus planes, this evidence of manual work on the plane left me shocked...
2022-01-1520 min
The Logic Leap53: OriginThis week I wanted to start with a thought experiment.Imagine you are a primitive stone-age hunter, walking into the ruins of a library. You have never heard of reading and writing so the shapes and symbols in the books have no meaning to you. In fact, you have never come across anything that looks like a book, so these fine leaves have one useful purpose for you: to make a good fire.They burn really well and there are so many of them stacked around. For your needs and purposes, they are doing...
2021-12-1712 min
The Logic Leap50: re-SPECTThat took a lot longer than expected! But the journey has been a rewarding one.Between edition 49 and this week's newsletter, I've been to Cameroon, getting my feet and hands dirty with the raw challenges of launching COOKO.In a sense, it also provided me with first-hand lived experiences of the type of tribal and traditional hierarchies that John referred to in our interview.As he put it: “The Niuean word for respect is “Lilifu” and depending on the context “lilifu” is also honour, status, and humility. The act of respect is “Fakalilifu," which means to giv...
2021-09-1717 min
The Logic Leap48: EmpathyEmpathy has become a very charged term in these days of integration and identity. Through mindfulness and non-violent communication, we seek ways to engage and anticipate the emotional realities of our counterparts.Surprisingly, the word empathy is relatively new. It traces its roots back to 1858 when the German philosopher Rudolf Lotze started using the concept of “empatheia.” It was the Greek expression of the German “Einfühlung” – literally to feel within. To be inside the emotion.The directionality of the term opens a very revealing challenge and shortcoming in the way we use it in modern discourse...
2021-07-0324 min
The Logic Leap47: CourageI woke up to yoga quite late in life. Living in NYC I could never take the mat-bearing yogis spinning through the lunchtime rotating door at the local yoga studio seriously. How could the 20-minute session they had, be meaningful?Until I met ZanZan in Bali. Our sunrise sessions at his temple introduced a depth and meaning to yoga that was not apparent through the lycra and latex symbols flashed at me in the city.The importance of breath and “in-tension” becomes clear when you are looking up at the jungle and feeling the first rays of s...
2021-06-1715 min
The Logic Leap46: UnchainedI have, the always insightful, Christine De Lille to thank for the wonderful gift of Anthony Brand and David Eagleman’s “Runaway species.” It is an excellent book that unpicks the essence of human creativity. Their core thesis is that humans innovate by doing three things: 1. Breaking 2. Blending 3. BendingThe stone age techniques still serve us well in defining new ideas and testing the limits of current ones. Just like we used to bend and blend wicker branches to weave a basket, we now bend and blend code to create a blockchain.We...
2021-06-0423 min
The Logic Leap45: BrokenLast year archaeologists revealed a stunning find in Mexico. A set of footprints, more than 12 000 years old revealed a mystery and a drama.We are not sure who this prehistoric individual was, perhaps a woman aged about 12 or a young man, but we do know they were in a hurry. The scientists could calculate that the person was rushing at a sustained pace of 6.12 km/h. Through marshland.The tracks form an almost dead straight line across the swampy expanse. It was clear that the individual was critically focused on reaching a raised piece of land...
2021-05-2209 min
The Logic Leap44. FocusIpley Cross in England’s New Forest is notorious for being the UK’s most dangerous crossing for cyclists. The particular angle of the intersection gives rise to a phenomenon known as “constant bearing, decreasing range.” In essence a the angle will have the car just out of the cyclists’ visual range, up until the point where they crash. At the same time, the car driver will not see the cyclist because they will constantly be inside the visual shadow of the car’s A-pillar (the pillar next to the windshield.Both motorist and cyclist won’t see each oth...
2021-05-0716 min
The Logic Leap43 ChoicesWhen dealing with a group of children it can be a Herculean task to manage their energy and chaotic whims. Many years ago, I got some very valuable advice from a kindergarten teacher.When I asked her how they do it, she said: “Simple, constrain the choices.”Instead of starting the conversation with “What do you kids want to do today?” you start with: “OK, shall we start with the slides or the swings today?”By coating all of this in the mantle of democracy, the children feel like they have taken part in an important...
2021-04-2310 min
The Logic Leap42 CurrencyThis week, Lynne Twist’s comment about money really stopped me dead in my tracks: We totally forgot that we invented it.As more and more of our lives become financialised, it is hard to imagine a world beyond money. The price of everything is shoved into our faces in every direction. With NFT’s I’m pretty sure the sunrise will soon carry a price tag.As Jacob Needleman says in Money and the meaning of Life; “we live in a world where we know the price of everything but the value of nothing...
2021-04-0917 min
The Logic Leap41 LearningWalk past your expensive car (or bicycle) and scratch the side. When you return tomorrow the scratch is still there, as it will be in a year (unless you have someone fix it).Yet, scratch your arm, knee or leg and the process of healing immediately starts. The body responds to the new information with instant reactions and processes reconstructing the tissue and closing the wound. Healing is incredibly special, yet we take so much of it for granted.The scar tissue from this wound does not remain only on the skin or surface...
2021-03-2604 min