Father of one

Yesterday was not only the solstice, but also Father's Day, and the midsummer night's ruminations I posted are connected in my mind to yet another article on the current Wired, which was extracted from Chris Anderson's newest book and was previously previewed in another issue of my favorite magazine.

Anderson writes about the "new hybrid world we're entering where scarcity and abundance exist side by side". He makes his case by pointing to how the massive availability of near-free storage has made many online activities proliferate abnormously (i.e. abnormally enormously). It is becoming clear to all of us that the Google mentality is the way of the future. Massive data flows are replacing grand theories and models. The truth is in the facts... Let's gather them and then figure out what they mean.

Species have been comparatively wasteful for eons, so this profligate approach has not been invented by Google. They have perfected it, but so have bluefin tuna.

I have no doubt that our future will be more about "thinning out" massive information overloads and relinquishing the ballast that we accumulate through unconscious consumerism. As we enter the era of simplexity, it is (abundantly) clear that we need to master abundance thinking.

When it comes to the perpetuation of our selfish genes, we mammals have a built-in bias toward the specialness of our offsprings. The absolute preciousness of my own progeny cannot be compared to the wasteful way in which other species reproduce by statistical chance. I am proud to be Nick's father and I am really glad that we made our cross-country trek this past spring. He's one of a kind and I love him dearly. I hope he feels the same about me...