Joho the Blog
An Entry from the Archives

As you Blog IdeasBoston, could you comment on its effectiveness as a collective learning structure? Is the ideational network generating new connections? And, in what way is greater Boston effective as a collective learning network?

"am I the only one here with a laptop?"

You are a spear-carrier. You are carrying a spear. You usually hang-out with other spear-carriers.

This conference is for the chieftains. They don't carry spears. They have people other to do it. Like you :-)

And I thought sxsw was an idea factory! Thanks for blogging such a cool conference. BTW, as an academic exercise, I used to ask my students to forecast the implications if human lifespans increased significantly. Mr. Golijov's remark about immortality dulling the pain of romantic love is not one I'd heard before. Probably true to the extent that people would have longer term expectations. On the other hand, if everybody is around one another for so long, chances are that those who wanted to boink one another would have already done so, leaving little need to compose sonnets or love songs at all. The time that remained might very well be spent on more prosaic matters, whether it be perfecting a hobby or challenging a neighbor to a thumb-wrestling match. Romantic love may no longer need to exist; on the other hand, an eternity of Wagnerian longing is probably enough to drive anybody crazy (ask the Sybil of Cumae).

Romantic love is like a symphony played in the heart.