Archives

July 2007

Kōan of the day - What is Art? 2007-07-29

Definition:

A kōan (公案) is a story, dialogue, question, generally containing aspects that are inaccessible to rational understanding, yet that may be accessible to intuition.

Sometimes kōans appear out of nowhere, and I was today witness to a beautiful one:

(20:32) <@kena> sylvain_: c'est quoi l'art pour toi …
Tolerance vs. Interest 2007-07-22

And as discussed today on IRC, this context is often a function of the interest shown by other people.

Mixed feelings and confused thoughts - I found it easier drawn than explained, in the style of Indexed.

graph of tolerance vs interest

(Not entirely satisfying though: not sure whether tolerance really increases in the stereotypical USA …

Cultural differences are no excuse for lack of civilization 2007-07-20

Yesterday evening I had a lively discussion with two colleague from work, about the cultural differences between the Netherlands and North America. It boils down to two ideas:

  • the perceived freedom in the Netherlands is merely a superficial by-product of the blissful indifference of the average Dutch citizen towards other …
Boten Anna, Nederlandse stijl 2007-07-09