I write to make sense of the world. My beat, so to speak, is the journey of being a human in the twenty-first century as we wrestle with our technological successes and failures. It’s the same beat as OMNI in the day and the Exploratorium since its founding: the intersection of humanities and technologies. I’m not picky about where it takes me. I am often looking for generous, sensible, audacious thinkers, doers and artists to lean on and help make decisions in my own life and work.
I really enjoy the way Malcom Gladwell writes. Big ideas, but not always with the intention of making changes. He writes mysteries that end up explaining a consequential corner of our world. It’s a behind the scenes kind of experience. Interesting characters, sidebars to arcane know-how, surprising insights with twists and big reveals.
My writing rules are derived from the rooms of recovery and the realities of map makers. Cartographers do not make itineraries. They do not choose the journey you will have. They show you where you can go. To that end:
- I am not here to change your mind.
- Instead, to feed your curiosity, show other pathways.
- The paths I choose come from my own sense of adventure.
- I map aesthetic and technological pathways.
- I don’t have many characters in my stories. Gladwell always has characters. Time to change that up.
- Rule 6 from the Art of Possibility: Don’t take yourself too seriously.