Another one of my Heroes just passed away. I discovered George Carlin just a few years ago and I was hooked immediately. Like other great man - Kurt Vonnegut - he spoke the truth in a clear, often harsh way. He used comedy as a vehicle for change and political criticism.
Are there any replacements? I don’t see any?
The great writer and visionary has left this planet. Another sad loss for humanity.
More? Wikipedia, BBC News, Arthur C. Clark Foundation and his HomePage.
And another one of my Heroes dies.
Joseph Weizenbaum was a computer god and culture critic. I read many of his ideas - and his critical think really inspired me. His work on artificial intelligence and natural language processing were important as well. I think we all encountered a version of ELIZA on the web? If not - talk with “her” here …
*Thanks Thomas for sending me this sad news*
Hardly any game had such a cultural influence on modern culture than Dungeons & Dragons. It was the very basis of the Nerd culture of the 1980’s - and still is in the heads of many great makers of software, computers, gadgets and other important technology.
Gary Gygax -God of the Game Masters, Inventor of D&D in 1974 and overall storyteller - just passed away.
Since I grew up playing D&D - and then producing a role playing fanzine (on paper) I owe him a lot of inspiration, because it was that very hobby that got me into writing and publishing - and later into computer. Not to play, but to write about Role Playing Games.
More? a nice interview and some video over at BoingBoing and the ultimate Nerd discussion about his death and his influence on Slashdot.
“There will be, in the next generation or so, a pharmacological method of making people love their servitude, and producing dictatorship without tears, so to speak, producing a kind of painless concentration camp for entire societies, so that people will in fact have their liberties taken away from them, but will rather enjoy it, because they will be distracted from any desire to rebel by propaganda or brainwashing, or brainwashing enhanced by pharmacological methods. And this seems to be the final revolution.”
“Joy is not in things; it is in us.”
“I hate this fast growing tendency to chain men to machines in big factories and deprive them of all joy in their efforts - the plan will lead to cheap men and cheap products.”
“One supreme fact which I have discovered is that it is not willpower, but fantasy-imagination that creates. Imagination is the creative force. Imagination creates reality.”
Since Mr King is currently dragged into the presidential race in the US - it’s good to look back and hear for yourself how great he was. And maybe you watch an Obama speech to see if he really is another King?
He was born 8th of January 1942 - and I consider him one of the greatest minds alive in our times.
When Stephen Hawkings took this zero-g trip last year I was thrilled with joy. I deeply admire Mr Hawkings for scientific work and his bravery facing his disability.
I guess we can hardly imagine what weightlessness means and feels like for someone slumped in his wheelchair all day. Since Hawkings is also a big space nerd this trip is - for the moment - the closest he can get to being in outer space. But maybe Virgin Galactic will take him and many others a bit further out pretty soon.
"After your death you will be what you were before your birth."
"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident."
"Religion is the masterpiece of the art of animal training, for it trains people as to how they shall think."
"Change alone is eternal, perpetual, immortal."
"Every person takes the limits of their own field of vision for the limits of the world."
"Martyrdom is the only way a man can become famous without ability."
"Reading is equivalent to thinking with someone else’s head instead of with one’s own."
One of the great brains with a conscience in the USA. He was never afraid of speaking truth to power and the ‘normal’ people. Bravely and without hesitation he fought against ignorance and bigotry.
But how will take his place? he won’t last forver America! Who has the same kind of brilliance, endurance and will to continue to rattle the cage? I for one nominate Naomi Wolf - she is bright, passionate and has already written many great books and essays.
I’ll play it first and tell you what it is later. - Miles Davis
Max Planck is one of the godfathers of modern physics - like Einstein. Together with Niels Bohr he worked on the breathtaking quantum theory. I am still trying to wrap my head around it’s implications.
More? Wikipedia entry
As a Kid I only knew Evel as a toy - it was not until my late thirties until I realized that he was a real person - and a madman as well.
He is certainly not the first person to make money by TRYING to do terrible stuff. I think Harry Houdini is the first modern dare devil. But Evel pushed the media madness and marketing to new heights. Hence they toys. I see him as one of the forefathers of other acts like MTV’s Jackass or Dirty Sanchez.
He died age 69 - pretty old for someone who tried to kill himself every other week.
PS: I am sure this is the best time to sell your old Evel ware on eBay - you can make a fortune now!
PPS: Thanks to Edosan to informing me about this ad loss of another pop icon.
He certainly is one of the real giants of the last century. He formulated and created a new way of looking at ourselves and exploring humanity. Many of his theories are now proven wrong - but Siegmund Freud wouldn’t mind that. He based his work on empirical evidence, not dogmas. He changed his several of his theories several times.
Too bad many people turned his theories and observations into dogmas - especially in contrast with the terrible events of world war II. Freud’s work gave many people the reason to believe that the human animal is bad, driven mostly by his deep sexual desires and needs. This is certainly a part of the human equation, but not the whole story.
Especially evolutionary biology has shown that the ‘selfish gene‘ in us is much more altrustic and pragmatic then Freud and many other prophets of doom want us to believe.
Click image for a bigger Indian.
From a great Warrior reduced to a Fair Ground attraction. The last great survivor of the American War on Indians.
"If I agree to dispose of any part of our land to the white people I would feel guilty of taking food away from our children’s mouths, and I do not wish to be that mean."
"Is it wrong for me to love my own? Is it wicked for me because my skin is red? Because I am Sioux? Because I was born where my father lived? Because I would die for my people and my country?"
Not much to say about Mr Ghandi’s Greatness. He is a modern Giant of Morality and political practicalities. Too bad his teachings of peace and understand - community consensus and integrity are largely forgotten in modern India. Once again the children of the revolution turn against it - and forget it’s important lessons.
Let’s have a look at Ghandi’s seven blunder …
All of them are still valid - or are important as back in the early 20th century.
Especially "Wealth without work" is for me one of the biggest challenges. Too much money is made by just trading money. Investing longterm in people, industries and innovation is LESS profitable than simple speculating for short term bursts of income.
One important thing is missing in Gandhi’s list: the environment. Back in his days nobody could imagine such terrible things as global climate change and the destruction of nature itself.
Will anyone be the Gandhi of the environmental movement? Or do we have with Al Gore already a modern saint capable of changing our attitudes?
PS: There is a HUGE collection of Gandhi material at the Wikipedia. Highly recommended for some deeper studies.
“As a world view, anarchism is bourgeoisie turned inside out. To live in a society and be free from it is impossible.”
“Everything good and helpful, when brought to extremes, can, and usually does, become evil and harmful”
“Who wants to help the uncertain people, has to start from dealing with his own uncertainty.”
“A lie told often enough becomes accepted truth.”
“One must always try to be as radical as reality itself.”
“Trust is good, but control is better.”
But it takes an awful long time to not write a book!
Douglas Adams
Every writer is a frustrated actor who recites his lines in the hidden auditorium of his skull.
Rod Serling
Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self.
Cyril Connolly
Beneath the rule of men entirely great, the pen is mightier than the sword.
Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Richelieu
How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live.
Henry David Thoreau
The first draft of anything is always shit.
Ernest Hemmingway
I am a big fan of Mr Gabriel’s music - his songs always struck me as intense and intelligent far apart from most pop music. His music videos were often groundbreaking and he was often involved at the leading edge of music technology. He is a strong supporter of legal music downloads and was one of the first artists to offer his stuff via the web. He also worked on several CD-ROM and multimedia projects.
But I also admire him for his early efforts to bring world music to the masses with his Womad festivals and his Real World Label and Studios. That was way before Bono could spell Africa.
Official Site: www.petergabriel.com
“God is a comedian playing to an audience too afraid to laugh.”
Certainly one of the greatest European minds ever and still influential today. Although Voltaire’s insights into the human nature were profound he was an advocate for the monarchy and distrusted democracy (at least the
form he experienced in Britain).
“Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities.”
Voltaire was a gifted writer and poet - we wrote several plays and books. He was feared and despised for his sharp tongue. His travels (or rather escapes) took him to London as well as Berlin. He made many enemies during his lifetime, especially his criticism of the catholic church - which lasted beyond his death (from Wikipedia):
Voltaire returned to a hero’s welcome in Paris at age 83 in time to see his last play, Irene, produced. The excitement of the trip was too much for him and he died in Paris on May 30, 1778. Stories about his death in a state of terror and despair are false. Because of his criticism of the church Voltaire was denied burial in church ground. He was finally buried at an abbey in Champagne. In 1791 his remains were moved to a resting place at the Panthéon in Paris.
His final resting place, unfortunately, became a garbage heap. In 1814 a right-wing religious group (The Ultras) robbed his grave and disposed of him in a nearby garbage heap, no one the wiser (for more than 50 years) until his sarcophagus was inspected and discovered… empty. All that remains of this noble champion of the
oppressed is his heart - at the Paris, Bibliotheque Nationale.
Sad story, but something similar happened to Thomas Paine.
More? Wikipedia
Certainly one of the greatest men of the late 19th century and one of the few universal saints and modern peace icons (like the Dalai Lama).
Although many old hippie peacenicks and modern greens or anti-globalists like to use him as an honored ancestor - they hardly understand his ways. First of all his life was total dedication to the path he had chosen. Not many people are willing to go to prison or starve themselves to death just for an idea. He also survived several attempts on his life - until a religious nutcase finally murdered him.
Second he was a peaceful protester, but nevertheless a ruthless opponent. He knew how to beat and hurt the British economy. His usage of the spinning wheel was not just a symbolic act - India independence meant also that that they were self sufficient again, developing their own strong economy apart from the integration/exploitation of the British empire. The spinning wheel is still part of the national flag of India.
More? Wikipedia
Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent.
Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent.
Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil?
Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?
One of the greatest early philosophers. Here is a great website dedicated to him.
"A mature person is one who does not think only in absolutes, who is able to be objective even when deeply stirred emotionally, who has learned that there is both good and bad in all people and all things, and who walks humbly and deals charitably with the circumstances of life, knowing that in this world no one is all-knowing and therefore all of us need both love and charity."
Certainly one of the most important and impressive woman of the last century. She was not only born into power - she was not afraid to use it - use it for a good cause. She was one of the first feminists and an activist for a better world.
She raised the bar for all first Ladies all over the world. But she also showed that the wife’s of the rich and powerful are not without power.
More? Wikipedia and Time Magazine
For me still the greatest Kanzler of Germany. He worked hard to reconcile Germany with it’s eastern neighbors for the terrible second world war. His most symbolic act was when he got down on his knees in Warsaw at the ghetto memorial. But these gestures and diplomacy of good will was not welcomed at home - some people considered it treason and they tried several times to kick him out of office.
In a typical twist of fate he was ousted from office because of an east German spy, who was one of his closest advisors.
Herr Brandt did something that opened the chance for proper relationships to the east. He had the guts to make unpopular steps for his country for a better future together. It was also part of Germany’s struggle to look into the mirror and concede it’s own wrongdoing after the war. Something the Japanese have hardly done till today.
More? Wikipedia
John F. Kennedy is still a very popular figure in modern history. But looking at his legacy I can’t see any real political achievements. His main appeal seems to be his appeal: his drive and energy to revitalize a country and inspire it’s people.
Cuba and Vietnam are also not shining examples of good policy. He could avoid a full nuclear confrontation with the Soviet Union, but he also was part of inciting that dilemma in the first place (The Bay of Pigs and the blockade against the warheads for Cuban missiles).
The same is true with Vietnam. Neither McNamara nor Kennedy wanted to get into this conflict - but they did sent troops anyway.
His personal and moral record is hardly spotless either. President Clinton’s blowjob seem tame and boring compared to JFK’s many affairs.
One achievement I will applaud: the first treaty for limiting nuclear testing. Which paved the way for more and more treaties on arms control and nuclear disarmament. His engagement into the space program was less convincing, especially since it was just another aspect of the cold war fight - and an escalation.
If the real story behind his assassination can ever be uncovered - so will his true legacy. Maybe he pulled more important strings behind the scene or was truly fighting for a change in American culture?
As a symbol he shines, but as a mover & shaker he was mediocre.