In the ever-fascinating realm of information, where anything from timeless wisdom to the analysis of current events is flowing or contained, those who have the […]
Category: Information & Power
The Meaning of Semantics
To discover meaning it is sometimes sufficient to discover what is meaningless. In public debate the careless usage of words is as popular as it […]
The Memetic Heretics
Memetics, the science of information flows, existed long before the internet, but a Belgian court went against long-held knowledge when it sentenced a group of […]
Computer Still Says No
Humor is often prophetic. The sketch from Little Britain –‘Computer says No’– is exactly twenty years old. An unfriendly, cold-hearted hospital receptionist conveniently suspends all […]
Between Coincidence and Conspiracy
There is one specific article by Edward Snowden that has been inspiring me since its publication in August 2021. It’s called Apophenia – How the […]
From Individual Power to Collective Shame
In 1919, Sigmund Freud’s nephew, Edward Bernays (1891-1995) founded America’s first public relations firm, applying psychoanalytic discoveries to promote consumerism and to use latent sexual […]
I’ve Closed My Substack
Yesterday I migrated most of my ‘Old Revolutions’ Substack content here to my own website. If you are subscribed to my publication Old Revolutions on […]
All Talk, No Action
Journalism Since the Great Financial Crisis In early 2009 I attended a memorable panel discussion at Columbia University’s Journalism School in New York. A handful […]
Dutch Media’s Unforced Errors
Balancing the Scales after Deceit A law of nature dictates that energy always tries to balance itself, like a scale that’s always moving to the […]