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chaos in the air

die Wärme kommt vom Chaos her is one of my self-written favourites. anyhow, last week me and some collaborateurs (Kathia, Sarah, Markus) I did there is no game with were invited to talk on chaosradio. it was pleasant and interesting even with me being supernervous.

does playing have consequences in the real life? what do games and politics and society have to do with each other? what happened at 33c3? how can this approach have further impact? what is the difference between gamification and what we do?

answers, or rather, suggestions here (in german): http://chaosradio.ccc.de/cr232.html

 

“you’ve hardened your operating system. now harden your community”

this sentence, I don’t know whose it is, is written at the door of my shared studio. I like it a lot. just today, it made me think about this:

what operating system does your society run on?
it’s like having different systems with different kernels,
with different base structures and languages that turn your computer into something completely different.
it’s also like having distributions.
there are many distributions of the OS “capitalism” around at the moment “capitalist democracy”, “democratic capitalism”, “social capitalism”, “whateverthisisinchinacapitalism” and so on.
“capitalism” is an operating system most of us have grown up with.
we know that it’s buggy. but we know that it works, somehow.
capitalism is a bit like windows.
we know that there are better working things around
or things that are built upon better ethics
or things that are variable and adjustable right down to the core.
but we are a little bit lazy
and a little bit afraid that we might not be able to manage the new controls
so we stay with windows.
because we already know it and think we understand it, even though we’re mere users.

the loneliest scream ist der nach dem Verhallen der anderen Stimmen

The lust for life die so selten weiter wachsen kann als bis zu einer Demo oder ein Besäufnis. Das Nicht-Ausführen vor grössenwahnsinnigen Plänen aus Angst vor dem Scheitern, der Blamage. Das ist eine Entscheidung zur Langeweile und zum Durchschnitt. 
Es gilt, für etwas einzustehen. Diese Positionierung als Spiel zu begreifen, und wenn ich dabei ein life verliere: Dem Hass der Welt mit Liebe begegnen, lachend, drüberstehen. Und zwar, weil ich weiss, dass es anders geht, dass es etwas anderes geben kann, dass da mehr ist, mehr Schönheit, Irrsinn, Wahnwitz, Rausch, Freude, als der Hass sieht. Dieses Wissen gilt es immer wieder gemeinsam in Erfahrung zu bringen, dieses Vertrauen in sich selbst, die Gemeinschaft, die Welt. Es wächst, es kann wachsen, sobald ich meine Comfort Zone verlasse. Sobald ich mich nicht mehr ständig leicht unterfordere. Sobald ich Forderungen stelle, an mich zuerst, dann nach aussen trage. Widerstand generiere im Kleinsten, elektrisch werdendes Schaffen. Das geht nun mal nicht alleine. Denn, das wusste schon Tesla, die grösste Energie ist die, die zwischen den Teilchen entsteht.
die Wärme kommt vom Chaos her.

This is it. We have it all laying out in front of us. There is water on mars. There is a possible exoplanet. AI is only moments away.
The future is knocking at our door.
The future our parents have been dreaming of when they were kids. The one we know from all the science fiction movies. First contact, space travel, building new worlds, the whole fucking shit.
It is 2017. The day Marty McFly lands in the future lays in the past already. We are the future.
And yet, look at us. We didn’t even manage to get that hoverboard right.
How come? How come we made it to outer space and to the moon within eight years and 50 years later we have not even made one small step further?

To me, it’s kind of obvious. So obvious that I pondered whether I should write this part, as it’s kind of negative. The competitive imperative looms around every corner of our lives: Be it in school where we get grades, at work where we can get fired for someone “better” anytime, or even within the question whether we have the newest smartphone yet. In order to live, we are forced to compete and to work. Even though it is neither necessary nor has it proven to be a very prosperous tactics, since there is just not enough work for everyone and thus some people are forced into poverty. We live in a state of constant fear.
We want to be shielded from danger, and the biggest danger, so we learn, is the Other. Is everything that could possibly compete. This fear is so big that people who are best in fighting against others, in following the rules, the most egoistic ones, the ones without imagination, always end up on top.
But what we need to move on is exactly this: Imagination. Big scale.

So let’s imagine.
A system that makes us work together, not against each other. Where we share the means of production as humans, instead of being split into consumer and workforce. Where the whole planet acts as one instead of silly split-up sections against each other. Where artists don’t have to win prizes by juries to survive. Where no one is forced to anything but everyone can do everything. Being excellent to each other. Where scientists do compete against each other, but for the most interesting results and not the most profitable ones. They work together on the idea they think best instead of trying to outsmart each other for merits. They collaborate. Everyone who thinks they have a contribution to make get’s a say. And, of course, an education, as education is truly considered a human right.
Our lives would revolve around creation, not around dull office work.
We would work and live towards something greater, as humankind.
We would have given all power to imagination.