JabrWoky - Following the white rabbit since...

Time Scales

In his essay in the fascinating book 'Eternally Yours: Time in Design', Brian Eno throws in a quote from mathematician Freeman Dyson (originally published in Stewart Brand's book 'The Clock of the Long Now') which goes like this:

"The destiny of our species is shaped by the imperatives of survival on six distinct time scales. To survive means to compete successfully on all six of them, but the unit of survival is different at each of the six scales. On a time scale of years the unit is the individual. On a time scale of decades the unit is the family. On a time scale of centuries the unit is the tribal nation. On the time scale of millennia the unit is the culture. On tens of millennia the unit is the species. On the scale of eons the unit is the whole web of life on our planet."

An interesting explanation on the long-term context of life on a mathematical scale. On a similar note I stumbled on an ad for Glenfiddich whiskey (by 180 Amsterdam)which plays on a year scale of human emotions and motivations. The copy goes like this:

"A day is a step. A year is a tango.
A day is a tourist. A year is a traveler.
A day is a chance encounter. A year is love.
A day is a frustration. A year is a melody.
A day is a thought. A year is a philosophy."

Makes me wonder if the creatives for this ad had a stroke of inspiration from the Freeman Dyson quote. The ad can be viewed below.

Our Cell Phones Are Us

Nokia researcher Jan Chipchase explains why the cell phone has become a mirror image of our own selves. From TED 2007.

Mood of the Times

Lynette Web succinctly captures the mood of the times - from the fast changing world of media and communications brought about by digitization and globalization to the effects it brings about on brands, markets and people. As Darwin said "It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but rather the one most responsive to change."

And talking about changes, I've completed a year in McCann and it's time to embrace some change. There has been some management changes, two major business wins and not to mention the small moves to new desks and stuff within. Looking back, it's been a fantastic year sinking in the McCann way of doing things and slowly but surely getting my own point-of-view out and gaining some respect.

One year is over and out. We have gained a good footing in the scheme of things. So moving on into the second year it is time to infuse, as Brian Eno says, some africa into the scheme of things here.

Walking into office yesterday, on my first anniversary here, wearing the rasta T-shirt seems like a good enough start to the year ahead. Ignore what he's smoking of course. We're not in Amsterdam. We're in good old Singapore.