summ( )n

The same day I also went to Rotterdam, to attend the V2′s Test_Lab ; the event was fully packed, to the extent that they even didn’t want to let me in, and only my story that I am from ‘far away land’, and that I spent two and half hour driving somehow softened their hard hearts. The ‘two and a half hour’ was not, actually, an exaggeration (the average driving time to Rotterdam from us is ±1.5 hours); there was a huge traffic accident on the way, near Tilburg, with four or five cars involved.

I write it here not only because it adds some sort of ‘drama’ and ‘authenticity’ to the story, but also because of the thoughts I had during an hour-long waiting in this traffic jam. Some of them were of an all too familiar kind, such as “why do we keep developing all those fancy intimate interfaces yet are not able to develop safe cars? or a traffic system in general?” Of course, there were also the usual thoughts on ‘Black Swans’ of unpredictable events which we keep ignoring when planning our possible futures.

While some other thoughts were of almost polar direction, that we did, in fact, develop very elaborate and sophisticated systems, and interfaces, and that these complex and multilayered socio-technological systems allow us coping with ever turbulent realities. The work of the police and fire brigades, ambulances and, I assume, media teams resembled a complex dance, very organized and beautiful.