Our last issue
Just One Question #14
This issue of Just One Question will be the last one for this newsletter. In this issue we have selected one answer for the remaining three questions still outstanding. We wish we had more answers to share, but we are closing this experiment because we didn’t get enough responses each week to continue. Our hope in trying this was that the questions would find a large enough engaged audience to keep the interesting stories flowing. That has not happened, even though we are quite happy with the number of eager readers who have signed up. To all our readers and especially to those of you who have sent in a story, we are grateful. Thanks for going on this small exploration with us. — Kevin Kelly, Claudia Dawson, Mark Frauenfelder
What’s the most interesting hobby you’ve ever had?
Window cleaner
I moved to a new apartment few years ago. My new apartment almost has glass facade all around and it takes a good amount of time and money to get these glasses cleaned. So I decided to start this one as a hobby and a money-saver. I was not doing a fantastic cleaning when I first started but I watched many videos, did research, bought professional equipment, tried new detergent compositions and many things on.. As a result, I cannot be humble here : Nowadays I am doing pretty well on this. I am working few hours, like having online meetings, writing reports and some code, then cleaning few windows as a mind refresher on almost all my typical days. I started to consider this as a side job so it is now going beyond a hobby.
Ali Abi
What is something you regret doing as a teenager?
Dad knows best
Not listening to my father. And I kept doing it through adulthood. One time he told me I should pursue a college career alongside of the short one I was in. I said no, that’s too much work. I ended up never working in that first career (advertising) and many years later, when it was harder for him to pay for it, I went for the longer one (journalism). He suggested I leave for the US from Venezuela for a year, just to try. I refused, being the 21-year old baby I am. Twenty years later I was forced to leave giving the sorry state of the country. He very subtle suggested I didn’t get married, and I ended up getting divorced less than a year later.
Juan Rodriguez
What is something you believe that the people you admire don’t believe?
Space exploration
I love what is happening in near space: my Starlink access, the cosmic images from the James Webb, and the earth sensing that comes from Planet’s shoebox satellites. The picture of the whole earth from space, which has become such an iconic symbol, and Carl Sagan’s “pale blue dot” — both have changed our consciousness in fundamental ways. I love that we’re building the capability to find and possibly redirect dangerous asteroids if they come too close. And I can’t wait to see the day when we send AIs on interstellar missions. All these things I dreamed of as a child are beginning to seem within reach. I say all this because my wife, the person I admire most in the world, is a deep skeptic of the tech world’s fixation on space exploration and going to other planets. She agrees that there are immense near-earth benefits, but worries that the money could be better spent on improving earth infrastructure, and doesn’t share my view of the role of the further out visions in producing the near term benefits. To me, excesses of imagination drive the exploration that leads to practical progress. As Antoine de Saint-Exupéry once wrote, “If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work, and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.”
Tim O’Reilly
12/14/24
