“Profound Pests and Philosophical Pretensions.” Picture this: I, the enlightened anthropologist-entrepreneur, engaged in a War and Peace reenactment with six-legged adversaries. After days of diplomatic negotiations (read: bribing ants with sugar trails leading away from my desk after acknowledging the chocolate cake wasn’t very tasty), I resorted to chemical warfare. The fat fly? I attempted…
Author: phaedrasfables
“Power, Progress & Paradox”
The Assignment That Sparked a Vision It was 1977, and Dutch elections were in full motion. For a school assignment, we were tasked with creating our own political parties. Predictably, most of my classmates drafted manifestos that revolved around abolishing school altogether—a dream of endless play and no homework. Except for Reinier, whose father owned…
“Shinoden, Souls & Crows”
The Alchemy of Offering: Souls, Archetypes, and Ants There’s a peculiar wisdom in watching ants ignore chocolate cake. Yesterday, I found myself doing just that—placing sweet crumbs beside a plant where the industrious little creatures had made their home. It was a small offering, a peace treaty of sorts, to redirect their paths away from…
“Lupin, Kryptonite & Knives”
The Lupin Effect: Finding Balance in an Age of Neurological Overload In an era where images of conflict in Gaza arrive unfiltered on our screens with an immediacy unknown to previous generations, we face a peculiar neurological dilemma. Our primitive brains are overfed while our limbic systems, responsible for complex emotional processing, are increasingly silenced….
Tariffs, Thiazi & Benzaiten
People didn’t lose the ability to link perception and reality. They never had it. From gods hurling thunderbolts to the Dancing Plague to algorithmic feeds, humanity has always been gullible, swapping observation for collective delusion. What’s changed isn’t human nature—it’s the speed and penetration of the myths we’re sold.
“Calculated Chaos: The Curious Case of Connection”
From Nerds to Icons People are strange, prosaic, and chaotic, one might add. They are an ordered chaos of biological systems mixed with spirituality and hoovered over by traumas or vice versa. Yesterday, I mentioned the nerds, and although I have never been into the tech side, I have been a full-blown nerd since memory…
“THE DUTCH DIGITAL DETOX”
“The Pirate’s Compass Points Analogue: Following the Dutch Back to Solid Ground” We Dutch have always prided ourselves on our commercial instincts. Call it a neurotypical business gene, if you will. After all, we’re the pioneering spirits who launched the world’s first stock market while everyone else was still bartering chickens. Wi-Fi? You’re welcome. That…
“Oxidated leafes, Orchides & Roots”
Between Roots and Clouds: Birthday Reflections There is a peculiar clarity that arrives with birthdays, like sunlight filtering through oxidated leaves. We find ourselves standing at the intersection of what was and what might be, suddenly aware of our solitude and connections. Perhaps it’s the surprise of it—the professional congratulations outnumber the friends who remembered…
“Raw, Real, and Unapologetical”
Field Notes from the Borderlands: Age 55 The anthropologist in me observes with detached fascination. The entrepreneur plots the next move. At 55, I stand at the threshold of a chapter that wasn’t in the original table of contents. My body has become its own research subject. Each new symptom is a data point, and…
“Erdo-Can, Extractions & Entanglement”
Extraction Economies: Currencies of Time and Truth I arrived punctually, trying to blend in with the “on the dot” approach despite my Dutch instinct to be at least ten minutes early. My cultural programming was temporarily suppressed in favour of local norms. Punctuality is that unspoken contract between a professional and a client. I wouldn’t…
The C.O.M.C. Files 