A human life is punctuated by events of special signif­i­cance, which are often surrounded by rituals. The rules of the market­place are redefined in the reality distortion zone that surrounds these events.

It’s a useful concept that deserves to be in everyone’s mental toolbox. If both sides of a debate adhere to it, that levels the playing field for a true exchange of ideas, instead of a battle of opinions.

In 1977 my mother took me to the cinema to watch a new science-fiction movie everyone was talking about. The rest is history. I cannot begin to count the number of hours I spent playing in my room, immersed in that galaxy far, far away.

Anyone who wants to call themselves a philosopher should at the very least be engaged in the pursuit of knowledge and wisdom, and a deeper under­standing of the human condition.

It’s a strange experience to see an object that is so familiar and so intimate presented in public as something extra­or­dinary and exceptional.

It’s a bit like discov­ering old acquain­tances that have been somehow lingering almost invisibly inside your home for years, and getting the chance at last to finally strike up a conver­sation with them.