Andrew

What is a ritual, practice, or routine in your life that is important for your psychological wellbeing and/or fulfillment? Why?

Bryan

In a word; conversation. I discovered myself as social butterfly quite late in life, but I've never had trouble confiding in friends and family. There's nothing more therapeutic, cathartic and human than sharing frustrations, hardship, feelings of doubt, or any other psychological conundrums with those closest to you.

It's not even about trauma-dumping or oversharing, often enough it's about getting another perspective. Getting told how wrong you are can be as valuable as being backed up in your frustrations.

I think Dawn of Everything said it best:

"When we are capable of self-awareness, it’s usually for very brief periods of time: the ‘window of consciousness’, during which we can hold a thought or work out a problem, tends to be open on average for roughly seven seconds. What neuroscientists (and it must be said, most contemporary philosophers) almost never notice, however, is that the great exception to this is when we’re talking to someone else. In conversation, we can hold thoughts and reflect on problems sometimes for hours on end."

Andrew

What is a human-made creation that brings out the best in you? Why?

Bryan

Basically everything downstream of language: from language itself (although I guess the judge is still out on whether that's a created phenomenon or rather one that emerged) to the printing press, to a pen and the computer.

Being able to write, talk, express and put words to experiences is key to collaboration and any shot at being more communal together.

There are some who say the biggest emotions of human life, like seeing a sunset or falling in love, are impossible to describe in words. But that just sounds to me like they haven't read enough.

Andrew

When do you cherish the slow or hard way of doing something? Why?

Bryan

In a way, transport. While I don't prefer the slowest way of getting somewhere, sometimes the fastest route isn't the best.

A train from Amsterdam to Berlin takes about six times as long as flying, and that's if you're lucky enough to get there without delays. And yet, the time in the train is magical. Staring out the window, seeing landscapes come by, being aware of the distance you're traveling — it puts me in a mindset that few other places can.

Same goes for taking public transport in Amsterdam. Almost everyone, no matter the weather, bikes in Amsterdam. Often enough people prefer to cancel going altogether rather than switching to public transport, and it makes sense when you look at Google Maps. Public Transport almost always takes three times as long as going by bicycle.

But the way the brain can unfocus when being transported is simply not comparable to a bike ride, especially in the hectic traffic of Amsterdam. I cherish getting to people-watch, day dream, read a book or make unexpected run-ins.

Andrew

What is something you appreciate or long for from the past? Why?

Bryan

I'll reference Dawn of Everything again here; I long for the time when we had real freedoms and fake chiefs, rather than today where we have fake freedoms and real chiefs.

The idea here is that in the past there existed societies, both before and during early agricultural times, that were able to provide everyone true freedom at scale, without falling for absolute hierarchies. But who sometimes played at hierarchies during rituals and festivals where people got treated as king or chief for a day. Modern day kings and chiefs are the CEO's, presidents and billionaires who do not give up their power on any day — and leave few freedoms for the rest of us.

This doesn't mean that in the past there were no differences between people, or no priorities, or no leadership-type roles. It just means that on an essential, even existential level, everyone was free to have their basic necessities covered while also being allowed to disobey, challenge the rules or physically move away and find a new community if in disagreement.

Today, we have convinced ourselves that hierarchy is necessary, or even natural. But humanity is capable of so much more — and we won't reach that potential of true human fulfillment until everyone is free and we learn how to live for each other again.