I'm well into my 3rd Age - reasonably fit, with no pressing need for additional revenue. I still provide occasional advice and council about technology, largely to friends and associates. But I'm now free to explore ideas that have long interested me, and which I never seemed to find the time to explore in sufficient depth. What's the importance of community for individuals, neighbourhoods and society? How can I better appreciate classical music? And then there are ageless questions about the nature of what we can know. In the 3rd Age, I'm free to explore these and other questions and ideas as and when I choose.
Site Update: The technology behind my website needed to be updated. I decided to start fresh, but a static version of old site is still available: OldSite. (External links are not working.)
Technology: Evolving technology continues to shape our world, our organizations and our lives. There is, today, a remarkable level of plasticity in that technolgoy and how it can be used. It seems almost as thought anything and everything is now technically possible. What we should be doing with technology is less clear.
Architecture: Technology allows us to shape an information architecture that envolops us at work, at play and even at rest. Too often we look to what will deliver the greatest return on investment, and not on what will result in the most satisifying human experience. Much the same thing is happening with physical architecture. We work to maximize profit and not to maximize human well-being.
Space: Space is peculiar. It's empty, but its characteristics strongly shape what it will mean to be in a particular place. We're significantly anchored by the places that are important to us and to those we love and respect. In our scramble to maximize profit, it's all too easy to ignore the opportunity and the promise of creating meaningul human places.
Community: The idea of community is a common meeting ground for many of my concerns. Our very sense of self arises from the communities that nurtured us. Our communities and the cultures beind them provide the shared understand which so deeply informs human interaction. And meaning for many of us is rooted in valued communities and our contributions to those communities.
Music: The French Horn and classical music were basic elements of my upbringing. I didn't continue beyond the American Wind Symphony in the summer between High School and University, but music has remained important to me. There's no money in it, but is is emotionally rewarding. In the 3rd Age, I'm free to work on building a deeper appreciation of the music that I love.
Contact: robert@fabian.ca
416.769.1885