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The increasingly inaccurately-named blog of journalist and futurist Chris Taylor. Either the most sporadically brilliant amateur blog, the most brilliantly amateur sporadic blog, or the most amateur sporadic brilliance on the Web since 2001.
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Daily Blah FAQ
Who are you?
I'm the newly-appointed Future editor at Business 2.0 and the former San Francisco correspondent for Time Magazine.
Wow, so does this mean everything you write reflects Time Inc's opinion? Or do you perhaps have some sort of standard disclaimer to the effect that it doesn't?
Naturally, the opinions contained in this blog are not those of my employers. In fact, some opinions may be the polar opposite of my employers. Some may be the same, for all I know. Hey, it's not like I ask my employers their opinions about everything in the news, okay? Let's just say that if this were a Venn diagram with one circle marked "my opinions" and the other one marked "my employers' opinions", there would doubtless be some overlap. But neither I nor my employers are able to pinpoint exactly where that overlap is.
What is this Daily Blah thing?
An experiment for a column I wrote about blogging back in December 2001. All these years later, I haven't been able to kick the habit.
Do you write any other blogs, by chance? Could that have something to do with the fact that Daily Blah isn't always Daily?
Yes -- the Future Boy blog for Business 2.0. And yes. If you want true, editorially-mandated daily coverage from me, that's probably the best place to look.
Mister, you talk funny. Are you one of them furrners?
Why yes I am, as it happens. I was born, raised and educated in Great Britain. I've been living in the U.S. since 1996 and identify as British.
I say, old chap, you forgot the "u" in "colour."
No I didn't. I may identify as British, but I am also an American journalist writing for an American audience about mostly American issues. These two different sides of me are a constant source of tension. Nevertheless, Daily Blah will adhere to American English grammar and spelling.
Praise for Daily Blah:
"It is fun to watch the author's navel-gazing joy." - Sunday Times (UK)
"It's really funny and informative." - Dave Eggers, author
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"I like it, and I don't." - Fiona Hogg, Teacher
"Better than Xanax." - Lessley Andersen, journalist
"Dude, lay off the crack pipe." - Souris Hong-Porretta, gamesmith
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Daily Blah for... Saturday, January 07, 2006
Scenario: The Day Immortality Came
Act One: The problem of cellular self-destruction is solved sometime in the next few decades. Death is effectively history. At first, the restorative procedure is only available to the rich. But the public becomes fascinated with sob stories of the poor and deserving elderly. The media picks up on this, and little else is broadcast. It becomes a major political issue, as voters demand that the procedure, the question who lives or dies, is handled in a democratic manner, and politicians, fully intending to become beneficiaries, tentatively suggest the government should handle the issue.
Act Two: There's also a long-term problem, once the procedure becomes available to everyone. As becomes evident over the next seventy years, immortality removes the spur that makes us human, the catalyst that causes all art, science and literature. That mind-clearing "sight of the gallows" Samuel Johnson identified is now obscured. There are no clear heads any more. Homo sapiens has embarked upon a gross orgy of instant gratification.
Act Three: Instant gratification gives way to death worship. Fully 50 percent of people plan their death as assiduously as they used to plan for its eventuality by writing a will. For some, a death day is counted and celebrated in the same manner as a birthday. The other half of society, insisting that life and the ability to extend it eternally is God's gift, insist on the full enforcement of suicide laws and wish to treat the celebration of death day as a crime.
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