Patrick Hussey
Patrick Hussey works in the cultural sector as Digital Manager for Arts & Business. Previous incarnations have seen him writing journalism for The Independent, the Guardian, editing novels and not all that long ago he was editor of the cult East End listings site Run-Riot.com.
He sometimes undertakes activist pilgrimmages like the time he walked to Devon with Climate Rush and his recent lands end to John O’Groats cycle ride with Brake the Cycle.
?!X: What’s the Future You Choose?
PH: The Future I choose is a world where humanity becomes ruthlessly, collectively, sympathetically empirical in all decisions.
?!X: What’s a ‘think’ that has made you want to create this future?
PH: A quote from a Chekhov story Gusev, a maritime story that ends with the lead’s character’s corpse being eaten by sharks. ‘The sea has neither meaning nor pity.’ I believe you can simply replace the word ‘sea’ with ‘space’ – in other words Chekhov is referring to the universe or perhaps time. This bleakness, this alertness to the situation we are in I believe shocks at first but ultimately encourages kindness and well thought out action. Chekhov became a doctor, devoting much of his life to helping people. This story can be found in the collection The Steppe and Other Stories.
?!X: What’s an ‘act’ to create the future you choose?
PH: Charles Clarke had an ambition to put philosophy on the school curriculum. I hate the elitist connotations the word philosophy has, but I was always struck by how little I was led towards independent thought at school. I would teach it from a very young age. Perhaps then I could say ‘epistemic duty’ and people wouldn’t look at me like a loser.
?!X: What’s a ‘vote’ to create the future you choose?
PH: Get on Twitter. It is becoming the 24/7 vote, the live embodiment of the hive mind. Look at what has happened the recent #NOTW #twitchfork actions. Tech addiction is a growing problem but I keep meaning to write a blog called ‘Digital Citizenship’ – Twitter is the new vote and it is almost becoming a civic duty to get an account.
?!X: What’s your favourite song and why?
PH: Out on the Weekend, Neil Young. The slide guitar sounds like someone tickling a crystal dolphin.
?!X: Can you share with us up to 5 weblinks that you find interesting and inspiring?
PH: Digital culture really is the frontier of the Enlightenment, the tool that finally reveal society to itself – but it does not have to be fancy apps and tablets. Good old Wiki is brilliant as a great lay source on everything and a monument to a new trust in the ‘mob’. Elites still do it down, but in doing that they run down everyone else.
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