#postscifi

There are no losers in Russia. People will love you no matter how screwed up you are. That’s why superfluous people are important. Because it’s not only about success, progress. That’s the American vision. You cannot be a superfluous man in America. You’ll die. But you can in Russia, easy. There are millions of them.” “For Russia these people are absolutely vital because they add a kind of impossible dimension to the world. They say things that they probably shouldn't. Not for ideological reasons, but because they can.

“The physical form is powerful. When I combine that with computer vision and an algorithm to generate movement, it's suddenly easy to assign agency, personality, and intent. We'll anthropomorphize any movement that seems even remotely familiar, particularly one that, in design, could be regard as a primitive version of our own – or even an extension, like the movement of a mechanical arm. ..The internet would be a useful channel for post-geographic collaboration like that.