In 2014, I started analyzing and exploring my own life, experimenting and logging experience through data (known as Quantified Self).
Self-experimentation and life-logging through numbers and text has been an inspiration and tool for understanding and reflecting on life, dynamics and complexity. I’ve written numerous articles, exploring and improving my own happiness, mind, productivity, sleep, food, and activity.
From these experiences and learning, I started to explore through writing stories. Exploring patterns, structure, and other philosophical discourses created 65 stories. Some of them can be read on my website, but all 65 of them are now bundled in a book you can buy.
Through writing stories I experiment with our mind, logic, structure, perspective, time, space, society, and many more things. Sometimes I use visuals to exemplify certain topics. I learn from writing these stories while they are fun to write by themselves.
Integrating these learnings got me to a more visual journey and I realized I needs books to draw the things I saw. I started to make theories to connect my experience with complexity theory. I started a PhD about looking at the self from a complexity perspective, but I quitted it (for reasons that mostly relate to my autodidactically way of learning things) and the narrow focus of a PhD.
I’m working on a holistic theory of everything that is developing over the years supported by all my experiences, drawings, experiments, stories, conversations, and scientific research. My theory is similar to complex dynamic systems theory but has some slight differences. For example, it gives the observer a prominent place and is less mathematical. In texts, visual models, and videos I share my theory.
The universality of the things I was focusing on couldn’t be only expressed in words. I enjoy to express the things I work with in other media as well; a patterns, structure, networks and dynamics, can be found and utilized in anything! I turned to painting, photography, making objects, and other things to express myself.
In my drawings I mostly play with gravity, scale, perspective, structure, and variation. I vary a lot across subjects and the materials I use. I make both physical- and digital drawings and sometimes combine the media. I avoid using rulers, examples, and don’t sketch. Together this results in various unique series.
My photography is mostly focused on nature, geometry, scale, and perspective. I’m inspired the way nature grows and molds in its fractal geometric and adaptive ways.
I like to make things in the three-dimensional plane. My main current instrument is my 3D printing pen which I mostly use to make humans, animals, and other creatures.
There are many other things I do for fun. From doing mathematical stuff, to satire, to experimenting with color theory, to making games. I categorize this rest now under “Other”.
Working on these things also made me inspired to look at the future, and see how healthy networks and systems can grow and sustain themselves. I was unhappy with the current system and I felt like my view on the world could be useful for realizing a better world. I started to envision a far future that was utopian. This vision is largely based on the theoretical framework I created.
On the visions page I discuss the future. In this section, I share visuals and videos of conceptual cities, vehicles, radical new business models for organisations, new wearables, and other futuristic ideas..
I love to share my thoughts, experiences, products and visions, and I use them in my daily work. I give talks, workshops, and am developing products, and projects for a better world. I also want to be in this better world, so these talks serve for me as well a way to sustain myself and be able to continue to do the things I love, creating a future I love.
I have work experience at different universities and companies. I (have) worked as a researcher, project manager, product manager, and personal train. Now I’m partly self-employed and provide workshops, lectures, and other teachings. I also still work as a researcher for Measuremen. Furthermore, I have many business-, product-, and project ideas that I share here for the right people and time.
Experience and ambitions
Although I already have quite some (working) experience, I’m just scratching the surface. Altogether, I want to explore new things and scale the things that I do, I want to make my understanding more holistic and my actions more impactful. On the smallest scale, I want to play with new things I haven’t experienced before (e.g. musical instruments, chemicals, sculpting). On a larger scale, I want to work and have a larger understanding of the world by realizing conceptual projects, and learn from people who want to tell me things I know nothing about (e.g. chemistry, math, politics, sewage). Lastly, I want to share my way of thinking (e.g. writing books, lectures, workshops). I want to share this because I think (most of) my work takes a creative, naturalistic and systemic approach which is, I think, desperately needed today.
Things I want to do/experience:
– Playing instruments
– Truly learn math, chemistry and physics
– Singing / making songs
– Sculpting (Marble/Metal)
– Direct an orchestra
– Realize my (sustainable) business ideas
Thinks I want to share/make:
– Write a book
– Make a film
– Facilitate workshops
– Give talks
– Join podcasts
– Exhibit on a gallery
– Develop my projects/products
