Fighting a common enemy

The most difficult problem to solve is one that’s invisible or indescribable, a problem in which not everybody believes. It doesn’t have a single cause, but is rather an accumulation of many problems. Such a problem only becomes worse when left alone, and even worse; time is running out. What makes the most difficult kind of problem even more problematic, is that the central authority needed to address it, is nonexistent, and if it’s there it is weak and pushes the required response forward into the future.

There are only two problems in this category of which I can think of. In Game of Thrones’ realm, the White Walkers, also known as the Army of the Dead (“Winter is coming”). And in our own world, it’s climate change (“Summer is coming”). Both ‘enemies’ have the power to change the weather and threat the whole human race, while ‘we’ are too busy with each other, rather than to face our common enemy.

The Targaryen’s, Starks and Lannisters are not that different from our China, India, the USA and Europe. We’ve to make short term sacrifices and put away differences and focus long term. It’s time for collective action, or as Jon Snow said: “We’re all on the same side, we’re all breathing.”

Latest

The Path and Meaning

The Path and Meaning

“We walk down the path in Xikeng.” Three years ago, I started a note with that sentence. We visited a row of villages in the south of Zhejiang, and Xikeng (西坑) was at the end of the day — the least touristified town of them all. The village had dozens of old buildings, sliced by […]
February 4, 2026
Kunshan Diorama

Kunshan Diorama

Today, I’m visiting Zhengyi Old Street (正仪老街) in Kunshan — a city wedged in between Suzhou and Shanghai. This old street is a leftover slice in between other parts properly planned by the city. On the horizon, I can see construction cranes, as if they are threatening the area; ‘we are coming to you next’. […]
January 17, 2026
Hyperreality

Hyperreality

It’s 06:30 in the morning and I’m driving to the San Gabriel Mountains, north of Los Angeles. I’ve been trying to sleep after an exhausting week at CES, but I’m too excited for this hike and can’t wait to depart the Airbnb we’re in. Every visit to the United States is an adventure. The most […]
January 15, 2026
In Praise Of Writing (And the Case Against AI)

In Praise Of Writing (And the Case Against AI)

If George Orwell, one of the best essayists, were alive today, he’d be firmly against AI. Not because of 1984 or ‘Big Brother’, but because in ‘Why I Write’, he listed four motives for writing; Historical impulse Political purpose Aesthetic enthusiasm Egoism   Neither of these motives survives if you let AI do the writing […]
January 14, 2026