Is aiming for serendipity always bound to be a futile attempt, given that the latter thrives on chaos, spontaneity, and that sort of happenstance characteristic of life itself? It seems so; the very concept of serendipity stands in stark contrast to any teleologisms.
But still, I hope to write down, organize, and perhaps even discover serendipitous ideas by finally starting a blog. Entries here will not adhere to specific formats, and I don’t how often I’ll publish something here. I am mostly doing this to organize my thinking and to write down ideas that might suddenly arise rather fleetingly before I forget about them.
There is a value, I think, in externalizing one’s thoughts. I have a myriad of different interests in all sorts of areas – philosophy, economics, psychology, history, and the arts.
Writing down my thoughts, opinions, and sentiments about such issues might aid me in delving deeper into these interests of mine; perhaps sort of overcoming the general shallowness that seems to have afflicted so many young people of my generation, in an age where the next cheap dopamine hit is merely one click away on social media.
I’m an avid reader, so I expect that many of the blog articles here will be either discussing or referencing something I’m currently reading. I’ve become more interested in the history of the Cold War after watching The Americans, so I’m reading a book about Sergei Tretyakov, a former KGB/SVR officer who decided to defect to the United States. (Comrade J by Peter Earley). I’m also reading more of Roger Scruton’s work on aesthetics. There is no real thematic connection between those two books: Aesthetics is a subdomain of philosophy, although it’s technically possible to focus on the aesthetics of Soviet propaganda art, which would establish such a connection… but I digress.
I might write some German articles from time to time. I am from Germany after all, but I went to university in the UK for my Master’s degree, my undergraduate degree was completed in English as well, and I’ve lived in the US (Washington D.C) for a while. I’ve interacted with lots of Americans throughout my life, so my level of English is more or less equal to my German right now. Because I’ve been around so many Americans (and some Brits) throughout my studies, my posts will be read by more people when I write them in English, so English will likely be the predominant language of this blog.
I suppose I will need to add a short About section here soon as well. My posts will likely be read by people who somewhat know me, or who have heard of me, though, so I can keep it rather brief for now: I’m 25 years old (turning 26 this October), I have an undergrad degree in philosophy from the KU Leuven and a graduate degree in philosophy from the University of St Andrews. I worked as a Research Associate in Washington D.C for a while and also did similar work in Berlin prior to starting my Master’s degree. I’m doing all sorts of freelance writing at the moment, and I’m working on a business venture of mine, and I’m looking forward to writing more about that too here.
And yes, I’m interested in politics, I have written about it, but I don’t like to confine myself into one specific political identity. Turning your political views into your personal identity is, I believe, problematic for all sorts of reasons. If I had to describe my general views though, I am rather socially liberal and fiscally conservative.
I’m also thinking about not just publishing my own voice here. I have come to know some extraordinarily talented and intelligent people during all sorts of conferences and events I’ve attended – in Europe and the US – and I believe it would be quite enriching to have their views published here occasionally, as guest posts or so. But that is just a tentative idea for now.
Thanks to everyone who has read this post in its entirety – there will be more content about my life, my interests, and the books I’m currently reading, all of which (hopefully) will come across as less rambling than this initial entry.