The Finnish dream

I must be getting old. Never before have I even considered listening to a radio talk show where two people sit and dissect the world for half an hour. Now, I’ve even looked it up, twice, at the internet (radio on demand).

I’ve been playing around with ideas about creativity and creative economy lately so I decided to browse around for interesting references. One of the radio talk shows I found starred Pekka Himanen (who obtained his PhD in Philosophy at the age of 20 from the University of Helsinki) who has been giving much appreciated speeches about the creative capital at conferences around the world lately (the radio interview in Finnish here).

Over lunch with the reporter, Himanen explained his theory on how Finland will keep up with the rest of the world. He said that just as the Americans have their own dream (the American dream which is about personal success, according to PH), the Finns should have their dream, i.e. the Finnish dream. This implies a society that is creative but caring. Like a creative welfare state in the midst of the information age. If a creative and caring society is what bodes for a boosting economy then Finland has every reason to smile. Welfare and caring is our middle name and industries like culture and information technology are strong here.

After a bit of googling, I found this account (in Finnish only) of the challenges of the information society that Himanen wrote for the future committee of the Finnish Parliament. I’ll read it as soon as possible, seems interesting.

Nokia Sensor out today

Nokia released "Sensor" today, a phone software app with which the user can create personal pages on the phone. He or she can also scan the surroundings (up to 10 meters away) for other Sensor users, and exchange fotos or messages with them. Could be pretty cool to try this out but the application is not available for my antique phone (demo of the application here).

The blog leads the way

Timo Tuovinen, an adviser at DOORStories Media Content Solutions, was talking at a seminar I attended today about how important it is to know where you’re going, if you want to manage out there in the big, big world. He referred to a Finnish driver who started doing business in Europe about 40 years ago. Back then, the driver didn’t know any other languages than Finnish. Well, in a recent magazine interview, the driver with 4 decades of experience of doing business abroad concludes that you get by fine out there as long as you know where you’re going.

Tuovinen posed the question about the functions of blogs: Blogs, do they tell stories about persons [who keep them and of others] or are the bloggers rather trying to get a grasp of a fragmented world?

In other words, one could ask if a blog is a means and tool in the quest of knowing where you’re going? I’d say definitely. It’s a great way to sort thoughts, and store threads of thoughts. Once written down and visible on the screen, I get a better perspective. Therefore, I’m easier off targeting where I’m going. And if this bodes well for the ability to manage and survive, then all the better! But not to forget, the first part of the twofold question is also correct, that blogs tell stories of persons, perhaps mostly of the one tapping the keyboard.