From 600+ conversations with the world’s leading thinkers.
Diamonds are a miracle of nature, they are millions of years old, they survived a hazardous journey to the earth's surface and the discovery of them is an exciting moment. To see the rough diamond and then watch it come to life on the polisher's wheel with incredible fire and scintillation is incredibly inspiring.
If a product is really good, time will give it the justice of beauty -that's real beauty, intelligence beauty, honest beauty.
There's something intrinsically sensual about jewellery, you wear it on your skin, it's a part of you and it embodies and imbues the personality and lustre of the wearer. There's something about gold and stones in particular which- for me- have a magical element.
Sometimes, a game just works; it becomes a little engine that generates mystery and interest, prompting questions like 'What happens if I do this?' This is the hallmark of a living game.
The movements that sustain themselves the best over time are those that have culture at their core, that use art as a means of conveying a message, and use art-making as a means to mobilise a movement.
Take any product and change the identity of the person or entity associated with it, and you fundamentally change how the world interprets and values that product. The product itself is 100% identical—it hasn't changed at all. What has changed is the identity, and in particular, the status of the person attached to it.
Had I not defended it and stood by it, I think it could have disappeared into history- but because I protected it, stood up for it, believed in it and understood why it existed and what it had done? That's why it still remains.
For the creator economy, NFTs represent a way for creators and producers of content to directly engage with the people who support them. It's a completely different model… a way for artists and creators to monetise much more effectively than incumbent platforms.
It serves society and improves quality of life. It's a physical manifestation of the society's wishes to be civilised! …public domain being the obvious place which encapsulates this as buildings, alongside being art and science, are part of the public domain.
The most powerful stories come from genuine human connection. When you truly understand someone's experience, you can translate that into something universal that resonates with audiences everywhere.
Cinema also exists within a framework of genre- and that can be challenging as genre can often flatten storytelling. It can also be a strength- when you play inside a genre- take the case of John le Carre for instance, he's a great novelist but works within the genre of spy-fiction, and transcends the usual narratives.
If you can be as open with your heart as possible, humans will feel that intimacy from any distance. Bob Dylan, even in a stadium of 20,000 people can choose a point to strip it down to a piano, and you feel it.