Zane Fischer Answers the Kindle Questionnaire
I hope the most important field I’m working in is the diligent research and discovery of a good life. Some of my heroes are Kurt Vonnegut, Jonathan Richman, Sarah Silverman. Ugh.
When and where did you feel most fulfilled in your work?
When it dovetails with the goal of a good life. When creativity and collaboration open up new ways of seeing and ways of being.
What is the trait you most deplore of your field?
The tendency for tasks that should be creative and fruitful collaborations to devolve into insecurity, nitpicking, fear and mistrust.
If funding were no object, what would you do?
I would work on quality of life issues in and around small, liveable cities that have the capacity to be profoundly productive communities if they can attract and retain creative, dedicated, soulful people.
What’s your favourite way to procrastinate at work?
I like to read posts on Medium.
Favourite moment at work?
Brainstorming. Idea creation. You know what I’m talking about.
Favourite visual artist?
My favorite visual artist is probably Joseph Beuys. He rode a line between contemporary, critical investigation and raw, animalistic magical totemism that is almost impossibly difficult to achieve without seeming contrived.
Favourite song?
Eye of the Tiger?
Favourite activist?
How about Emile Zola
Favourite historical figure?
I’m kind of a Nikolai Tesla fan. I mean, who isn’t?
What did you eat for dinner last night?
Breakfast. Beautifully poached eggs on top of toast from fresh, home baked bread with a side of thick, indulgent bacon.
What do you think is the greatest social issue of our time?
Income inequality or, put another way, the inevitable and intractable stupidity of money. Money breaks the rhythm of life and it really, really sucks.
What do you think is the greatest environmental issue of our time?
Money. Get rid of money and you very likely get rid of environmental issues. But it’s probably water that’s going to destroy us one way or another. Possibly by blasting into the atmosphere after an asteroid impact and raining back down on us in the form of razor-sharp frozen knives of death. I mean, maybe.
How do you think we can change the world?
By getting serious about living better individual lives and choosing to stop being distracted the false requisites we have assembled around survival and prosperity.
What book are you reading right now?
The Painter, by Peter Heller. Fictional accounts of artists that attempt to portray the artist mind are typically either overwrought or just tremendously off-base. Even though Heller’s “painter” doesn’t seem like an artist I would be interested in, I find his portrayal to ring remarkably true.
What’s your favourite online resource for fun?
Right now I think it’s The Oatmeal.
What’s your favourite blog?
Does Medium count?
What’s your personal motto?
Agitate * Contemplate
What makes you the most angry?
Willful ignorance—people who deny evidence, truth and the potential for positive change because of fear, hate, laziness and prejudice.
What makes you the most happy?
Rain, shade, tall grass, solving puzzles, traveling through unknown territory, food, companionship, a good pocket knife, surprises, trees, narrow roads, reading, thunder, the horizon.