Steven Johnson Interview

While his new book doesn't sound as appealing to me as some of his other work, one of my favorite writers is back. Found a link to a very cool interview today. Good stuff.

I like Johnson's work because he makes me think about stuff I otherwise wouldn't. Of particular interest in the interview:

1. First, I like how he discusses his relationship to science--framing it as a positive one rather than a deconstructive one. I'm working toward that. I hope.
2. Second, I like his response to corporate/cosmopolitan development of third world cities--building them in London's shadow. As the interviewer points out--he's not going to win many post-colonial, humanities friends. But his one line response to the accusation that he's enacting the very imperialism that we spent almost an entire century deconstructing is priceless:

   “Be like London. Do it our way.” I mean, wasn’t that sort of the original imperialist mission?
   Yes, that’s right, though it depends on what “Be like London” is. If “be like London” is, “separate the drinking water from the waste,” then ...