I'm digging the fact that scientists are finally catching up with the meta-humanity thinkers & tinkerers (philosophers, artists, writers, etc) i.e. unconscious will can be & has been extrapolated from first principles, i.e. this is old news. Still, exciting!
1) Rigors-of-academic-inquiry(oldnews) = new data = new model = new algorithms
2) Makes moving my research forward that much easier. Similar case: I went from getting an orders of magnitude brush-off from a theoretical physicist on the topic of string configurations and cellular-level biochemical reactions. A few years later, I see he is working with David Albert on Subjective Experience as a Window on
Foundational Physics http://www.ctnsstars.org/enews/news_team5.html
Embodied cognition, ghosts in biological machines, feels a bit like racing toward god. I can see how it can make some people feel uncomfortable. Still, it's what we're made to do, what the amalgam of our biology+experience gifts us with.
Like most monocultures operating on 20th century logic, FB will fail. I'm not saying they won't make a ton of money in the process (ala MS) but in the end, the system will innovate around and past them (as it is already doing).
The 21st century is all about UX, i.e. power to the people. Entities who do not recognize this will not thrive in the long-term.
Reiterating theBobMcCormick's point, Google's UX/UI is a flop (see Buzz). Who wants to buy a phone that’s only available online? A phone one can’t check out IRL and then take home? Not me, not a lot of people apparently.
Sorry to hear about your feelings re: Boston. I really enjoyed it during my trip this week and briefly considered moving as FC has an office in Cambridge.
I do, however, feel your ecosystem pain. NYC is such a money town, and while there are pockets of sun, air, & water here and there, they don't instantiate enough to be completely nourishing.
That said, culture evolves and history re-writes itself with every passing second. Given time, I can see the city reaching her potential as a startup hub; she will make her inexorable way forward. Certainly it's time that neither you nor I can afford to let slip by, but if it's not people like you and I (& other like-minded folks) who help move this city forward, people who give a damn and follow passion up with action, who's it going to be?
I realize that you've got to put your company first, but the two (help NYC/grow company) aren't mutually exclusive. For instance Mouse.org -- I'll be chatting with them soon, & if SpeakerText is still in town, would love to place a capable high school intern from one of their squads with you.
We (NYC entrepreneurs & investors alike) might make more progress if we could set aside more than a couple hours a month to work concertedly on building culture and making history.