Why The Future - Because Nostalgia

What are we working towards?

What is the vision we hold in our minds, that we are endeavoring to construct some material components of, in order to realize that vision in the physical now?

Am I nostalgic? Yes. Of course. I experienced the high life in an elevated as-yet-still Colonial and then yet again, privateer, corporate social milieu - and that was many decades ago.

I think this works as design - it's modern, slightly futuristic,
but it's also authentic as a reflection of what it's supposed to be.
And I do think it is 'luxury.'

Those parts of it that I have an affection for, were very good parts indeed. The only things I saw that were negative - for the most part - were the unbreakable (and insane, as far as I was concerned) intent that quite a lot of people had, to engage in political and financial corruption in order to 'get ahead;' but not just 'ahead' as in what the modern middle class does or attempts to do, but 'ahead in the upper echelons...' They wanted to have the titles, the social position, the reverence that a handful of others appeared to command. And I most certainly saw the poverty of the outre. 

There was ugliness - as there still is. But there was the simply glorious, too.

Today, for me, the thing which stands out the most about the 'glory,' is its authenticity. If you have a lot of money today, and you are from the recent decades, you may not even know, what authenticity is... You see you can't substitute a synthetic simulacrum for something that carries a name, and a description of what it is - or is meant to be - and a manifesto of what function it performs, simply because the modern volume demand means there is not enough of the real thing to go around: you can't use a substitute, and pay the price of the genuine article, and think you are experiencing the thing.

'White musk' - is fake, you see. It isn't 'musk' at all. It's a synthetic chemical molecule made in an industrial laboratory.

And why is that a bad thing? Well it isn't a bad thing - it's just not the thing; and also it can't do the same thing, that the original genuine article can.

The characteristics of life style, of living, in the world, is changing, and will continue to change, and at some point widely deliver an experience of human life, of human society, of modern life style to many people that is a direct reflection of technology and advancement.

And there will be plenty of people with lots of money who will only assume they are living the high life, and they will not be - but you might be (living a very high life)...

One simple case example is to do with modern fragrances, aftershaves, perfumes (and by extension flavorings in alcohol and wines and other food and beverages). You see, yes, the modern chemistry lab can render amazing molecules that mimic sensations and feelings and memories about places and things. But no, they are not the things themselves. And they are not because modern industrial chemistry has a long way to go to comprehend the mechanisms of sensation, and memory especially emotional memory, and the electromagnetic dynamic mechanisms of molecular communication systems. The revered perfume expert Luca Turin (worked for the US Military under a research grant at some point...) has the best grasp of what these mechanisms are, and he is just about the only individual whose work reaches the public; others are under wraps by big industry and the military.

'By the fireplace'

You'll be paying BIG money for a European brand name men's fragrance product - such as for instance something from Maison Margiela's 'Replica' line. I cannot even say that a large component of that price is going to marketing, because I don't think it is. Maison Margiela is a brand which produces fashion for women, some fashion for men, and only has the fragrance line 'on the side' even though it is regarded as a really important modern perfume and fragrance brand. But it's not their main thing.

So, you can have a bottle that literally does smell like 'by the fireplace,' or 'at the jazz club,' or 'at the barbers.' And very clever it is, what they do; no doubt about it at all.

And you will encounter many reviewers talk about these products the same way traditionally people did about complex perfumes and French Fashion/Designer House fragrances.

But they are not the same kinds of thing; these new things are molecular constructions that are simulations of something else. And so the experience you will have when wearing them, or using them, is different by great gulfs of sensation, when compared to the real thing.

But what is this 'real thing' you are speaking about, John?

And we'll talk about that side of it in more detail in the next article.