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the useful uselessness

Speculations, ideas and absurdities about the stupidity of "normality"

Featured posts(13)

The Right to Temporal Dignity
The Right to Temporal Dignity

Time theft wears no mask. It announces itself in Friday afternoon ‘urgent’ emails and lunch-hour meetings. We’ve normalized temporal violence in broad daylight, celebrating it as ‘dedication.’ What if reclaiming our time is the most radical act of resistance?"

by João Sevilhano Jun 07, 2025
Boredom as Blasphemy
Boredom as Blasphemy

We’ve turned productivity into a religion and boredom into blasphemy. Even our vacations become performances of hyperactive rest. What if doing nothing isn’t laziness but the most radical act of resistance in an achievement-obsessed world?

by João Sevilhano May 31, 2025
The Revolution Will Not Be Psychologized
The Revolution Will Not Be Psychologized

We’ve turned pain into pathology and healing into a business plan. But what if our symptoms aren’t signs of brokenness, but clues that something larger is sick, and screaming to be overthrown?

by João Sevilhano May 24, 2025
The Curious Middle: Beyond Accusation and Doubt in an Age of Certainty
The Curious Middle: Beyond Accusation and Doubt in an Age of Certainty

In a world that increasingly demands absolute positions, the space between conviction and uncertainty becomes the most fertile terrain for genuine thought. Yet this middle ground is rapidly disappearing from our conversational landscape.

by João Sevilhano May 10, 2025
For a new definition of “work”
For a new definition of “work”

In our relentless pursuit of productivity, we’ve inverted an ancient wisdom: leisure isn’t what remains after work, but the foundation from which meaningful work emerges.

by João Sevilhano Apr 26, 2025
Time, Gravity, and Conversations: A Physics of Human Connection
Time, Gravity, and Conversations: A Physics of Human Connection

What if conversations create gravitational fields where separate consciousnesses briefly merge? Perhaps being truly understood is physics-defying—a small miracle of human connection, a brief victory over time itself.

by João Sevilhano Apr 03, 2025
Love is Measured in Celsius: The Thermal Dynamics of Intimacy
Love is Measured in Celsius: The Thermal Dynamics of Intimacy

In the laboratory of love, chemistry gets the credit, but physics governs our connections. While poets speak of burning passion and hearts growing cold, couples negotiate a more literal thermal equilibrium—where compatibility is measured in degrees Celsius (or Fahrenheit).

by João Sevilhano Mar 22, 2025
Emotional Bureaucrats
Emotional Bureaucrats

Emotional bureaucracy—the internalization of administrative logic into our most intimate psychological processes—transforms how we experience life itself. We become both bureaucrat and bureaucratized, simultaneously administering and being administered by our own hearts.

by João Sevilhano Mar 15, 2025
Good Enough: Challenging the Tyranny of Excellence
Good Enough: Challenging the Tyranny of Excellence

In our obsession with excellence, we’ve become slaves to arbitrary metrics. The concept of ‘good enough’ isn’t surrendering to mediocrity, but recognizing that sustainable achievement often emerges precisely when we stop demanding perfection from ourselves and others.

by João Sevilhano Mar 12, 2025
The Utility of Uselessness - Time, Work, and Combating Stupidity
The Utility of Uselessness - Time, Work, and Combating Stupidity

In our obsession with productivity, we've forgotten the value of uselessness. Paradoxically, history shows our greatest breakthroughs often emerge from seemingly 'useless' activities—the mind at play accomplishes what the mind at work cannot.

by João Sevilhano Mar 08, 2025
The (Sad) Story of the Chatbot That Know Us Better Than Our Mothers
The (Sad) Story of the Chatbot That Know Us Better Than Our Mothers

As we outsource our thinking to machines that mimic understanding, what essential human capacities might we be surrendering in our fascination with artificial minds? Perhaps in these digital mirrors, we discover not their intelligence, but our own intellectual fatigue.

by João Sevilhano Mar 01, 2025
On the Beauty of Distraction
On the Beauty of Distraction

Some distractions are meaningful and productive. Perhaps you’re envy-scrolling on Instagram when you hear a strange chirp overhead and find yourself marveling at the sight of a violet-backed starling. In that instant, a negative attention transforms into a beautiful distraction.

by João Sevilhano Jul 03, 2024
The Conversations of Lovers and Teams
The Conversations of Lovers and Teams

Three kinds of conversation help to build more effective and harmonious teams.

by João Sevilhano Oct 23, 2017

Latest posts(31)

The Paradox of Writing to 42% of You
Lord Kitchener Points at Statistical Probabilities. We Want YOU to Join the 42%

An ask to help to spread the (useless) word

by João Sevilhano Jul 13, 2025
Interlude: economy of narrow seats
Interlude: economy of narrow seats

Don’t let narrow seats narrow your thoughts

by João Sevilhano Jul 05, 2025
Interlude: the time of things
Interlude: the time of things

What geology and physics can teach us about our human nature

by João Sevilhano Jun 28, 2025
Corporate Hierarchy as the New Feudalism
Corporate Hierarchy as the New Feudalism

From C-suites to cubicles, we've recreated medieval feudalism in modern offices. Executive elevators replace castle towers, MBAs substitute for noble titles, and 'cultural fit' ensures the aristocracy reproduces itself. Time to name what we see: corporate feudalism in designer suits.

by João Sevilhano Jun 21, 2025
The Comfortable Wisdom of Empty Boxes
The Comfortable Wisdom of Empty Boxes

When someone tells me I need to “think outside the box,” I develop a sort of metaphysical hives. The same happens with “step out of your comfort zone.” The reaction intensifies when these pearls of wisdom come from people so comfortably settled in their own enormous boxes.

by João Sevilhano Jun 14, 2025

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