How to stay ahead

It's tempting to measure one's progress against whatever is currently receiving attention. Just as our perception of reality is delayed by several hundred milliseconds (because of the time it takes the nervous system to process sensory signals) so what appears to be most contemporary is in fact already out of date. Better to look deep into the past and speculate far into the future, paying little attention to the present. You have to work very hard to remain interesting and unfashionable.