Veni winner Sjors Ligthart: ‘I’ll never drink espresso before an important presentation again’

How free are you in your own head? With AI and neural implants, your thoughts and feelings can be read and manipulated. Do you have human rights protection for that? With a Veni grant from NWO, Sjors Ligthart will investigate this. But what motivates Sjors Ligthart?

1. If you weren’t a scientist, what would you do?

“Traveling the world, I guess. One does not exclude the other, but science takes time, and you need to have a lot of free time to travel. I still have fun trips, but otherwise I would like to explore a larger part of the world for a longer period of time.’

2. What do you daydream about?

‘Everywhere my mind takes me at that moment. If you just let your thoughts go, they will end up in all kinds of places that I don’t think you can determine in advance. And that’s usually a lot of fun.

‘I mainly daydream on the train or on my bike. Or when I’m lying in the hammock. At work, I try not to daydream as much, but to work mainly through my consciousness.’

3. What is your biggest fear?

‘That I’m on my deathbed and find out that I haven’t lived or haven’t lived enough. I’m quite aware of that, because I have the strong impression that life actually has no meaning at all. That it doesn’t make much sense to look for that meaning, or to presuppose it.

‘Perhaps it would be better to embrace the lack of sense and draw the conclusion from that absurd situation that you need to do one thing above all: try to have good times as much as possible.’

4. What is a perfect night out for you?

‘First go to a concert or performance. And then to a busy, noisy traditional bar, where ideally a live band plays. That’s pretty close to perfection. The type of music doesn’t really matter. I like jazz, or older rock, as long as it’s something with instruments and sounds good.’

‘Having a conversation with Camus and ten years later you are at Woodstock. I think that’s a good idea’

5. Let’s say you have a time machine. What era do you travel back to and with whom would have a coffee?

“I would travel back to the late 1950s. Assuming that I would speak French, I would like to have a drink with Albert Camus and have a good conversation. And then from there I would also like to roll into the sixties.

‘I think that’s a good era, compared to now. First you sit with Camus and ten years later you are at Woodstock. I think that’s a good idea.’

6. What book would you recommend to everyone?

‘The Open veins of Latin America‘ by Eduardo Galeano, a journalist from Uruguay in the 1970s. That book is a huge eye-opener. It’s about how South America has been exploited and sucked dry by the Western world in all kinds of ways. It’s still remarkably relevant, that says a lot, I think. That’s why I will never eat Chiquita bananas anymore, for example.”

7. What do few people know about you?

‘I used to play saxophone in a jazz quartet, the Four Course Menu. It was very amateurish, but we had a lot of fun with it. I was about 17 or 18 years old at the time. I’ve recently started jamming again with the guitarist of that band, just for fun. He also has a PhD, so we can talk about work in between.’

8. Your house is on fire, and you can only save one possession. What do you take?

“When it’s winter, I’ll grab my coat. And for the rest? I’m not very attached to things. My laptop? I don’t really use it that much. Actually, I think I know: my USB stick. All my work is on that. If I lose that, I’m really screwed.’

‘The idea that I have to follow a whole series makes me restless’

9. What series do you watch to relax?

‘I don’t really do that. The idea that I must follow a whole series makes me restless. Especially if there are multiple seasons. That’s when I think, oh dear, should I watch all those episodes too? When I really want to relax, I prefer to read a book or meditate. Or I’ll hang up a hammock.’

10. What annoys you?

‘If I’m accused of something that I didn’t actually do, but you can’t defend yourself against it on rational grounds. Because someone just doesn’t listen anymore. Or they hear what you say, but you notice that there is an emotional barrier that you can’t get through.’

11. They say you learn the most from your mistakes. What’s your best blunder?

‘My mistake was that I had a quick cup of espresso before an important presentation. Because I thought: I need to be sharp later. That coffee gave me a very dry mouth and I could not properly present anymore. I’ll never do that again.’

12. Beyoncé of Bach?

‘I would say Beyoncé, although I also like to go to a classical music concert every now and then. But the music lover in me likes it when there’s some swing in the music. So, I end up with Beyoncé, because she satisfies the need for swing more. I am someone who always plays music, except when I’m working. That’s typical of me.’

13. No more meat or no more flying?

‘No more meat, I don’t eat that much anyway. I am becoming more aware of the environmental damage caused by flying. For example, I was invited to go to the US, which was for one day. That’s just a no go. Flight shame is a big word, but I’m more aware than before.’

_Advertentie.