I once took part in a post-doctoral party where the (successful) doctoral candidate, in a traditional speech to all the senior scholars and friends who had contributed to his work, thanked me for helping him understand the significance of the useless in life. I considered this a great honour. I was reminded of what I considered dream jobs as a small child: the owner of an ice cube factory, because I thought that it was too absurd to be real, or a sabre-tooth tiger tamer – for the same reason. Later I learned the Roman concept of otium, creative idleness, and I understood this was something vital: creativity cannot be forced; it requires the freedom to think, express, and interact with others. It should be kept in mind that the Greek word for otium, leisure time, is skhole. Education was understood to be a privilege.

Humanities scholars gain joy from studying old and new things and ideas with no regard to their immediate utility, but rather with a view to expanding their understanding. At worst, the short-sighted pursuit of profit will lead to the objectification of others and the thoughtless exploitation of our environment.

It is symptomatic of today that amateurs and dilettantes whose interest springs from a love of the subject are seldom valued. The zeal and curiosity of amateurs feeds their imagination and imagination feeds their ideas. In this I see an opportunity and also some signs of change. Many ideas from ordinary citizens have begun to change urban culture in a more participatory direction. There are more semi-spontaneous meetings in life.

For me it was a revelation to visit the Dialogue in the Dark exhibition (1997) and produce it at Heureka (2000 - 2001). It is an exhibition in a pitch-dark space, where we seeing visitors are guided by a blind guide. Without sight, our other senses get a workout. We trade our traditional roles with the visually handicapped: our guide is the master, we are the apprentices. Our understanding of the world of another – empathy – is increased. The public voted Dialogue in the Dark the best exhibition experience Heureka has offered, nor do I disagree: I’m working on my dissertation on this exhibition as a radical social innovation.

We have since produced a similar exhibition with the deaf (Dialogue in Silence) with similar success. Now we are working on a third dialogue exhibition in Heureka: Dialogue with Time. The expert guides for this exhibition will be people over 70 who are leading full and meaningful lives.

My dream? I hope I will continue to be able to feel that my life has a meaning that also gives joy to my nearest and dearest, and preferably even to total strangers. “To live and mix,” as I gather Jorge Luis Borges wrote. We learn from encounters. I dream of having many more yet.