Disruption Talk

A very unique combination of two people meeting on stage: Paulo Coelho & Sean Parker.

Disruptive talk is a very open format. In the end, it's for the two people in question to decide how to form the question. Coelho and Parker didn't had a chance for much preperation before the talk, but that actually made the overall conversation better.

Paulo Coelho reflecting on how humanity transformed its way to tell stories. We do change the way of how we share stories, but in the end all of what we do is to capture the human condition.

"The power is still in the hands of those who create content. To change peoples minds, you have to say something." Parker discusses the relationships between content and technology / platforms. For him, it is true that people who control the platforms have some power, but those who create content are still controlling the curse of developments. In this sense, he still sees people like Coelho who can change much more, because they create content which can change minds of more people than any platform.

"Napster ended up being a failure as a company, but ended up being a cultural phenomenon."

Coelho changed the conversation by suggesting, that they should question each other a personal question. The obvious ping elephant in the room was Parker's opinion about "The Social Network". Provocative, but interesting. It was apparent, that Parker tried to answer the question as diplomatic as he could. Still, he obviously disagrees with a lot that is being portrayed in the movie. "There are no Victoria Secret Models in Silicon Valles ..." or "I wish my life was that exiting." are just two quotes that capture his statement quit vividly.

One of the highlights on the session was a the answer by both Coelho and Parker to a question by Hubert Burda:

Hubert Burda: "What is the difference between reading a book on paper or digitally?"
Paulo Coelho: "Nothing. An ebook is easier to carry." (He has a kindle.) "I think a book, the old format, is gone like Papyrus."
Sean Parker: "Why is it that we cannot romanticize the present instead of the past?"