This is an augmented version of my opening word at PolyConf 14.
Let me try to explain how the concept for the PolyConf conference crystalised in my head. In particular, I would like to talk about fear. We are all afraid of something. Fear keeps us focused on the past and constantly worried about the future. It creates indecision, which paralyzes our thinking and our ability to act.
Specifically, we are afraid of change. The fear of the unknown hinders progress and makes it difficult to discover and understand new things. People who are fearful are very hesitant to explore new concepts or embrace other possibilities. These are protective measures to guard against the unknown.
Sometimes this is good and sometimes it’s bad. When we think about life, when we want to have a rich and an interesting life, it’s all about experiencing things. When we are able to compare and contrast these things, we are able to accumulate knowledge. When we know how to differentiate what we know and what we don’t, we could say that we are educated .However, it turns out that it is very difficult to achieve this sensation, this being able to differentiate those two areas.
We don’t really want to leave our comfort zone. We tend to stick with convenient ideas, we don’t really know what our neighbours are doing, we have absolutely no idea what our neighbours' neighbours are doing. And then sometimes we realise our mistakes.
With PolyConf I would like us to help each other to experience a bit of something different; together I would like us to try to go out of our comfort zones and see the other, maybe darker and less known side of things. That was the initial thought from which PolyConf was born. I hope you will help me to make it better with each edition of the conference.