JARON LANIER on Tech, Music, Creativity & Who Owns the Future - Highlights

JARON LANIER on Tech, Music, Creativity & Who Owns the Future - Highlights

VR Pioneer · Musician · Author JARON LANIER
Who Owns the Future? · Dawn of the New Everything: Encounters with Reality & Virtual Reality · Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now

AI is obviously the dominant topic in tech lately, and I think occasionally there's AI that's nonsense, and occasionally there's AI that's great. I love finding new proteins for medicine and so on. I don't think we serve ourselves well when we put our own technology up as if it were a new God that we created. I think we're really getting a little too full of ourselves to think that.

When we do that, I think we confuse ourselves too easily. This goes back to Alan Turing, the main founder of computer science, who had this idea of the Turing test. In the test, you can't tell whether the computer has gotten more human-like or the human has gotten more computer-like. People are very prone to becoming more computer-like. When we're on social media, we let ourselves be guided by the algorithms, so we start to become dumb in the way the algorithms want us to. You see that all the time. It's really degraded our psychologies and our society.

AI, Virtual Reality & Dawn of the New Everything w/ JARON LANIER, Father of VR, Musician, Author

AI, Virtual Reality & Dawn of the New Everything w/ JARON LANIER, Father of VR, Musician, Author

Father of VR · Musician · Author JARON LANIER
Who Owns the Future? · Dawn of the New Everything: Encounters with Reality & Virtual Reality · Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now

AI is obviously the dominant topic in tech lately, and I think occasionally there's AI that's nonsense, and occasionally there's AI that's great. I love finding new proteins for medicine and so on. I don't think we serve ourselves well when we put our own technology up as if it were a new God that we created. I think we're really getting a little too full of ourselves to think that.

When we do that, I think we confuse ourselves too easily. This goes back to Alan Turing, the main founder of computer science, who had this idea of the Turing test. In the test, you can't tell whether the computer has gotten more human-like or the human has gotten more computer-like. People are very prone to becoming more computer-like. When we're on social media, we let ourselves be guided by the algorithms, so we start to become dumb in the way the algorithms want us to. You see that all the time. It's really degraded our psychologies and our society.

Feminism in the 21st Century

Feminism in the 21st Century

Artists, Writers, Filmmakers Share their Stories

Marilyn Minter ·  Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy ·  Dean Spade ·  Laura Eason ·  Intan Paramaditha ·  Tey Meadow ·  Sara Ahmed ·  Ellen Rapoport ·  Dian Hanson ·  Kate Mueth on the importance of agency, owning the narrative, and the joy of creation.

"Carbon is really a flow that animates everything we love, everything that's alive on this planet." - PAUL HAWKEN - Highlights

"Carbon is really a flow that animates everything we love, everything that's alive on this planet." - PAUL HAWKEN - Highlights

Environmentalist · Entrepreneur
Author of Carbon: The Book of Life
Founder of Project Regeneration & Project Drawdown

We have 1.2 trillion carbon molecules in every cell. We have around 30 trillion cells, and that’s us. So carbon is really a flow that animates everything we love, enjoy, eat, and all plant life, all sea life—everything that's alive on this planet—is animated by the flow of carbon. We want to see the situation we're in as that, as a flow. Where are the flows coming from, and why are we interfering with them? Why are we crushing them? Why are we killing them? For sure. But also, we need to see the wonder, the awe, the astonishment of life itself and to have that sensibility as the overriding narrative of how we act in the world, how we live, and how we talk to each other. Unless we change the conversation about climate into something that's a conversation about more life—better conditions for people in terms of social justice, restoring so much of what we've lost—then we won’t get anywhere.

CARBON: The Book of Life with PAUL HAWKEN

CARBON: The Book of Life with PAUL HAWKEN

Environmentalist · Entrepreneur
Founder of Project Regeneration & Project Drawdown

We have 1.2 trillion carbon molecules in every cell. We have around 30 trillion cells, and that’s us. So carbon is really a flow that animates everything we love, enjoy, eat, and all plant life, all sea life—everything that's alive on this planet—is animated by the flow of carbon. We want to see the situation we're in as that, as a flow. Where are the flows coming from, and why are we interfering with them? Why are we crushing them? Why are we killing them? For sure. But also, we need to see the wonder, the awe, the astonishment of life itself and to have that sensibility as the overriding narrative of how we act in the world, how we live, and how we talk to each other. Unless we change the conversation about climate into something that's a conversation about more life—better conditions for people in terms of social justice, restoring so much of what we've lost—then we won’t get anywhere.

Inside the Mind of PETER WELLER, Actor, Art Historian, Director, Musician, Author - Highlights

Inside the Mind of PETER WELLER, Actor, Art Historian, Director, Musician, Author - Highlights

Art transcends time and culture—the beauty of it. People worry about the world now. I remind them to go live in 1968, a time of preparing to go to the moon while people died for their beliefs. This is a difficult time in a republic that’s supposed to be free, but music was leading the way. Whether it was Miles, Coltrane, Aretha, Leonard Cohen, Dylan, the music was extraordinarily influential and cutting-edge… Leon Battista Alberti is an interesting figure because he was a poet, painter, architect, and particularly an architect, writer, and humanist. He wrote this amazing book on painting that everyone has to read.

From RoboCop to the Renaissance w/ Actor, Art Historian, Director, Musician, Author PETER WELLER

From RoboCop to the Renaissance w/ Actor, Art Historian, Director, Musician, Author PETER WELLER

Art transcends time and culture—the beauty of it. People worry about the world now. I remind them to go live in 1968, a time of preparing to go to the moon while people died for their beliefs. This is a difficult time in a republic that’s supposed to be free, but music was leading the way. Whether it was Miles, Coltrane, Aretha, Leonard Cohen, Dylan, the music was extraordinarily influential and cutting-edge… Leon Battista Alberti is an interesting figure because he was a poet, painter, architect, and particularly an architect, writer, and humanist. He wrote this amazing book on painting that everyone has to read.

A Life in Climbing: ALAIN ROBERT Climbs with No Fear, No Ropes, No Safety Net - Highlights

A Life in Climbing: ALAIN ROBERT Climbs with No Fear, No Ropes, No Safety Net - Highlights

Famous Rock & Urban Climber ALAIN ROBERT
Known for Free Solo Climbing 200+ of the World’s Tallest Skyscrapers using no Climbing Equipment

you are fighting to stay alive. You are fully in the present moment; you don't have time to think about being afraid. You are focused on what you are doing. You struggle to pass another window, then another, and you don't have time to think about your problems. The only thing you are concerned about deep down in the back of your mind is that you need to stay alive, and for that, you need to remain calm and focused.

Overcoming Your Fears to Achieve the Impossible w/ Free Solo Climber ALAIN ROBERT on Climbing 200+ World’s Tallest Skyscrapers

Overcoming Your Fears to Achieve the Impossible w/ Free Solo Climber ALAIN ROBERT on Climbing 200+ World’s Tallest Skyscrapers

Famous Rock & Urban Climber ALAIN ROBERT
Known for Free Solo Climbing 200+ of the World’s Tallest Skyscrapers using no Climbing Equipment

you are fighting to stay alive. You are fully in the present moment; you don't have time to think about being afraid. You are focused on what you are doing. You struggle to pass another window, then another, and you don't have time to think about your problems. The only thing you are concerned about deep down in the back of your mind is that you need to stay alive, and for that, you need to remain calm and focused.

How Art Helps Us Understand the World - Filmmakers, Writers & Artists Share their Stories

How Art Helps Us Understand the World - Filmmakers, Writers & Artists Share their Stories

Filmmakers, Writers & Artists Share their Stories

How do the arts help us understand the world? How do our personal lives influence the art we make? Benoît Delhomme, John Patrick Shanley, Jim Shepard, Anthony White, Laura Eason, Mark Gottlieb & Michael Begler explore their creative process.

How to Build Relationships, Hook Up & Raise Hell Together: Conversation w/ DEAN SPADE - Highlights

How to Build Relationships, Hook Up & Raise Hell Together: Conversation w/ DEAN SPADE - Highlights

Conversation with DEAN SPADE about How to Build Relationships, Hook Up, and Raise Hell Together

This book has a lot of the wisdom of things that feminists and queers have learned in the community about sexuality, but the book is really for anybody who is political, even those just starting out and beginning to realize that there is something wrong with the systems they live under. I want to be in movements. Our movements are made of relationships. So, if you're just getting into our movements, or if you've been here for years and have been watching the ways we hurt each other and fall apart relationally, this book is about identifying these common patterns.

 LOVE in a F*cked-Up World: DEAN SPADE on How to Build Relationships, Hook Up & Raise Hell Together

LOVE in a F*cked-Up World: DEAN SPADE on How to Build Relationships, Hook Up & Raise Hell Together

This book has a lot of the wisdom of things that feminists and queers have learned in the community about sexuality, but the book is really for anybody who is political, even those just starting out and beginning to realize that there is something wrong with the systems they live under. I want to be in movements. Our movements are made of relationships. So, if you're just getting into our movements, or if you've been here for years and have been watching the ways we hurt each other and fall apart relationally, this book is about identifying these common patterns.

How Does Art Shape Our Lives? Musicians, Writers, Filmmakers & Actors Share Their Stories

How Does Art Shape Our Lives? Musicians, Writers, Filmmakers & Actors Share Their Stories

Musicians, Writers, Filmmakers & Actors Share Their Stories

How do the arts help us find purpose and meaning? What role do stories play in helping us preserve memories, connect us to each other, and answer life’s big questions? Max Richter, Etgar Keret, Athony Joseph, Claudia Forestieri, Brigitte Muñoz-Liebowitz Johnjoe McFadden, Sheehan Karunatilaka, Catherine Curtin, Kate Mueth explore the importance of creativity and the arts.

Art, Creativity & Intuition - Filmmakers, Musicians & Artists discuss their Creative Process

Art, Creativity & Intuition - Filmmakers, Musicians & Artists discuss their Creative Process

Filmmakers, Musicians & Artists discuss their Creative Process

Where does our intuition come from? How are lifelong creative partnerships formed and what role do friendship and personal connection play? How do our personal lives influence the art we make?

Highlights - HALA ALYAN - Dayton Literary Peace Prize Winner - Palestinian-American Poet, Novelist & Clinical Psychologist

Highlights - HALA ALYAN - Dayton Literary Peace Prize Winner - Palestinian-American Poet, Novelist & Clinical Psychologist

Dayton Literary Peace Prize Winning Novelist, Poet & Clinical Psychologist

We become the stories we tell ourselves…I started writing around the time I learned English because we moved to the States soon after my fourth birthday, and so I was here for kindergarten into elementary school. I grasped this new language just as I was learning how to also put things onto the page. Those two things really happened at the same time for me. I entered this world where I felt very different and very other, for all intents and purposes I was set to be raised in Kuwait. And then that of course got turned upside down after the invasion by Saddam. I think that so much of my trying to make sense of the world had to do with the displacement, exile and these experiences that my parents had experienced but then that I had as well as we were fleeing the war. It’s hard to know because I think that language was being formed in my brain at the same time that these things were happening.

HALA ALYAN - Palestinian-American Poet, Novelist & Clinical Psychologist - Dayton Literary Peace Prize Winner

HALA ALYAN - Palestinian-American Poet, Novelist & Clinical Psychologist - Dayton Literary Peace Prize Winner

Dayton Literary Peace Prize Winning Novelist, Poet & Clinical Psychologist

We become the stories we tell ourselves…I started writing around the time I learned English because we moved to the States soon after my fourth birthday, and so I was here for kindergarten into elementary school. I grasped this new language just as I was learning how to also put things onto the page. Those two things really happened at the same time for me. I entered this world where I felt very different and very other, for all intents and purposes I was set to be raised in Kuwait. And then that of course got turned upside down after the invasion by Saddam. I think that so much of my trying to make sense of the world had to do with the displacement, exile and these experiences that my parents had experienced but then that I had as well as we were fleeing the war. It’s hard to know because I think that language was being formed in my brain at the same time that these things were happening.

ALAIN ROBERT - Famous Rock and Urban Climber - Author of With Bare Hands

ALAIN ROBERT - Famous Rock and Urban Climber - Author of With Bare Hands

Famous Rock & Urban Climber · "The French Spider-Man”
Known for Free Solo Climbing the World’s Tallest Skyscrapers using no Climbing Equipment

First of all, yes, I need to know what I will be climbing, whether it's on rocks or whether it's on buildings. And then there is physical preparation. And regarding the mindset, it's more something that became a bit automatic over the years because I have been free soloing for almost 50 years. So it is pretty much my whole life. So that means that for me, being mentally ready, it's kind of simple. It's almost always the same mental process, meaning, I can be afraid before an ascent, but I know myself actually very well. And I know that once I am starting to climb, I feel fine. I put my fear aside, and I'm just climbing.

Highlights - DAVID FARRIER - Author of Footprints: In Search of Future Fossils

Highlights - DAVID FARRIER - Author of Footprints: In Search of Future Fossils

Author of Footprints: In Search of Future Fossils · Anthropocene Poetics
Professor of Literature & the Environment · University of Edinburgh.

Just thinking about how our actions play out over multiple generations who will have to live with the consequences of these decisions. I think we need to stretch our sense of time, and within that stretch our sense of empathy. The philosopher Roman Krznaric talks about that in his book The Good Ancestor, that we need a more elastic sense of empathy that can encompass not just those close to us or living alongside us, but those who have yet to be born will have to inherit the world that we passed down to them. But I think in stretching that sense of empathy and stretching that sense of the times that we touch, if you like, because all of us are engaged in activities that will lead long legacies, long tails, in terms of the fossil fuels we're consuming. And so, alongside that, I think we need to accept that the time we live in is a strange one, and time itself is doing strange things in the anthropocene.