Jason Silva: Shots of Awe

[Floyd]

"Philosophy web series Shots of Awe will blow your mind in 180 seconds. Shots of Awe is a new web series hosted by "performance philosopher" Jason Silva that features lightning flashes of philosophy that might blow your mind in three minutes or less.

Hosted on Discovery's TestTube network, the series discusses everything from the universe to technology, society, science, and much more, all in the tone of the boundary-pushing lectures of Alan Watts. If Carl Sagan or Timothy Leary had been born in the YouTube age, their videos might have looked something like this. Silva travels outside of the box that your brain normally resides and causes you to ponder life in the more philosophical sense. Check out the premiere episode above. After a couple of minutes, your brain may begin to melt.

To understand Jason's style you really do need to watch his videos, as he has a wonderful way of making technology and advancement, science and philosophy, sound exciting and inspirational. He talks flat out - words are prolific and magnetic, which pull you in as he explains his ideas. His way is endearing and his enthusiasm contagious. What struck me was his desire to instil awe and wonder into subjects that we don't often delve into in any great depth. We all need a shot of whatever it is that Jason has. Intrigued? Take a look at some of his videos below. From 2005 to 2011, Venezuela-born Silva was a presenter in Current TV (the Emmy-winning, independent cable network, started by former US Vice President, Al Gore) where he wrote and hosted more than 100 hours of original content. He left the network to work on micro documentaries."

From here

Eta:

"A Timothy Leary of the Viral Video Age" was how The Atlantic described television personality, filmmaker and techno-philosopher Jason Silva, who has also been described as "part Timothy Leary, part Ray Kurzweil, and part Neo from 'The Matrix.'"...

Described by the TED Conference as a "Performance Philosopher", others have called Silva 'The New Carl Sagan' for his poetic, impassioned and inspirational take on scientific and technological advancements, his riveting on-stage delivery style, and his hyper-enthusiastic insights on creativity, innovation, technology, philosophy and the human condition.

From 2005 to 2011, Venezuela-born Silva was a presenter on Current TV, the Emmy-winning, independent cable network started by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, where he hosted, wrote and produced more than 100 hours of original content. He left the network to become, according to The Atlantic, "a part-time filmmaker and full-time walking, talking TEDTalk".

A self-professed wonder junkie, Silva recently launched a series of noncommercial micro-documentaries exploring the co-evolution of human and technology that "play like movie trailers for ideas", according to The Atlantic. The films have gone viral, having been viewed over one million times online!

At TEDGlobal this past June 2012, Jason premiered "Radical Openness", a new short video.

Many have called Silva an "IDEA DJ" and a romantic poet... others say he's "a re-vitalizer and remixer of optimism, and above all, a curator: of ideas, of inspiration, and of awe... like a trumpet player or modern-day digital Mingus, he jams, riffs and rhapsodizes through a tumbling thicket of ideas with such a sharp and vital alacrity that it can take the breath away".

An active and prolific speaker, Silva has recently spoken at Google, The Economist Ideas Festival, the prestigious DLD Digital Life Design Conference in Munich, TEDGlobal, The Singularity Summit and the PSFK Conference.

Silva has been featured in The Atlantic, The Economist, Vanity Fair, Forbes and Wired, IO9, among many others. Silva was also featured as part of the Gap "Icons" campaign.

Silva resides in Los Angeles, Calif., and New York City. In 2011 he became a fellow at the Hybrid Reality Institute, examining the symbiosis between man and machine.

E2H: What was your ‘Earth 2.0 moment’ – when you realised humanity needed to start doing things differently?

JS: I became fascinated by the exponential growth curves of information technology when I first read Singularity is Near by Ray Kurzweil... Here I was seeing data-driven extrapolations showing astonishing technological possibilities. It became clear we were living in a world where our increasingly powerful tools are shrinking the lag time between what we imagine and our ability to "render it into being"... the spillover from mind to tool to changing the world is accelerating. Ray always talks about the supercomputers in our pockets as examples: Your smartphone today is a million times cheaper, a million times smaller, a thousand times more powerful than a 60 million dollar super computer that was half a building in size 40 years ago. We are living through our own Technological Cambrian Explosion of sorts.

E2H: What got you interested in looking into ideas about the future and which ones are you most interested in and why?

JS: I'm interested in being astonished. I'm one of Sagan's Wonder Junkies - my pleasure comes from the LOVE of people and ideas and possibilities. Michael Pollan wrote that "Banality is a defense against being overwhelmed..." In other words, those that claim there is nothing to be excited about are playing it safe - The truth is there is SO MUCH TO BE EXCITED ABOUT IT'S ALMOST MADDENING: Synthetic biology, artificial life, nanotechnology, artificial intelligence, commercial space travel, mars exploration, and so much more. We need to embrace this disruption. We are now the pilots of our evolution.

E2H: In a cultural age defined by its marked skepticism and apathy, how do you find enthusiasm, optimism and passion to gather and disseminate knowledge with such an energy?

JS: Unfortunately there is a lot of media that abides by the notion that "If it bleeds, it leads"... most of what is reported is negative because it grabs our attention, and therefore delivers ratings and buzz. However, if you look a bit deeper, you might stumble upon a TED talk that could change your worldview... you might read about Peter Diamandis and his work with XPrize... you might read his book Abundance about emerging technologies that could help a billion people... You might stumble upon Matt Ridley's RATIONAL OPTIMIST book or his talk on "Ideas having sex".. You might find out about Steven Pinker's MYTH OF VIOLENCE that will explain how we live in the least violent time in history. There is so much good stuff happening it's a bit overwhelming in fact.

E2H: As a filmmaker, how do you see, art, science and digital media inspiring positive change?

JS: WONDER lies at the intersection of art and science. My philosophical collaborators at The Imaginary Foundation offer me their visual art to help accompany my inspired vocalizations... The videos I make are a hybrid between scientific ideas and poetry. I am not a scientist. I interpret, I imagine, I put forth. My goal is to INSPIRE folks to dig a little deeper, to remove themselves from their reality tunnels and try to see things in a new way.

E2H: What is your goal in creating your “micro-psychedelic-documentaries” viral videos or the so called, “philosophical shots of espresso”? Is this the best way to describe it?

JS: I want people to be astonished. The goal is aesthetic arrest. Intellectual jazz. Virality fueled by a sense of optimism and possibility. I want people to be buzzed by my work.

TO UNDERSTAND IS TO PERCEIVE PATTERNS from Jason Silva on Vimeo.

E2H: We’ve heard that you're working with an Oscar nominated producer to create a feature length 3D documentary on the technological singularity, can you tell us a little bit more about this project?

JS: That project is on hold because I've been hired to host a new TV show for National Geographic, in production now.

E2H: What is your favourite and most inspiring Sci-Fi or documentary movie of all time and what was the latest movie you really liked?

JS: I LOVED INCEPTION!!! Magnificent. I also love The Fountain, Vanilla Sky, Altered States, The Truman Show, The Matrix, Transcendent Man...

E2H: As a guy who is clearly excited about science and technology, what scientific or technological breakthrough do you hope to see in your lifetime?

JS: I'm really excited about what's happening in biotechnology... Lab-on-a-chip technologies that promise to transform medicine. I'm looking forward to personalized medicines and wonderful gene therapies that reverse some of the damage caused by free radical and aging. There's so much.

E2H: You always mention in your videos about the idea that technology will soon bring about a greater-than-human intelligence, can you expand on this a bit?

JS: I think consciousness is an 'emergent' phenomenon... something that evolves from simpler constituents. I believe eventually we'll be able to digitally emulate the conditions where 'intelligence' can evolve... and eventually become conscious. It's a wild idea... but so were airplanes!

The Biological Advantage of Being Awestruck - by @Jason_Silva from Jason Silva on Vimeo.

E2H: What do you think about biomimicry and how do you see it helping us in creating a more sustainable world?

JS: I think it's a brilliant idea to borrow from Nature's best designs... absolutely!

E2H: Of the many individuals leading us to a brighter future, who inspires you most and why?

JS: I'm a fan of Ray Kurzweil, Elon Musk, Peter Diamandis, Chris Anderson from TED, Bruno Giusani from TED, and so many more. These guys are the ambassadors of possibility. They are doers and also COMMUNICATORS. This is key.

E2H: How do you re-connect with nature?

JS: I never lost my connection to nature. WE are all of nature. The iPhone is nature.

E2H: If you could build a legacy what would it be?

JS: As the Edge foundation says: "to arrive at the edge of the world's knowledge, gather the world's most interesting minds, put them together in a room and have them ask each other the questions they've been asking themselves". Now that's an epic thing I want to do again

From here

I had never heard of him until I read the above article.

Not sure I could watch more than 3 minutes of his fast talking, jumping about lectures at a time, but good to see someone who can get a younger generation excited and interested in philosophy and the universe in general.

Edited June 19, 2013 by Floyd

[Wiggles41]

I love my comfort zone!

[jak]

Thanks for posting that Floyd.

I enjoyed it, trouble is he talks so fast and uses words and phrases that I need to think about that in a sense while I enjoy the "performance" am not sure that I agree with his philosophy. Because I havnt completly understood it, I suspect that may be a factor in his appeal? I guess I need to replay and think about what he is saying.

Best Wishes - Jak