Oil on gypsum panel. 48" x 60"
Completed on May 17th, 2013.
The concept for this painting was inspired by some ideas that I read about in a science
fiction series by Frederik Pohl, when I was 12. The Gateway series describes several interesting
future technologies which allow people's minds to be uploaded into machine storage. These
machine stored intelligences live in a digital virtual reality. The uploading of one's
consciousness into digital form can be considered a kind of afterlife or immortality,
therefore these uploaded personalities are known as "the Dead Men" or the Massed Minds.
In the story, some people carry the uploaded minds of their ancestors around
with them in portable devices and use them for advice and consultation. They are also
used to learn from.
I have thought about these ideas many times while listening to podcast
lectures and audiobooks. It is just like listening to "The Dead Men", learning
from uploaded thoughts of people who lived in the past.
For the past several years I have been listening to lectures, interviews,
and audiobooks on my ipod while I paint and work. It is an amazing medium
for education and I have learned so many things that I would never had the
time or patience to read about. many people talk about the reading of
books as if it is the only legitimate source knowledge. I rarely have time
to read and feel as if it is becoming unnecessary to spend hours reading
books due to the choices that technology allows. When I am listening
to lectures by some dead people such as Terence Mckenna, I feel as if
he is in the room, sharing his thoughts expanding my views even though
the man died in '2000'. Millions of hours of these peoples' ideas and
personalities are not lost, but instead are free to be copied, downloaded
and learned form in the form of podcasts and videos. This adds immense
wealth to the collective mind of humanity.
Oil on gypsum panel. 48" x 60"
Completed on May 17th, 2013.
The concept for this painting was inspired by some ideas that I read about in a science
fiction series by Frederik Pohl, when I was 12. The Gateway series describes several interesting
future technologies which allow people's minds to be uploaded into machine storage. These
machine stored intelligences live in a digital virtual reality. The uploading of one's
fiction series by Frederik Pohl, when I was 12. The Gateway series describes several interesting
future technologies which allow people's minds to be uploaded into machine storage. These
machine stored intelligences live in a digital virtual reality. The uploading of one's
consciousness into digital form can be considered a kind of afterlife or immortality,
therefore these uploaded personalities are known as "the Dead Men" or the Massed Minds.
In the story, some people carry the uploaded minds of their ancestors around
with them in portable devices and use them for advice and consultation. They are also
used to learn from.
therefore these uploaded personalities are known as "the Dead Men" or the Massed Minds.
In the story, some people carry the uploaded minds of their ancestors around
with them in portable devices and use them for advice and consultation. They are also
used to learn from.
I have thought about these ideas many times while listening to podcast
lectures and audiobooks. It is just like listening to "The Dead Men", learning
from uploaded thoughts of people who lived in the past.
For the past several years I have been listening to lectures, interviews,
and audiobooks on my ipod while I paint and work. It is an amazing medium
for education and I have learned so many things that I would never had the
time or patience to read about. many people talk about the reading of
books as if it is the only legitimate source knowledge. I rarely have time
to read and feel as if it is becoming unnecessary to spend hours reading
books due to the choices that technology allows. When I am listening
to lectures by some dead people such as Terence Mckenna, I feel as if
he is in the room, sharing his thoughts expanding my views even though
the man died in '2000'. Millions of hours of these peoples' ideas and
personalities are not lost, but instead are free to be copied, downloaded
and learned form in the form of podcasts and videos. This adds immense
wealth to the collective mind of humanity.
I couldn't get into the Pohl series, for some reason. But I really liked the idea of it. Someday perhaps I'll be able to try it again. Or who knows I suppose I don't need to, I am reminded of our discussion about it perhaps being wasteful for each of us to read and absorb the same things when we could focus on different things then share the ideas.
ReplyDeleteIn any case I really like your comparison of that to listening to podcasts and audiobooks of the 'dead men'. It gives me a healing feeling to think of it that way, when I feel the loss of any who've gone before us. It used to sound like bullshit, when people would try to comfort, with words of "they're always with you." With today's technology, that feels more true.
I find that while sometimes I enjoy reading, it often just seems to take too much time and not conducive to doing anything else. Though I also have problems focusing on audiobooks while doing other things. Perhaps, it's a skill I will be able to develop. Just as anything else.