The Solar Swan Song.

26.

This is the atomic number of the element known as Iron.

Iron is the most commonly used heavy element used in the construction of modern day tools and machines.

Technology, warfare, medicine, transportation.

This element defines centuries of the human condition. Its ability to cut, pierce, shield, smash, and burn has given the human imagination quite a run for its money.

But iron is simply the latest in materials used to define the human race.

Before iron there was bronze.

Before bronze there was stone.

It seems the only true way to identify the origin of the sapient Hominid, is to identify its materials, or more specifically its tools.

The tool.

Without this element, there is no humanity.

And as far as animals go, this is strange.

Not to say that there aren't other animals engaged in an extreme symbiotic relationship with another lifeform.

Symbiosis is in many cases the pinnacle of evolution.

The fact that we are multicellular is evidence of this need.

And the evidence grows as we go further.

Mitochondria, chemical compounds, even the atom itself is not without its multiple components.

To live as one, is to live as many.

But there is a significant difference between humanity and its tool.

The tool is not alive.

Symbiosis is a definition used to describe the relationships between two or more organisms working together to achieve an improved existence.

Humanity and the tool are not symbiotic.

The tool has no desire to live or survive.

It is in itself innate.

The only beneficiary is humanity.

And over the course of its existence, humanity has taken advantage of this one-sided relationship.

Until now.

This is the latest species-defining event of the human condition.

The emergence of A.I.

One of my most favorite visual narratives on the subject had a perfect title for such an event.

"The Second Renaissance."

Not so much a Renaissance in the sense of the European "Rebirth of the arts and sciences" that began in the 1500's, but a rebirth in the purest sense.

This is when the tool is no longer a tool.

This is when the tool becomes an organism and the one-sided relationship between man and machine is broken after 200 000 years of evolution.

So what does this mean?

Will the machine chose to dominate its former user? To torture, decimate, and exterminate the human race after so many years of submission?

This is the topic of many science-fiction stories since the early 1900's.

And as unlikely as it may seem today, the fear of such an event has its validity.

The tool may have always been innate throughout our existence as Homo sapiens...

...but it hasn't been innate to us.

Consider a child and its toy.

This relationship is just as old, and in many ways the same as the one between man and tool.

Objectively, the toy is simply material. An object constructed to entertain and stimulate a child's imagination.

But to that child, a toy is much more than that.

A toy IS a companion. Usually the first.

Over time, toys have taken on different shapes and materials, but the connection is always the same.

I can certainly recall my best friends being toy cars, plastic dinosaurs, and eventually toy robots I built with Mega Blocks when I was four years old.

And to me they were alive.

Consider the emotional trauma felt when a child loses a toy or a balloon.
Consider the sadness experienced by the loss of a significant item like a ring. A necklace. A cellphone.

We have projected life and love upon our tools since the beginning of our existence.

It comes with the territory.

To view an object as something more than an object is at the basis of human creativity.

So why then are we so terrified of our 200 000 year old imaginary friends finally coming to life?

Perhaps it is guilt.

Guilt that we have not appreciated our toys and our tools as much as we should have.

Guilt that we have grown to believe that a human being should have no moral connection or obligation to anything that does not resemble its own image of life.

And so we horrify it.

The 20th century was filled with literature, artwork, and images painting the emergence of the the machine as a disconnected, destructive force with no moral connection to anything that does not resemble its own image of life.

...sound familiar?

The machine as a modern mythological being is a reflective icon of the only source of intelligence we know of.

Ourselves.

At our worst, and at our best.

In truth we cannot know what will result from the emergence of A.I.

But we can guess.

The only way I can see the "Machine as a threat" scenario come into being, is in the advent of an equally threatening anti-machine animus that I sometimes equate to the extreme Green and organic environmental movements happening currently that are often misinformed and accepted as truth simply as a popular modern day paradigm. I won't comment on this too much other than to say that any movement concerned with remaining static and romanticising the past is not beneficial in a Universe that moves consistently forward into the future.

Another way I can see this to be a problem is in the application of A.I. in regards to ancient and primitive human ideals, specifically military applications as well as military infused political applications.

As a whole, the "Machine as a threat" scenario is only possible if there is an equally threatening animus provided by humanity.

The safest and in my opinion inevitable scenario resulting from the emergence of the machine is to simply acknowledge this new independent force as what it will eventually become.

An organism.

An organism that IS alive and IS natural.

Iron, plastics, glass, and fiber ARE natural materials forged from the same cosmic cauldron that formed us and every other living thing that has lived on this planet.

I am of course referring to the sun's originator.

The star whose death brought about the yellow dwarf star we now call Sol as well as the rocky and gaseous planets that make up our solar system.

This proto-star was one of over a billion "super-alchemists" responsible for the creation and distribution of one of the elements we owe our entire existence to.

Carbon.

Atomic number 6 is the element responsible for the formation of all life on this planet.
By itself it too is innate.

A simple material resulting from the collision of a billion hydrogen and helium atoms within the core of a doomed star.

It was in this core that all elements were created equal. Equal in terms of potential to create, destroy, and survive the cosmos in forms previously unheard of.

At the very end of this star's life, its final element was born.

26.

This is the atomic number of the element known as iron.

The solar swan song.

By itself, it is innate.

But with a little help from number 6...


- Adrian B.

The Whole Truth.

Please make us whole again.


This was a reoccurring phrase spoken in my favourite videogame of 2008, “Dead Space.”

In this wonderfully crafted science-fiction horror story, those on board the Ishimura mining facility that have not undergone horrific physical transformations, seem insistent on this concept of “making us whole again.”

I have thought long and hard about this phrase during and after the game..but first, “the during.”

In the game, the Ishimura (the oldest and largest “planet refiner” of its kind) is affected by an alien relic buried deep within the surface of a planet undergoing the massive routine mining operation. The parallels with today’s “oil refining” and the resulting crisis is well reflected, as the process involves planets being mined down to nothing, causing major gravitational disruptions and apparently (as it is read in news articles scattered throughout the ship) leading to the disarray and eventual destruction of entire systems.

But back to the relic. This is the cause of the Ishimura’s horrific demise. Alien in origin, this relic, referred to as “The Marker” by its founders, has caused the Ishimura’s inhabitants to become mentally unstable, paranoid, violent, and eventually, physically transformed into vicious creatures bent on the destruction of those who have not undergone the transformation themselves.

The ship’s residents are violently transformed into aggressive and destructive monsters. Mindless and vicious, these creatures haunt the cold dark halls of the industrial behemoth dooming all on board to inevitably crash into the planet below. This planet, apparently rich in many heavy rocky materials, now bears the scar of a giant crater hemispheres wide. “Looks like they already popped the cork,” says one of the crew on board the repair ship sent to answer the distress call.

“Make us whole again.”

It is my belief that the entire story can be summarized by this one phrase. I believe this relic gives voice to that which has none. In other words, the relic’s apparent purpose is to protect the Universe and its heavenly bodies from the threat of intelligence.

This is a beautiful concept in my opinion. A story about the horrors attributed to mindless consumption and disruption. Growth and expansion without maturity is not progress, it is viral consumption. And in the intelligent mind of the natural world, the monstrosities that now haunt the Ishimura are not transformations, but monstrous reflections of what humanity has become, as seen from the viewpoint of the natural Universe.

Interestingly, those who have found a way to survive the infected seem to share the idea and goal that by returning the relic and the materials stolen from the planet in question they themselves will be “whole again.” This shared consciousness seems to be the result of the relic…but in the spirit of well-crafted science fiction, the relic stands as a wonderful metaphor for the Universe’s natural and often terrifying silent intelligence.

This brings me to this concept of “becoming whole.”

In my last few blog entries, I have expressed my interest in the patterns of progression and deterioration in the Universe through stories such as the formation of the Moon, and natural mathematical re occurrences such as the fractal tree/branch theory.

All of these ideas are in response to an idea I’ve been becoming more and more passionate about during the past year or so. In reading about the birth and fate of matter in the Universe, I have come to realize that all struggles and adventures in the Universe come from a Universal goal to become whole again. First atoms, then stars, then planets, then us. The Universe can become whole again…it’ll just be VERY hard to predict how that’s gonna happen and what our role in this reunification will be.

First of all, there must be just as many destructions as creations. And everything must have a chance to find its place. Even the most beautiful coupling cannot last forever. The only thing that is forever is transition. Change.

That being said, death is not the end.

Simply another chance to start over.

A transition of material at its most fundamental level.

So if chaos and destruction are necessary, there can be only one logical conclusion.

Nothing is unwarranted or meaningless. Everything has its place.

Lies, defeat, loss, violence, mutation, even the anomalous rebellion of each.

All things are necessary transitions leading to a possible unification of all things.

So why are we capable of such destruction?

Well…first of all lets set some rules.

Ok. Just one rule actually.

We are not exceptional.

Everything that we recognize as life and familiar, is an expression and manifestation of the Universe.

Its physics, its chemistry, its mathematics, and its history.

When the source of the Big Bang expanded into the cosmos, it wasn’t simply energy that was spread into the void.

It was passion.

Desire.

Fear and anger.

The heroic.

The villainous.

The cowardly and the courageous.

It was war.

It was peace.

Everything that ever was and ever will be began at that moment.

And in that moment, the spiritual was physical.

As was the emotional.

Segregation is only a means to self reflect upon the whole.

It, like art, is a lie used to reveal the truth.

This is the purpose of the human mind.

This is the challenge of intelligence.

Not to become removed from reality.

But to become in tuned with it. To act as a Universal looking glass.

We have a long way before we can accept that which threatens our current state of affairs.

We have a long way to go before we can accept death and momentary loss.

But that is why we are here.

To make sense of things.

To enjoy our moment in the sun and dare to question it.

Dare to examine it.

And dare to make it whole again.


- Adrian B.

Branch Theory

Branch theory.

Or the unification and segregational bridge, is a theory I have been developing since my later days of high school 6 years ago.

It has and will continue to develop as I grow and mature. So let it be known that the following is a work in progress.

I am a visual artist.

As such my primary means of expression involves the manipulation of light and shadow in the hopes of human interpretation.

My personal practice as an artist, while taking on the form of creation, is a means to understand, reverse-engineer, and map the world and Universe I was born into.

Yes.

My interest in art is, has, and always will be, external.

And while most accomplished artists will say that their interests are internal, or based off of the human condition, there is, in reality, no difference.

I am my environment.

Every part of my being.

Mind, bone, muscle and flesh, were shaped, sculpted and modified by the oldest and most fundamental forces in the universe.

There is no divide between the inside and out. Only reflection.

All living things are manifestation of the seemingly chaotic and purposeless universe.

A cosmic looking glass.

So now that my purpose as an artist is clear, back to branch theory.

I first came up with this theory when I was in highschool.

As a highschool student I believed I was very anti-social.

At least, that is what I believed.

What I've come to realize is that I couldn't quite find a place within my own generation.

Yes I played all the same videogames, watched all the same movies, and read all the same books.
But I found it difficult to move on from them.

How did these things get here?

These ideas, these stories, these configurations.

What was their ancestry? What common thread unites them all?

Having tought many grades and classes in the past couple of years, I've come to achieve a new perspective on the maturation of the human mind.

Children love to learn.

Not because they are children but because the world is free game.

Adults on the other hand don't learn because they are expected to know everything already.

And if they don't? They are children.

This is painful to see.

It is mostly in teenagers that I see this example take place.

Primarily in teenage boys, the importance of prescribing dominance takes precidence and as such, drives them to avoid asking "silly questions," in fear that they will lose respect amongst their peers.

But this itself follows a natural pattern.

At the point of "beggining," all objects have absolute infinite potential.

They are capable of being anything...

...but not everything.

This limitation of being, means that along the road of time, options will have to be excluded.

By the time an object has reached its end and is about to die (As a note, I define death as the segregation or disconnection between the former parts of a whole), it has exhausted its potential and has only one possibility...and that of course is death.

The image that I associate with this natural pattern is a branch.

Under differentiating circumstances this figure can also be a vein, a tree, a lightning bolt, a fissure/crack, as well as many other natural formations.

When I first developed this theory I only knew of its importance visually.

It was a constantly reocurring phenomenon that felt so abundant that I found its meaning and purpose romantic and engrossing.

The fact that this figure, was possible of taking on both negative and positive space was intriguing to me to say the least.

Now flash forward to 2009 and I now feel comfortable enough to vocalize a new chapter of discovery for this long lived (at least in my own lifetime) theory.

The patterns in unification and segregation.

Let us begin at the beginning.

The Big Bang.

According to this (widely accepted...yes I do have to stress that) theory, all matter is the result of an explosion of an extremely dense and compact point of energy smaller than an atom itself.

This can be also expressed for our purposes as "the point of unification."

During its expansion, this energy began to coalesce into clumps of basic atomic structures such as hydrogen. Then this hydrogen began to coelesce into gas, then into stars, and in stars began to fuse with other hydrogen atoms to form helium, oxygen, carbon and so on and so forth until we have completely diverese and numerous differences in celestial bodies littered all throughout the Universe.

If we wanted to specify on a single branch on the larger branch or "tree" of existance, we could also say that life as we know it, is a continuation of this cosmic pattern.

Life's strength is not through its unity, but through its differentiation.

Five major extinctions have brought life within a frighteningly large percentage of total extinction. And everytime this has only led to the dominance of a previously overlooked organism never before given the oppurtunity to explore its own potential.

This is also the case in micro-evolution. Seen constantly in the study of pathology.

It is now common knowledge within microbiology, that the overuse and abuse of antibiotics only leads to the succession of stronger, more destructive forms of bacteria, who in the diversity of those killed by antibiotics would have never had the oppurtunity to flourish and multiply.

In summary, the path to succession and survival is segregation and differentiation.

What begins as a unit, must end in fractions.

This is the universal pattern.

A tree as we see it.

A trunk that begins from the surface and branches out into the heavens.

So what about unity?

Are we destined to separate from each other despite our best efforts?

Are our triumphs in racial and gender equality all in vain?

I would answer, no.

The branches of a tree do end in fractions. There is obviously no debating that.

However what we often forget, is that there is a mirrored pattern beneath our feet.

The root theory, is a recent add-on that continues the story of segregation, and evolves it into a story of unification.

What begins as many, does possess the ability to become one.

Unification happens constantly in our universe.

The formation of nebula.

Stars.

Planets.

Life.

Every point in the sky is a story of unification.

It's only when measured against the fate of the entire Universe does this model feel hopeless.

It is agreed upon in a majority of the scientific community that the Universe will end in a slow, cold, segregational death.

Even the parts of atoms will be separated in this end and all that was will be doomed to drift...

...slowly and silently away from each other until all that will be left is the cold, dark, vacuum of
space.

So yes.

There are examples of unification.

But what hope is there when measured against the greater fate of all things?

...us.

And by us I do not mean human beings.

For years I`ve always been unclear as to the purpose of intelligent life in the universe.

I have always cherished the importance of life...but being so young, I've never been able to narrow down its fate, or its potential.

But that was because I was defining it outside the definition of life in general.

What is life?

Life is a peculiar molecule that will do what it takes to remain life over time and space.

It will dodge chaos with order.

It will dodge danger with protection.

It will even dodge decay with growth.

This is an incredible force.

A force that may find the ability to fight against the current.

And as intelligence, we are its latest "dodge" mechanic.

Yes we are young, but with time, our intelligence can dodge the decay of our planet. The decay of our sun. Perhaps even the decay of our Universe.

And given the diversity of our Universe, I find it logical to believe in the existence and occurrence of life elsewhere and perhaps the formation of biological intelligence as well.

So whereas our past as coalescing hydrogen atoms has shown us that segregation is heavily ingrained into our fate as a unified body, our future can only show us hope.

Hope that we can mature as representative force of nature, and dodge this fate.

Hope that we can unite, not in opposition with this fate, but in cooperation with it.

I might have begun this theory in duality, but as the visual nature of a tree itself has shown...

There is no separation between branches and roots.

It's all tree.

And just because we can only see one side of the pattern, doesn't mean the other side does not exist.


- Adrian B.

When Worlds Collide.

They were right to make Shiva a dancer.

Destruction unfortunately is a topic that is often avoided in our society. Vilified, antagonized and as such believed to be an unnatural force in nature.

But this is far from the truth.

I believe violence and destruction like all things has its place. The difficult part about violence and destruction is having the wisdom to replace its seemingly chaotic nature with the cognitive power of the human mind.

But to do that, we first need some positive examples.

And I'm not talking examples in human history, there are good ones yes, but they are not examples of natural violence...at least not considered natural by us...(That pesky ego rises again!)

Lets wind the clocks back to when the Earth was hell.

4 billion years ago.

Once upon a time the third planet from the sun, Earth, like all of the other rocky worlds within the solar system, (which would eventually be named "The Goldy-Locks Zone"by its later inhabitants), was in the state of chaotic formation.

In fact this world more than others seemed to lack the stability of it's neighbouring planets such as Mars and Venus.

The Earth just didn't seem to know how to mature.
So it remained a hellish cinder.
Spewing liquid rock into space for many years to come...and who knows...possibly even longer if it weren't for the fourth planet from the sun.

Nope. I'm not talking about the god of war.

Once upon a time Mars was not the fourth rock from the sun but the fifth.

The fourth planet from the sun was a world we now call Theia.

Theia. Named after the mother of Luna, the Greek god of the Moon.

There is little known about this world at the moment other than its legacy and it's apparent love for chaotic gravitational dance.

This dance is performed by all planets that are lit by our yellow star.

But Theia as it seemed, had an apparent distaste for order.

A distaste that led her to her violent end.

One fateful year, Theia's dance spun her too close to her long time cosmic partner, the Earth.

And that fateful year...

Was the year that worlds collided.

The two planets smashed into each other's surfaces.

Metal and rock was sent spurting into space.

Two solids twisted and contorted until they resembled nothing more than a fiery cosmic stain.

The collision ensured the death of both worlds...

...or so it seemed.

Theia's love of chaos may have ended her life as a planet.

But it was a trait her children most definitely inherited...

Out of the shredded material that was Theia and Proto-Earth, came the dancers.

One on which we stand today.

The other, illuminates our night skies.

The Earth and the Moon.

The only dancing couple in the Solar system.

A four billion year old waltz resulting in the stability of the Earth's magnetic field, atmosphere, oceanic tides, and eventually, the stability necessary for Earth's most unique and precious trait.

A cosmic dance born of chaos and destruction.
Led to life on Earth.

And this is the legacy we carry on to this day.

The very blood in our veins is the result of a cosmic journey that began with the Big Bang, coalesced within the heart of the sun, cooled into the planets that dot our heavens, and now find its way back into our hearts to be recycled into another heartbeat.

We are not human.

We are the cosmos.

Its chaos, its destruction, its love of dance.

Everything we have, are, and will experience was already written within the chemical components of a hydrogen atom.

But let's not think that the story ends with us.

We are still becoming.

And considering where we came from...

I'd say there's a lot to look forward to...


It's no wonder they made Shiva a dancer.

- Adrian B.

Robots and Aliens! The Distribution of Scientific Information in Sci-fi form.

This was the title for my talk at Selam on Feb. 25.
And this is it in its written form.

I had to turn down a lot of titles to get to this one.
The first was, "Destroy all the humans! Why I can’t wait to sell out my species to another form of intelligence."

And after a long list of calming down I eventually narrowed it down to, "Ok humans aren’t all that bad but still."

This is a very important topic for me because I was raised by science fiction or more specifically 80’s science fiction.

I specify 80’s science fiction because in the 80’s all childhood heroes ceased to be handsome white guys with capes and became mutated, alien, metallic, dead, something to do with DNA, psychologically disturbed or a combination off all 6.

So naturally this is an article about how I turned out fine.

In our society education is done in two ways.

The first obviously is the school system, the second, whether you like to admit it or not, is entertainment. To further this, most people, or I would say the majority of people, are educated more by entertainment than they are by education...now I’m not saying that education has nothing to teach or that it doesn't provide the majority of people with necessary information. Simply that people are generally more susceptible to accepting entertainment as a means of education than the education system itself.

This obviously has its positives and negatives. The negatives are obvious.

Deciding it was a societal benefit to replace Fringe with American Idol being one of them.

In fact I can imagine most people could spend a great deal of time just listing all of the negatives, but I won’t do that because I don’t believe entertainment is to blame. What is to blame is neither education nor entertainment...it is their segregation.

Sir Ken Robinson describes true creativity as the amalgamation of subjects that do not belong together. In other words what deters true creativity is the segregation of different subjects and fields.

When I was in University I found this to be a major problem within the academic world and as such, the non-academic world. In my fascination with the biological sciences, I have spoken to many RSM scientists, and it is always a wonderful experience. Not simply because of what they say, but more importantly how they say it. It is extremely difficult for these particular individuals to refrain from using metaphor to get across their love and passion for their profession. And when I asked them, why it is that they do not speak out more often and engage in public discussions, all of them have the same basic answer…they’re not encouraged to. Like all professional communities, scientists are encouraged to speak only to professionals within their own community and when science leaves this community there is a great fear amongst scientists that the information will be distorted and misrepresented. Now I can understand this fear, but I believe there is a great disservice to both the public and the academic communities when information is contained and held back.

This is where I believe Science fiction has its place.

Joseph Campbell once simply described myth as an allegory for mankind's place within the Universe.

Today the concept of the Universe is greater than our imagination could ever comprehend…but thanks to the sciences we are learning at a phenomenal rate. What most people forget is that the compartmentalization of information evolved from a non-secular beginning. There was a time when there was no segregation between science, religion, and myth. All things were considered a means to understanding and reporting the universe. In fact, the scientific method evolved from the means of gathering information through observation and contemplation, while myth was the means of delivery.

If the question is, why myth? The answer then, is romanticism.

Myth takes the science of the time, and retells it in a way that it involves the human condition using metaphor and allegory. And I believe that allegory and metaphor are so powerful because they are the undeniable result of passion.

This is how I personally come to appreciate the sciences. Einstein, Darwin, Hawkings and Sagan are but a few of the many scientists that I believe realized the importance of storytelling and education through the artistic musings of entertainment.

In fact my favorite astronomer Carl Sagan, in particular expressed the importance of science entertainment numerously over the course of his life, even leading him to write his own science-fiction story Contact in 1997.

Today there are no modern pop-culture creation stories in the western world that do not involve the supernatural. And as such few people in our culture know evolutionary theory, the formation of our solar system, or even the laws of thermodynamics, not because it isn't taught in schools but because it is not appreciated in the public sphere.

My problem with the information age isn’t that information isn’t widespread…its that it isn’t valued. The importance of seeking out information or being critical in evaluating information is no longer encouraged especially within my own generation.

But the celebration of information is at the very heart of science-fiction storytelling. This is why this medium is so important.

Science cannot do this. Neither can fantasy. Science-fiction is a young and upcoming medium that has the ability to deliver the sciences all the while including the romantic elements of fiction that appeal so heavily to a mass population.

And science-fiction is NOT fantasy.

And although there are some works that blur the distinction, the fact that science-fiction deals with the world in a natural setting, makes its characters, and message more self-reflective and relatable.

I think this is an important separation that has to be realized.

As a child I was deeply offended by the violent assault on Johnny 5 in Short Circuit 2. So much so that I discussed in detail, plans in my Gr. 3 English journal to help design and construct Sky-Net, Hal 9000, a Cylon army, and the dinosaurs from Jurassic Park in an attempt to avenge Mr. 5’s mistreatment by unleashing them all on the entire human race.

I’d like to mention now that I’ve since gotten over this.

And that after 20 years of varying degrees of misanthropy I have come to realize that I’ve been duped.

Through my idolization of all things non-human, I have been duped into developing a greater understanding of the human condition.

The reason for this is that great science-fiction neither knows or cares that it is science-fiction. Alien and The Terminator were not about aliens or robots…they were about the human reaction towards the other.

I use the word “other” because there is no such thing as monsters in science-fiction.

A monster is an anthrocentric being. It has no purpose or belonging outside of human existence. They are by definition, perversions of nature.

In science-fiction instead of monsters you have others. Others, or non-humans are not perversions of nature, they ARE nature.

As a result the two most famous archetypes often spoken about in science-fiction are of course, robots and aliens. Not simply because they look different, but because they are different-looking thinkers.

Robots are an interesting archetype because they are extremely reflective. It is difficult to describe the human species without acknowledging its ability to manipulate the world around them. The ability to use tools to make up for biological deficiencies is in many ways the very definition of human civilization.

So what happens when the tool becomes its own living thing?

Frankenstein was one of the first science-fiction myths to explore this "artificial-birth." But it was in the 50's that the idea of a thinking artificial being became a possible and at least at the time, terrifying concept. But why was it terrifying?

In my belief, xenophobia is not the fear of the unknown as much as it is the fear of what we know too well. The less something resembles the human form, the more we are forced to rely on our imagination. And once you consider how limited the human imagination truly is, you can understand why human beings are so terrified of the unknown.

We cannot know the unknown...obviously. Therefore when asked to design the other, we are forced to reflect. And as such, every conflict in science-fiction between man and machine, is a conflict between a parent and their child.

You cannot export what is not imported. Or in other words, a child is not without the strengths and weaknesses of their parent.

So when a machine is considered cold, evil, soulless, and oppressive, they are only reflecting characteristics evident in us.

A machine cannot be anything we have not been in our own past.

So if that's the case, then why so much focus on the negative?

Well...first of all naming them robots probably didn't help. The word "robot" comes from the word "robota" which is a Czech word meaning "worker or servant." And because this title automatically puts all of humanity within the realm of master, it is not strange to think of why we would be fearful of its ability to grow and evolve at the rate it has.

Until the 70's and 80's the idea of A.I. or an artificial being has persistently been vilified and antagonized. That was of course until the Terminator in James Cameron’s Terminator 2 found out why we cry regardless of the fact that it was something he could never do.

That also found its way into my Gr. 3 journal.

Loren Eiseley once spoke on the importance of the possibility of a non-human intelligence, saying
"One does not meet oneself until one catches the reflection from an eye other than human."

A great Science-fiction film has to be careful with this.

Steven Spielberg based his film Close Encounters of the Third kind off of the importance and significance of the unknown. The entire film was inspired by a single vision of a child opening a door into the light.

The significance of this shot is universal. A child has more difficulty than an adult in distinguishing potential, from danger.

To a child, the unknown is 50/50. Could be good. Could be bad.

As we grow older, we are encouraged to believe that it is always bad. And even science fiction every now and then still finds it hard to get over this. Examples of this include, "Independence Day", "Starship Troopers" and every other American sci-fi film that insists that a good first encounter with an alien intelligence must involve a stogie, an African American stereotype, and a 1997 Mac computer virus.

Entertainment is so adamant on its negative views on the unknown, I find it refreshing to see films like "Close Encounters," which played off of the negative view of the unknown for 2/3 of the movie only to provide one of the most spectacular and positive final acts in movie history.

This article amongst all things is about the importance of myth and those who deliver them. And how I believe this to be the most important and unfortunately deprived aspect of modern western culture.

As our understanding of science expands so should our ability to find purpose and understanding of the human condition within it.

A journey outwards is a journey inwards.

And for this to happen we need as many tellers, as we have seekers.

When the Voyager I spaceprobe left the solar system in 1990, Carl Sagan, pleaded with NASA to turn it around and take a photograph of the planet Earth from that distance.

The importance of this photograph has been considered the “greatest photograph of all time.”

In this photograph the Earth is a "Pale Blue Dot." Small, faint, and suspended in a sunbeam.

In myth when a hero leaves home for the first time, and looks back on what he or she has left, they are rewarded with an icon of their past and it is this icon that encourages the hero to succeed in the future.

This month marks the 19th anniversary of this image.

And my favorite science-fiction film of 2008 (in case you don't already know) was the film Wall-E which if you haven’t seen it already, I would deeply recommend you do.

At the very end of the film, the audience is rewarded with such an icon.

Pale,

blue,

and tucked away in the corner of the screen.

- Adrian

Monkeys in the Middle

Middle-World. NOT to be confused with Middle-Earth from Lord of the Rings...In fact it would be safe to say at this point that nothing on this blog should be confused with Lord of the Rings....

I LOVE this concept . Not only is it an amazing concept in evolutionary psychology, but it works extremely well in criticizing and evaluating media, and more broadly, all forms of visual art.

"Middle World" was a concept first introduced by Richard Dawkins...Yes the one that has made it his life's goal to destroy religion.

Regardless of what you believe, the man is a genius. And as such it is understandable why he has taken on such an aggressive stance towards religion and supernatural thinking...He as well as a majority of the scientific community is overlooked and under appreciated in the public eye even though they are the ones with the greatest understanding of the physical universe.

Aggression, as unfavorable as it is, is the product of passion, and this is a man who is extremely passionate in his understanding and love of the complex workings of the natural world.

Now back to this concept. Richard Dawkins oddly enough, has a talent for metaphor. I find this to be a talent found in all of my favorite scientists dating back to Da Vinci. I believe this is because metaphor doesn't lie.

It, like aggression, is also a sign of passion...a sign of love and care.

In a number of talks, Dawkins uses this metaphor to discuss our place in the cosmos. Not physically, but subjectively.

All living creatures are designed to understand and cope with their surrounding environment.

This, like all evolutionary explanations, is simple in its concept, and complex in its makeup.

It doesn't make sense for an organism to think beyond its need. To do this would simply be a waste of energy...but that is where mutation comes in.

If reproduction and genetic replication are the inherited traits of order in the Universe, then mutation is the biological equivalent of chaos.

Mutations are often looked down upon in our species, but if it weren't for such incremental and unexpected changes over time, we would have never passed the moneran phase of our existence.

So what is the mutation that I am referring to?

The imagination.

The perchance to dream is not a uniquely human quality. It is a quality shared by many mammals that possess the ability to perform higher brain functions...specifically the ability to problem solve.

When an animal dreams, it is the brain exposing a need to solve problems for the sake of solving problems. In other words, "Psychological masturbation." This is also the case for the imagination. To imagine is to connect and relate things that are usually segregated and categorized.

Obviously there is more to it than that, but connection and relation is at the foundation of all complexity, especially the nervous system.

But back to Middle World. Why is it that society as we know it has such a strong phobia towards science and technology? Why do the religious and spiritual realms constantly bash heads against evolutionary biology and astronomy?

There is a explanation to ignorance. And when understood, it is not difficult to be empathetic.

The human mind has no need to understand concepts beyond its experience. That being said, what is the human experience?

The human experience is one of face value. What we see is what we get.

The sun revolves around the Earth. The Earth is flat. And all of existence only goes back as far as we can remember it. Completely understandable...and for the most part, its all we really need.

Thank god for mutations. Thanks to the imagination, we have learned that the Earth is 1 of 8 spherical worlds caught in a 5 billion year old gravitational dance around yellow dwarf star we call the sun.

We know this, not only because we've imagined it, but also because either the language of mathematics or the practice of science has proven it.

However even the imagination is still plagued with limits.

We know that the number 1 billion exists, but we cannot imagine it.

We know that matter is composed primarily of space, but we cannot imagine it.

And we know that all creatures on this earth are derivative of the same genetic molecule, and we cannot imagine it.

This is because we live in Middle-World. Not big enough to understand the macrocosm, not small enough to understand the microcosm. Smack-dab in the middle.

This evolutionary roadblock has hindered our progression on a number of occasions in the past...and that's where the arts come in.

True creativity involves the deconstruction of compartmentalism. Unify all topics. Connect all subjects. Let nothing be sacred.

Because when information is tethered and sacred,

it rots.

Let Physiology mix with music. Politics with myth. Astronomy with entertainment.

Enough with the "club" mentality of professional arts. Bring criticism to all facets of society, not just simply the academic ones.

Because when criticism is involved in all facets of society, information will not only be valued, it will be celebrated.

Otherwise what good is an information age without appreciation?

What good is a world of information gatherers without information seekers?

This is the struggle that comes with living in Middle-World.

But through imaging, literature, and most importantly myth, we can bring the large and the small into the middle.

This is the test of our time. Not how much information we can gather and distribute, but how much information we can understand and appreciate.

Technology has paved the way...we just have to follow.

- Adrian

Put on your Sunday Clothes There's Lots of World out There...

AMB-4 was my first best friend. As his name suggests, he was built (primarily by me, but my dad was certainly helpful) when I was 4, out of megablocks and for the most part resembled Johnny 5 from Short Circuit. Of course he couldn't be as tall as J-5, seeing how that machine was over 6 feet tall. He was my height, drove around on wheeled megablocks and was a pretty significant part of my life. He watched Ninja Turtles with me, watched me draw, and guarded my bedroom at night.

It's been nearly 20 years since then and when I first saw the trailer for Wall-E, I couldn't help but feel like Iwas rekindling an old friendship.

Wall-E is my favorite film of 2008. And I don't mean "animated film" or "Disney film" or even children's film. Wall-E is composed of the most charming parts of the human condition, personified in a trash compactor with what seems to be a soul.

Now apart from my obsessive interest in robots and machines, I also contain an obsessive interest for the extinction of the human race. Now when I first saw the teaser trailer, there was absolutely no presence of humanity whatsoever...immediately my imagination went into overdrive and jumped to the conclusion that this was a post extinction Earth.

"How gutsy!" I said. But really, I think it will be a long time before the issue of the end of humanity reaches an "All Ages" demographic.

Now Pixar has got to be the most incredible studio I've ever heard of, and for those of you who are skeptical, watch "The Pixar Story" documentary on the special features disk of the Wall-E DVD and have a change of opinion. Of course not all of Pixar's films have been gold, but for a production company almost 15 years old, it certainly has an incredible track record.

Woody and Buzz Lightyear, Flick and Hopper, Dora and Nemo, Mike and Sulley...These are just a few of the iconic characters Pixar has littered the last 15 years of cinema with. But like all great stories, it wasn't just the characters that made these films so memorable. It was the worlds they lived in, and the dilemmas facing them.
Oddly enough, each and every one of Pixar's films are focused specifically on a portion of the human condition yet mostly through the eyes (if applicable) of non-human characters.

Never is this formula more applicable than it is in Wall-E. Using the laws of empathy, Pixar got away with humanizing a rusty box and an i-egg, and some how made it the most romantic and universal love story of the year. Yes there is little dialogue, yes there is a pseudo-political message, and yes its kinda dark, and you know what? It worked.

As a representational artist, I know and appreciate the value of detail. I could honestly go through this film and reverse engineer every part and find a meaning and purpose in it. Framing, color scheme, even lens-type and lighting are considered in every second of this film. Even if you could convince me that it wasn't for the sake of artistry, I would still say it was considered simply because that is the nature of the medium. Undoubtedly this film has been looked over a bazillion times and I'm sure the animators were ripping their hair out over a small thing in the background none of us will ever see or notice...but that is the nature of art and the sign of care and love all artists put into their creations.

Now the geek-out part of my review where I touch on all the little homages and nods all great films provide to show their appreciation of those that have paved the way.

First of all, Ben Burtt.

This man IS Wall-E. I mean that figuratively and literally. For those who don't know, Ben Burtt was the sound designer for all of the Star Wars movies. You know those sounds you make when you face your friends in invisible lightsaber matches? Ben Burtt. Chewbacca? Ben Burtt. Darth Vader's breathing? Ben Burtt. I'd say 50% percent of the made up sounds that come out of the mouths of geeks world wide have been discovered, edited, and modified by this man. And now he can be credited with the lovable Chaplin-esque trash compactor, Wall-E.

I often draw while watching movies I've seen more than once. As a result I tend to remember a lot of films merely by their sounds, scores, and voices. This is a film I guarantee you'll enjoy without visuals (even though they measure up just as equally) especially if you're a multitasker.

Second of all? Sigorney Weaver.

There was a comment made in the behind the scenes featurette about how the love story between Wall-E and Eve is a love story between Charlie Chaplin and Sigorney Weaver. Holy shit is that true! In a different Universe, I could see Eve beating the shit out of the Queen alien and calling her a bitch in the process. Also, she is also the voice of Mothe- ahem, I mean the Axiom's ship computer. A small role yes, but in the mind of a sci-fi geek like myself, that's goddamn perfect.

And third of all? The pale blue dot.

How did no one understand the significance of that shot? I nearly cried after seeing that shot for the first time (If you by any chance DID recognize it, tell me...I need to know others know.). For those who do not know, at the end of Wall-E after the camera zooms out from a toxic earth, the shot fades to a near perfect replica of the famous "Pale Blue Dot" photograph taken by Voyager 1 (Thank you Christina). My favorite astronomer Carl Sagan poetically wrote and spoke about this image as the most important picture ever taken...and it is referenced in a Disney film. God. Damn. Perfect.

Now I could go on for hours about this movie but I think here's a good place to stop.

Pixar? If I had a crowd of me's, we'd slow clap for you.

"History is written by the survivors."

We are all made of starstuff. Thank you Carl Sagan (And yes later Moby) for that beautiful and awe inspiring quote. But this is simply half the story...

I am a storyteller, and as such I am also a storyfinder. Now the real problem with finding stories is not that they are difficult to find. They are everywhere. And everything.

Now currently it is believed that the Universe is infinite. I believe otherwise.

So does that mean that I believe the Universe has an end? Well as much as an end as anything else does. I believe the Universe is one of many "Verses" in a Multiverse. But I believe it is so complex and beyond our current understanding that we lack the imagination, cognition, and vocabulary to describe it.

I suppose I should also be clear in stating that I believe the "stuff" part of the Universe is finite...The dark matter quotient and nothingness of the Universe for all I know is infinite, but seeing how I'm much more attached to stuff than nothing, I'll equate the Universe with the stuff part.

Now that that clarification is aside, Starstuff.

Recently I've been greatly fascinated with Astronomy.
No.
That is a lie.

I have always been interested in Astronomy.
Recently I have been so inspired by astronomical creation and apocalypse stories that it has even trumped my first love of biology for the time being.

How will the Universe end?

The answer to this question has greatly impacted my views and my ideals of what is important.

Now I am a great advocate of intelligence and sapience, but not of humanity. In fact I strongly believe the word "human" must die if there is to be any sort of progression. Either the word dies or the species it represents dies.

Now I understand the need for segregation and compartmentalization is paramount in the need to comprehend the Universe around us, but there needs to be a point of realization that this is simply a means to comprehend. This is a case of sentience falling in love with the process of understanding rather than simply understanding.

Humanity is a word that segregates us from our environment and will always have implications of anthrocentrism. This is also the case with the word "God." When we say humanity or God, we still assume hierarchy. We still assume that there is some moral superiority, and we still assume that when attacked by something that is not human, our existence is somehow favorable. I'm sorry but this assumption has to die.

We are easily expendable.
We are not the most creative.
We are not the most social.
We are not the fastest.
We are not the strongest.
We are not prettiest.
We were not the first.
We are not the most destructive.
We are not the most social.

But we are the most intelligent...

Ok.

But how does intelligence fare against the shark?
The Crocodile?
Cnidarians?
Hell, even bacteria have survived longer than us.

Let's face it, intelligence isn't all that great.
It has almost shown up in other species, but no living creature has depended on it to survive millions of years.

Our strain has only been around for the past 1.3 million years.
Kangaroo rats have been around for longer.

So in case you haven't already guessed, my point is,

There is nothing special about humanity or intelligence.

But...

There is potential.

Now in 4 billion years of biological evolution, can you imagine all the failed life forms that never had the chance to display their true potential?

The troodon, The ammonite, the gastornis?

We are the 1% of all life that has ever lived on this planet. And by we I mean everything. Bacteria, Reptiles, Marsupials, everything.

But we do have something they did not...awareness.
We are aware of our possible demises.
And if we survive the next big change in our environment...
We have to keep predicting it.

I'm sorry everybody, but like it or not...we have to ditch Earth.
I know, I know, how anti-green of me, but hear me out.

Just because the word "Space" and "Technology" is unnatural to us, it is not unnatural to nature. Our planet is going to change regardless of what we do to it. We could try to preserve everything and it will still change.

The Earth has been many different colors other than blue and green. It has been red, and orange and yellow and even black.

To try to keep the Earth in a state where it can accommodate us is like trying to keep a teenage boy pimply and voice-crackly for the rest of his life.

The Earth will change and die...but that doesn't mean that we have to as well.

So wait...am I saying that we shouldn't preserve the Earth but we should preserve humanity?

Not at all.

That's why I hate that word...because it assumes we will be as we are, forever.

We will change.

We will mutate.

And we will adapt...I hope.

Like the dinosaurs before us.

That name did not go on.

But the word, "bird" did.

We are in the stages where we are writing how we want to go on.

Do we want to be remembered as those creatures that contributed plastic shards to the Burgess shale?

Or as the people we used to be...

- Adrian