Thursday, September 13, 2012

Jason Silva's Constant Pursuit of Awe

I don't write about the work of others all that often, but every once in a while I am introduced to something that really sticks with me. While in New York I had the pleasure of speaking with a young philosopher/filmmaker/television personality named Jason Silva.

It wasn't until working with him for over a week that I realized why he looked so familiar to me. A friend of mine in Chile had shown me these short, mind-blowing, eye opening videos of somebody speaking at a rapid fire pace about fairly dense concepts. They were insanely interesting and immediately bookmarked on my computer. It turns out we were working together on the same Nat Geo show and upon realizing who exactly he was I got to picking his brain and finding more out about this interesting man.

After working with Current TV for five years Jason began making his own videos about ideas, concepts and theories that inspired him about the future of humanity. In his own words, he creates these videos to make "moments of impermanence, permanent." Concepts like the Singularity were fairly new to me, but by watching Jason's videos I was pulled right in and I've been pondering them ever since.

His energy and passion is enthralling while speaking about the "possible ways the future can reinvent itself" and any other thought that comes across his mind.

You need to simply watch some of his videos to understand. This is the first video I ever saw:


THE BEGINNING OF INFINITY from Jason Silva on Vimeo.

Jason's constant pursuit of awe and fight against banality is inspiring and a useful reminder to keep flexing your creative muscles and pursuing higher education. He is one of the few lucky ones who is sought out to continue following his passions and share his enthusiasms with the world. It is no doubt his unrelenting and blaringly apparent enthusiasm and interest in the world around him that attracts a variety of outlets in search of his insight. In the last couple years he has appeared in everything from The Economist and Forbes to National Geographic and Vanity Fair.

It also doesn't hurt that he is a brilliant young mind pondering and theorizing the world around us and the future before us. But perhaps what makes Jason even more appealing is the fact that he makes otherwise dense topics more accessible and even entertaining. He has a charm and highly approachable quality that makes you want to understand, enjoy and follow whatever he is saying. If theorizing about the direction of the future, technological advancements and the Singularity is new to you or simply interests you, check out more of Jason Silva's videos for a captivating introduction.

To finish off, one more:


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


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