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Children of the New World | Alexander Weinstein | Talks at Google — Transcript

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0:00[Music]
0:05I'm pleased to introduce Alexander
0:08Weinstein he's the director of Martha's
0:11Vineyard Institute of creative writing
0:13he's the recipient of the sustainable
0:15Arts Foundation Award and his stories
0:18have received multiple Awards including
0:20the Lamar y York the Gail Crump the New
0:25Millennium prizes and it's been
0:27nominated for the push cart prizes as
0:28well
0:30um he's an associate professor of
0:32creative writing at Sierra Sienna
0:35Heights University and leads fiction
0:37workshops in the United States and
0:38worship uh United States and
0:42Europe um it was interesting talking to
0:44him over lunch and hearing how this is
0:45been a dream of his and so it's really
0:47exciting to have him here for his first
0:49book Children of the new world stories
0:52please join me in giving him a warm
0:53welcome
0:55[Applause]
1:00hi everyone thanks for coming out um
1:03here's the plan I'm going to read a
1:05story and then open up for any questions
1:08that you have uh I'm really excited to
1:11be reading here at Google because so
1:14many of these stories deal with
1:16technology and the kind of weird
1:18Landscapes that technology provides for
1:21us uh this story is called
1:24openness and I think the only thing that
1:26I need to say about this before I go in
1:28is that there's a kind of psychic
1:30technology going on in this story and so
1:33people don't tend to speak anymore in
1:36this world instead they communicate this
1:39way and so to indicate when they're
1:42communicating telepathically I'm going
1:44to put my fingers up here so that you
1:47know the difference between when they're
1:48actually speaking and when they're uh
1:51sending messages this way
1:55openness before I decided to finally
1:58give up on New York I subbed classes at
2:01a Junior High in Brooklyn a sixth grade
2:04math teacher suffering from downloading
2:07anxiety was out for the year and jobs
2:10being what they were I took any
2:11opportunity I could subbing math was
2:14hardly my dream job I had a degree in
2:16visual art for which I'd be in debt for
2:19the rest of my life all I had to show
2:21for it was my senior collection a series
2:24of paintings of abandoned playgrounds
2:27stored in a upack shed in Ohio there was
2:30a time when I'd imagined I'd become
2:31famous give guest lectures at colleges
2:34and have retrospectives at MoMA instead
2:37I found myself standing in front of a
2:39class of apathetic tweens trying to
2:41teach them how to do long division
2:43without accessing their browsers I
2:46handed out pen and paper so that for
2:48once in their lives they'd have a
2:49tactile experience and watched as they
2:52texted their eyes glazed from blinking
2:55off message after
2:57message they spend most of the class
3:00killing vampires and Orcs inside their
3:02heads and humoring Me by lazily filling
3:05out my photoc
3:06copies the city overwhelmed me every day
3:09I'd walk by hundreds of strangers
3:11compete for space in crowded coffee
3:13shops and stand shoulder-to-shoulder on
3:16packed subway
3:17cars I'd scann profiles learning that
3:20the woman waiting for the N enjoyed
3:22thrash hop and the Barista at my local
3:24coffee shop loved salted caramel I'd had
3:28a couple fleeting relationships but
3:30mostly I'd spend weekends going to bars
3:32and sleeping with people who knew little
3:34more than my
3:35username it all made me want to turn off
3:38my layers go back to the old days and
3:40stay disconnected but you do that you
3:42become another old guy buried in an
3:44e-reader complaining about how no one
3:46sends emails anymore so I stayed open
3:49shared the most superficial info of my
3:51outer layer with the world and filtered
3:54through everyone I passed hoping to find
3:56some
3:58connection here was City Cat 5 Jersey
4:01Girl 13 M3 love and then one morning
4:05there was Katie sitting across from me
4:07on the end she was Lake girl 03 and her
4:10hair fell from under her knit cap the
4:13only other info I could access was that
4:15her home was her hometown and that she
4:17was
4:18single hi I winked and when I realized
4:22she had her tunes on I sent off an
4:24invite she raised her eyes hi she winked
4:28back you're from from Maine I'm planning
4:31a trip there this summer any
4:33suggestions she leaned forward and
4:35warmth spread across my chest from being
4:38allowed into her second
4:40layer I'm Katie she winked you should
4:43visit Bar Harbor I grew up there she
4:46gave me access to an image of a lake
4:48house with tall silvery Pines Rising
4:50high above a shingled roof wish I could
4:53help you more but this is my stop as she
4:56stood waiting for the doors to open I
4:58winked a last m message can I invite you
5:01for a drink the train hissed the doors
5:04opened and she looked back at me and
5:06smiled before disappearing into the mass
5:08of early morning
5:09commuters it was as the train sped
5:12towards work that her contact info
5:14appeared in my mind along with a photo
5:16of her swimming in a lake at
5:18dusk it turned out that Katie had been
5:21in the city for a couple years before
5:22she'd found a steady job she taught
5:25senior citizens how to successfully
5:27navigate their layers she'd helped to
5:29hred doctor upload images of his
5:31grandchildren so strangers could
5:33congratulate him and had assisted a
5:3593-year-old Widow in sharing her
5:37mourning with the world her main
5:40challenge she said was getting older
5:41folks to understand the value of their
5:44layers every class they ask me why we
5:47can't just talk instead she shared as we
5:49lay in bed though Katie and I
5:51occasionally spoke it was always
5:53accompanied by layers it was tiring to
5:56labor through the sentences needed
5:58explain how you ran into a friend much
6:01easier to share the memory the friend's
6:03name and photo appearing
6:05organically at least they still want to
6:07speak my class won't even say
6:10hello you remember what it was like
6:12before she asked I tried to think back
6:15to high school but it was Fuzzy I was
6:17sure we used to talk more but it seemed
6:19like we doled out personal details in
6:21hushed tones not really I said do you
6:26sure my family's cabin is completely out
6:28of range whenever I go back we can only
6:31talk what's that like she shared a photo
6:35of walking in the woods with her father
6:37the earth covered in snow and I felt the
6:39sharp edge of jealousy back where I grew
6:42up there hadn't been any pristine Forest
6:44to walk through just abandoned mini
6:46Marts a highway and trucks heading past
6:48our town which is more a pit stop than a
6:51community the only Woods were behind the
6:53high school a small dangerous place
6:55where older kids might drag you if you
6:57didn't run fast enough and my parents
6:59sure didn't talk my mother was a
7:01clinical depressive who' spent my
7:03childhood either behind the closed door
7:05of her bedroom or at the kitchen table
7:07doing crossword puzzles and telling me
7:09to be quiet whenever I asked her
7:11something my father had hit me so hard
7:14that twice I'd blacked out my history
7:16wasn't the kind of thing I wanted to
7:18unlock for anyone and since leaving Ohio
7:20i' done my best to bury those memories
7:22within my layers so I spent our first
7:25months sharing little of myself Katie
7:28showed me the memories of her best
7:29friends and family while I showed her
7:32the mundane details of substitute
7:33teaching in my favorite bands I knew
7:36Katie could feel the Contours of my
7:38hidden memories like stones beneath a
7:41bed sheet but for a while she let me
7:43keep the private pain of my unlock
7:46layers that summer Katie invited me to
7:49spend the weekend with her dad at their
7:51cabin we rented a car and drove up the
7:54coast to Maine we listened to our
7:56favorite songs made pit stops and
7:59finally left I95 for the local roads it
8:02was late in the afternoon our car
8:05completely shaded by the pines when our
8:08reception started getting spotty I could
8:10feel my connection with Katie going in
8:13and out guess we might as well log off
8:16Katie said she closed her eyes for a
8:19moment and all of a sudden I fell a
8:20Chasm open between us there was a woman
8:23sitting next to me whom I had no access
8:26to it's okay babe she said and reached
8:29out for my hand it's still me I pressed
8:33my palm to hers closed my eyes and
8:36logged off
8:37too her father Ben was a big man who
8:40wore a puffy green vest that made him
8:42appear even larger and you're Andy he
8:44said Burying my hand in his let me get
8:47those bags for you he hefted both our
8:49suitcases from the trunk leaving me
8:51feeling useless I followed him into the
8:54house experiencing the quiet Katie had
8:56told me about there were no messages
8:59coming from anyone no buzz posts to read
9:02just the three of us in the cabin and
9:04the hum of an ancient
9:06refrigerator the last time a girlfriend
9:08had introduced me to her parents we'd
9:10sat at Applebees making small talk from
9:13our outer layer info but with Ben there
9:16were no layers to access all I knew were
9:19the details Katie had shared with me I
9:21knew that her mom had died when she was
9:2314 and that her father had spent a year
9:25at the cabin grieving but that didn't
9:27seem like anything to bring up so I
9:29stood there looking out the living room
9:31window trying to remember how people
9:33used to talk back in the days when we
9:35knew nothing of each other Katie says
9:37you've never been a
9:38m I haven't I said the words feeling
9:42strange against my tongue he walked over
9:45to the living room window the afternoon
9:47sun shimmered on the pond making it look
9:49silvery and alive and the sky was wide
9:52and blue pierced only by the spires of
9:54red Pines beautiful isn't it yeah I said
9:59the fridge hummed and from the other
10:01room I could hear Katie opening drawers
10:03and unpacking I wasn't sure what else to
10:05add I I remembered a detail she had
10:07unlocked for me on one of our early
10:09dates I heard you've caught a lot of
10:12fish out there you like fishing he asked
10:15placing his hand on my shoulder here
10:17I'll show you something Ben retrieved an
10:20old tablet from the closet and showed me
10:22photos on the screen there he was with
10:25Katie and a string of fish him scaling a
10:28trout in the kitchen sink think we
10:30scrolled through the two dimensional
10:31images one by one like people did when I
10:34was a kid Katie came to my rescue come
10:37on I want to show you the lake she said
10:39dad can wow you with his antique
10:41technology later one day you'll be happy
10:43I kept this he said Katie's B baby
10:46photos are all on here he shut down the
10:49device and put it back in its case have
10:51fun out there dinner will be ready in an
10:53hour outside Katie led me on the trails
10:56I'd only ever seen in her layers here
10:59was the narl cedar that she built a fort
11:01beneath and over there was the Rocks she
11:03chipped Micah flakes from in second
11:05grade we climbed down the banks of the
11:08trail holding on to roots that jutted
11:10from the earth and arrived on a stretch
11:12of stand speckled with empty clamshells
11:15musles and snails that clung to the wet
11:18Stones far down the beach a rock
11:20outcropping Rose from the water a single
11:23Heron stood on the peak that broke the
11:26shoreline there was something beautiful
11:28about sharing things in this old way the
11:31two of us walking by the shore the smell
11:33of pine sap the summer air cooling the
11:36late afternoon for the first time in
11:38years I wished I'd had a sketch pad with
11:41me as Katie spoke her hands moved in
11:44ways I hadn't seen people do since
11:46childhood gesturing towards the lake or
11:48me when she got excited I tried to focus
11:51on each s sentence sensing my brain's
11:54inability to turn her words into
11:56pictures she was talking about the cabin
11:59in Autumn logs burning in the fireplace
12:02the smell of smoke leaves crunching
12:05underfoot are you even listening she
12:08asked when I didn't respond sorry I said
12:11I'm trying to it's just that without the
12:14ding it's hard to know when you're
12:16sending I mean saying something I
12:19stopped talking hating the clunkiness of
12:22words and took a deep
12:24breath I guess I'm just rusty Katie
12:27softened I know
12:29sometimes when I'm in the city I can't
12:31remember what it looks like up here
12:32without accessing my photos it's kind of
12:34messed up isn't it yeah I agreed I guess
12:37it is the Heron hunched down and then
12:40lifted off its Wide Wings flapping as it
12:43headed across the lake away from
12:45us that night her father fried up the
12:48perch he' caught earlier that day the
12:50herbs and butter filled the small cabin
12:51with their scent and we drank the wine
12:54we'd brought after dinner Ben brought
12:56out a blue cardboard box and the three
12:58of us sat in the living room and played
13:00an actual game I hadn't seen one in over
13:03a decade you don't know how to play
13:05Boggle Katie asked surprised the point
13:08she explained was to make words from the
13:10letter Dice and to write them down with
13:12pen and paper without accessing other
13:14people's thoughts I sat there trying to
13:17figure out what Katie was feeling as she
13:19covered her paper with her hand what do
13:21you think Katie asked after the first
13:23round it's fun I admitted you bet it is
13:27Ben said and he made the dice rattle
13:28again
13:30when Katie and I were in bed I listened
13:31to the Crickets outside the screened
13:33Windows it had been a long time since
13:35I'd heard the Drone of them each one
13:37singing within the chorus so what do you
13:40think of it here it's beautiful but I
13:43can't imagine growing up without
13:44connection you don't like the feeling
13:47not really I said being offline reminded
13:50me of my life back home before layers
13:52existed when I lived with my parents in
13:54Ohio a miserable time that technology
13:57had helped to bury do you
13:59totally I could live like this
14:01forever I looked at her in the dark and
14:04tried to scan her eyes but it was just
14:06her looking back at me familiar yet
14:08completely different what about my dad I
14:12like him I said that was only part of
14:14the truth I was really thinking about
14:16how different he was from my own father
14:18we never sat and ate dinner together or
14:20played board games I'd heat up frozen
14:22pizza and eat in the kitchen while Dad
14:24would lie on the couch watching whatever
14:26game was on eventually he'd get up clink
14:29the bottles into the bin and that was
14:31the sign to shut off the TV thinking
14:33about it made me feel like Katie and her
14:34father were playing a joke on me there
14:36was no way people actually live like
14:38this without yelling without fighting I
14:41felt the warmth of Katie's hand against
14:43my chest what's the matter nothing you
14:47can tell me she said I love you it was
14:51the first time she'd actually said the
14:52words at home it was just something we
14:54knew we understood it from the moments
14:56when we'd stand brushing our teeth
14:58together and the the feeling would flash
15:00through her layers and sometimes late at
15:02night right before we both fall asleep
15:04we'd Reach Out And Touch each other's
15:06hands and feel
15:08it I love you too I managed to get out
15:12and the weight of the words made
15:13something shift inside me I felt the
15:15sentences forming in my heads the words
15:17lining up as though waiting to be
15:19released without my layers there was
15:21nothing to keep them from spilling out
15:24Katie I said into the darkness I want to
15:27tell you about my family
15:29she put her arms around me okay and
15:33there in the cabin feeling Katie's body
15:35against mine I began to speak I didn't
15:38stop myself but leaned into my voice and
15:40the comfort of hearing my words
15:42disappearing into the air with only
15:45Katie and the Crickets as
15:47Witnesses it was that night in the cabin
15:49that helped us grow closer shortly after
15:52we returned I unlocked more layers for
15:54her and showed her the pictures of my
15:56father and mother the few I'd kept there
15:58was my high School graduation my
16:00mother's sunken eyes staring at the
16:02camera my father with his hands in his
16:05pockets and me in between none of us
16:07happy I showed her the dirty vinyl-sided
16:09house and the denuded lawn blasted by
16:12Cold Winters and the Perpetual dripping
16:14oil from my father's truck and she
16:17showed me her own hidden layers her
16:19mother's funeral in a small Church in
16:21Maine her father escaping to the cabin
16:23afterwards learning to cook dinner for
16:26herself having unlocked the bad memories
16:29I also uncovered the few good ones I'd
16:31hidden a snowy day my father in a moment
16:33of tenderness pulling me on a sled
16:35through town my mother emerging from her
16:38room shortly before she died to give me
16:40a hug as I left for
16:42school feeling the closeness that
16:44sharing our layers brought Katie
16:47suggested we give total openness a shot
16:49it meant offering our most painful
16:51wounds as a gift to one another a
16:53testament that there was no corner of
16:54the Soul so ugly as to remain unshared
16:58it had become increas recently common to
16:59see the couples in Brooklyn a simple o
17:02tattooed around their fingers announcing
17:04their radical honesty of the
17:06relationship to the world they went to
17:08Open House Parties held in abandoned
17:11meat packing plants where Partiers let
17:13down all their layers and displayed the
17:16infinite gradations of pain and joy to
17:18strangers while DJs played break noise
17:21directly into their heads I resented the
17:24couples imagin them to be Suburban
17:26hipsters who'd grown up with loving
17:27parents regular allowances and easy
17:30histories to
17:31share total openness seemed premature I
17:34told Katie not just for us but for
17:36everyone our culture was still figuring
17:38out the technology a decade after
17:40linking in I'd find drinking episodes
17:42that had migrated to my work layer or
17:44worse yet porn clips that I had to flush
17:47back down into the darkness of my hidden
17:49layers I'm not going to judge you she
17:52promised as she lay in bed as we lay in
17:54bed she put her leg over mine you do
17:56realize how hot it be to know each
17:58other's fantasies right there were
18:00dozens of Buzz posts about it the
18:02benefits of total intimacy how there was
18:04no more fumbling mistakes no guessing
18:06just a personal database of Kinks that
18:09could be accessed by your
18:11partner what about the darker layers we
18:14need to uncover those two Katie said
18:16that's what love is seeing all the
18:18horrible stuff and still loving each
18:20other I thought I understood it then and
18:23though my heart was in my throat my
18:24Terror so palpable that my body had gone
18:27cold I was willing to believed that
18:29total openness wasn't the opposite of
18:30safety but the only true guarantee of
18:32finding it so late that summer evening
18:35Katie and I sat on the bed gazing into
18:37one another's eyes and we gave each
18:39other Total
18:42Access I spent a lot of time thinking
18:44about what went wrong whether total
18:46openness was to blame or not some days I
18:49think it was that there's no way to no
18:51way to share the totality of yourself
18:52and still be loved that secrets are the
18:55glue that binds relationships together
18:58other times I think Katie and I just
19:00weren't meant to be a couple for the
19:01Long Haul total openness just helped us
19:04find the end more quickly maybe it was
19:06nothing more than the limits of the
19:08software we were the first generation to
19:10grow up with layers A group of kids who'
19:13produced thousands of tutorials on
19:14blocking unwanted users but not a single
19:17one on
19:18empathy there were certainly good things
19:20that came from openness like how after
19:22finding my paintings Katie surprised me
19:24with a sketch pad and drawing pencils or
19:27the nights when I'd come home from a
19:29frustrating day of substitute teaching
19:32and she'd have accessed my mood long
19:34before I saw her she'd lay me down on
19:36the bed and give me a massage without us
19:38even winking one another but all too
19:41often it was the things we didn't need
19:43to share that pierced our love sexual
19:46histories that left Katie stewing for
19:48weeks fleeting attractions to waiters
19:50and waitresses when we go out for dinner
19:53momentary annoyances that would have
19:54been best left unshared letting someone
19:57into every secret gave access to our
19:59dark corners and rather than feeling
20:01sympathy for each other's failings we
20:03blamed each other for
20:05nearsightedness and soon layers of
20:07resentment were dredged up there was a
20:09night at the bar when I watched Katie
20:11struggling to speak loudly enough for
20:13the bartender to hear and I suddenly
20:15realized his face resembled the
20:17schoolyard bully of her childhood you
20:20have to get over that already I blinked
20:22angrily soon after while watching a film
20:25I wasn't enjoying she tapped into layers
20:27I hadn't yet registered he's just a
20:29fictional character not your father and
20:32then there was the final New Year's Eve
20:34party at her friend's place out in Bay
20:36Ridge the party was Y2K themed and
20:39guests were expected to actually speak
20:41to one another a bunch of partygoers
20:44were sporting Bluetooth headsets into
20:46which they yelled loudly we listened to
20:48Jiro on a boom box and watched
20:50Teletubbies on a salvaged flat screen
20:54Katie was enjoying herself she danced to
20:56the songs and barely winked anyone happy
20:58to be talking again I tried to be
21:01sociable but I was shut down giving
21:03access only to my most superficial
21:05layers as everyone got drunk and sloppy
21:07with theirs we stood talking to a guy
21:10wearing an ironic Trucker's cap as he
21:12pretended we were in
21:131999 so you think the computers are
21:16going to blow up at midnight he asked us
21:18Katie laughed no I said come on Katie
21:22blinked loosen up I'm not into the kitch
21:26I blinked back mostly I'm just excited
21:28about faxing things the guy in the
21:30trucker's cap joked and Katie laughed
21:32again you know faxing was the early 90s
21:35right I said and then blinked to Katie
21:38are you flirting with this guy all I'm
21:41saying is check out this Bluetooth can
21:42you believe folks wore these I know
21:45that's crazy Katie said no I'm not
21:47flirting I'm talking how about you try
21:49it for a change I told you I don't like
21:51talking great so you're never going to
21:53want to talk then did you guys make any
21:55New Year's resolutions the guy asked us
21:58yeah Katie said looking at me to talk
22:01more in her annoyance an image from a
22:04deeper layer flashed into clear
22:06resolution it was a glimpse of a future
22:09she'd imagined for herself and I saw us
22:11canoeing in Maine singing songs with our
22:14kids even though we discussed how I
22:16never wanted children there they were
22:18and while I hadn't sung aloud since
22:21grade school there was a projection of
22:23me
22:24singing Only then did I see the other in
22:27congruities my eyes eyes were blue not
22:29brown my voice buoyant my physique way
22:32more buff than I ever planned to become
22:35and though I shared similarities with
22:36the man in the canoe as if Katie had
22:39tried to fit me into his mold the
22:41differences were clear there in the
22:44canoe was the family Katie wanted and
22:46the man with her wasn't me what the [ __ ]
22:50I said out loud it's just a question the
22:52guy said if it's personal you don't have
22:54to share I'm giving up gluten excuse us
22:57for a moment I said and I blinked for
22:59Katie to follow me we found a quiet spot
23:02by the side of a flat screen TV who the
23:04hell is that in your future I'm really
23:07sorry she said looking at me I do love
23:09you but I'm not the guy you want to
23:11spend your life with 10 nine eight the
23:16partyers around us counted as they
23:18stream the feed from Time Square that's
23:21not true kitty said you're almost
23:24everything I want there was no conscious
23:27choice about what happened next next
23:29just an instinctive recoiling of our
23:30bodies the Goosebumps Rising against my
23:33skin as our layers closed to one another
23:36I couldn't access the lake house anymore
23:38or the photos of her father her
23:40childhood dog was gone followed by the
23:42first boyfriend in her College years
23:45until all that was left were my own
23:47private memories trapped deep within my
23:49layers and the pale tint of her skin in
23:52the television's light We Were Strangers
23:54again and we stood there looking at each
23:57other while all around us us the party
23:59counted down the last seconds of the old
24:02year I logged off for long periods after
24:05we broke up I gave up on trying to
24:07convince my students to have real life
24:09experiences when they complained that
24:11reading the I Have a Dream speech was
24:13too boring I let them stream a thrash
24:16hop version instead and I sat looking
24:19out the window thinking about Katie I
24:22walked to my station alone every day and
24:24sat on the train with my sketch pad
24:26drawing the details I remembered from
24:28our trip to Maine the shoreline with its
24:31broken shells and sunlight the Heron
24:33before it took flight Katie's face in
24:36the summer
24:37Darkness it's the intangible details
24:39that I remember the clearest the ones
24:42that there's no way to draw the taste of
24:44perch as we sat around the table how a
24:47Cricut had slipped through the screened
24:49windows and jumped around our bed that
24:51night how after we'd gotten it out the
24:53coolness of the lake made us draw the
24:55blankets up around us and how Katie her
24:58father and I had sat together in the
25:00warm light of the living room and played
25:02a game the letter dice clattering as her
25:05father shook the plastic container all
25:08right Andy you ready he'd asked me
25:10holding his hand over the lid and I
25:13thought I
25:14was thank
25:17[Applause]
25:24you all right I'm happy to answer any
25:27questions people might have or whatever
25:29you'd like to talk about within
25:32reason so I'm sort of curious The
25:34Collection as I understand it is uh so
25:37is all sort of very near
25:39future uh about sort of Human Experience
25:42I guess in this in this world where uh
25:45you and I suppose your readers in the
25:48future right uh are kind of looking at
25:51our own anxieties about the modern world
25:53around us it's changing so we're happly
25:55with our new technologies
25:58was interesting was however that in in
26:00the story you just
26:01read there was also this touch of
26:04standard things that have existed as
26:06part of our anxiety for you know the
26:08entire existence of
26:10humankind uh the act that we've been
26:12trying to share certain things with
26:14people with or without technology to
26:15assist you talking about your family
26:17life if it wasn't so positive like this
26:20so I'm I'm curious not just with this
26:22story but with the other stories in your
26:24collection what what sort of inspired
26:26this this combination of te IAL anxiety
26:29along with of the age primitive human
26:32anxiety great and I I'll repeat the
26:34question right um since we're doing a
26:37recording and let's see if I can
26:39summarize that the um technology that
26:42this this collection deals a lot with
26:44technology right in this sort of future
26:46maybe 20 to 50 years forward and yet a
26:50lot of the anxieties that people deal
26:52with including this story aren't
26:55technological per se right they're the
26:57kind of G old anxieties of
27:00sharing yourself with the family or
27:02connection between somebody or breaking
27:04up yeah and so the question is one more
27:08time how do I see that working or how do
27:11I see how you see that and how are you
27:14working to explore those Concepts
27:16together using settings yeah great so
27:17how do I use technology to to explore
27:20that so I think a lot of the stories
27:23come from
27:25my fumbling and bumbling with technology
27:29like I'm not that techsavvy at all right
27:32anybody that wants me to look something
27:34up when we're you know let's get an Uber
27:37even it takes me like forever right and
27:39people are very bored with me by then
27:42and so I notice often where these kind
27:46of anxieties show up right so I've been
27:50talking recently about these new
27:52emotions we have like the emotion of an
27:54empty inbox like what is that emotion
27:57what is the emo of an unliked Facebook
27:59post right if you use Facebook and you
28:01post something nobody likes it right
28:03there's an emotion you feel there which
28:05is a kind of isolation or a sadness from
28:08that right and a dating profile what
28:10about an un unaged dating profile right
28:13there are these I think in many ways I'm
28:16often dealing with loneliness in my
28:18stories or and then looking at how
28:21technology kind of exacerbates these
28:24opportunities for loneliness so now we
28:26could have an empty inbox you know often
28:28throughout the day uh we can have a post
28:30that's unliked that we can check you
28:32know 20 times and still see that it's
28:34unliked you know nobody nobody did
28:36anything with it so that started me on
28:41that I mean the first story in this
28:42collection which took 10 years to write
28:45right so this a 10 year old collection
28:47at least the the the oldest story is was
28:50my computer crashed and it took a lot of
28:52my creative work with it at that moment
28:55and I was deeply distraught I mean I was
28:57you know really sad as also was a
28:59computer that I'd written a lot of
29:00Stories on so I had this emotional
29:02connection and I realized oh wow we're
29:04getting emotionally connected with our
29:07technology and right around that time
29:09everybody was getting iPhones my
29:11students and my students would say boy
29:14just don't let me lose my iPhone I love
29:16my iPhone if I had to lose anything I
29:18think they would sacrifice you know
29:19sometimes distant relatives before their
29:22their phone and I I said W this is a
29:25really strange phenomenon we're more and
29:27more getting
29:29emotionally connected in ways that I
29:31don't think we fully understand how
29:33they're playing out yet and they reveal
29:36to us deeper anxieties and emotions and
29:39and with each new uh progression of
29:42technology I tend to find more anxieties
29:45in some ways that that they
29:48produce as a quick followup to that have
29:50you read shering tries Alone Together
29:53yeah the question is have I red Sherry
29:55Turles Alone Together I haven't and I'm
29:56so thrilled though that she's changed
29:58her opinion uh because I remember about
30:0010 years ago she was talking about how
30:02the internet is this wonderful place and
30:04it is but a wonderful place where we're
30:06going to connect with other people and
30:08she was just you know kind
30:10of effusive about it and now she has
30:13done a complete 180 so I I really want
30:15to read it have you read it I have not
30:17read it either I read her first book
30:22from second self second self right for
30:26earlier yeah I I'm looking forward to
30:29reading in avatars and all that yeah I'm
30:31looking forward to reading uh that book
30:33because I think she's a partner in crime
30:36right now so to speak
30:38yeah hi so first py comment there are
30:41those of us well the feeling of an empty
30:45inbox may not be the same for all
30:48summer right the empty inbox as as
30:52relief right I forgot yeah yeah
30:55something I'm very curious to to know of
30:58personal thoughts on our like so these
31:00these stories represent an imagining of
31:02the future yeah when you imagine in the
31:04future that you actually want to live in
31:0625 to 50 years from now what would you
31:09imagine great so the question is because
31:12these stories Envision the future when I
31:15Envision my own personal like if I could
31:17create which I am right but this is a
31:20dystopian future I is the qu right right
31:25it's the question the question is what
31:26kind of future would I like to see
31:2930 to 50 years
31:31um yeah it's very different from these
31:34stories in many ways these stories are
31:36warnings I think of please let's not go
31:38down this this road and unfortunately a
31:42lot of reality is catching up to this so
31:45we were talking about Google Glass
31:48recently and and then moving into
31:50contact lenses now a lot of research is
31:52going into like these ey screens and
31:54contact lenses and I don't see that as a
31:56good thing right I right about that in
31:58here I see that as us getting even more
32:00lost or virtual reality is on its way
32:02and I I imagine I've been following
32:05teledildonics not personally but if you
32:07don't know what teledildonics are it's
32:10what it sounds like uh it's virtual sex
32:12toys that can be you all know yeah I
32:16mean I'm here at Google so I'm sure you
32:17all know what this is
32:20um right I mean maybe there's a workshop
32:23somewhere building these here right uh
32:27and so
32:28I see like that we're heading more and
32:30more away from one another uh in
32:34teledildonics I can imagine that
32:36eventually we'll have a kind of Facebook
32:38of safe sex happening where you just log
32:41on and you have sex with whoever is on
32:44these sites and then if you don't look
32:46like what they actually look like you'll
32:48probably be able to change their Avatar
32:50to look exactly like the type of person
32:52you want to sleep with which the problem
32:55will be that we won't be able to deal
32:56with each other and anymore and the
32:58actual flaws of human beings uh or
33:01growing old or you know these kind of
33:03natural things so those are the warnings
33:06in here I would love to see uh for one
33:10wind and solar power becoming you know
33:13that in 30 to 50 years fossil fuels
33:15we're done with that fracking has been
33:18acknowledged as a horrible idea uh for
33:21all reasons including our drinking water
33:23which we may decide is important to
33:25actually have water to drink perhaps uh
33:29and so instead there will be much more
33:31clean energy primarily right and that I
33:36guess a kind of locavore movement
33:39where we're using a lot more obviously
33:43organic farming local farms locally
33:45sourced we're seeing that happening
33:46there is that kind of uh
33:49Revolution happening it's very connected
33:51also to the internet right so you have
33:53Etsy and you have these stores where if
33:55you're local you can then
33:58use that or somebody was telling me
33:59about this app where she cans vegetables
34:03and people want to learn how to can
34:04vegetables and so you can sign up for
34:06this group or this teaching and then
34:08show up there so somehow using the
34:12internet in these Community Building
34:14ways and in many ways giving up
34:17marketing of right so not using the
34:20internet in order to search people's
34:22information in order to exploit them so
34:25you can better sell stuff now I
34:27understand that the the myth around this
34:30is that if you can predict people's
34:32buying patterns all the better we can
34:34have all our preferences ready like I
34:35could walk in the bathroom and in my
34:37ears will be my favorite song playing
34:39right and the world is streamlined to me
34:42and I don't think that's a great idea
34:45because I think it's increasing
34:47narcissism all right there's a way that
34:49for the world to be always built to my
34:52preferences that's not that doesn't
34:54teach me anything right it's it's when I
34:56have to struggle with oh you don't feel
34:57the same way I do why not maybe it's CU
35:01I'm an [ __ ] about this and I need to
35:03learn that many people I think need to
35:04learn moments like that right um so to
35:08that extent I hope to see many more like
35:11positive uses of the internet where it's
35:14not to in order to exploit us to
35:17profit again clean energy um I think
35:22Native American like you know I'm
35:24looking at the Dakota access Pipeline
35:25and all these Native American tribes
35:27coming back together it'd be wonderful
35:29to see the the US government uh sort of
35:33acknowledge them and take care of them
35:35and and learn about these sort of sacred
35:38Traditions a little more so I mean I get
35:40to just tout all of since you asked all
35:42of my favorite topics and that's my
35:44hopes question yeah that's my hope uh
35:47and I haven't started writing those
35:49stories yet right those are utopian
35:51stories rather than dystopian and I've
35:53thought a lot about what do those
35:55stories look like you know that what
35:58happens when you try to imagine a better
36:00future and I think the the key on a
36:02fiction craft level is what's the
36:04conflict then right how do you write
36:07stories of Joy or stories of hope that
36:10have hope as their primary thing rather
36:11than as conflict uh I haven't figured
36:14that out yet maybe in a second or third
36:15third book uh maybe I'll figure it out
36:17in the next couple of
36:20years follow
36:24question the follow-up question is would
36:26teledildonics an amazing name for a punk
36:28band absolutely you should start that I
36:32would come out to that show for sure
36:33that sounds
36:35amazing yeah so I like your remark where
36:38you say that actually
36:40internet makes us move apart but I have
36:44a comment on that I would like to yes
36:48don't you think that we as a world come
36:50closer and we as individuals that our
36:53closer come apart like one example is I
36:55grew up 10,000 miles away here and I
36:58know what my classmates that still live
37:00there are doing so I'm closer to them
37:03but I might be a part from my wife who
37:05actually lives in my
37:07house yeah great question so this notion
37:10of closeness and apartness of the
37:12internet so the example to repeat the
37:14question
37:15is for example you've moved very far
37:18away from your school friends but you
37:20can connect to them through the internet
37:24and yet potentially your wife in the
37:26same room you're not as close to because
37:28of checking out the profiles of the
37:30friends from distance away yeah I mean I
37:33think everybody can nod yes to this
37:37experience if we've ever been out to
37:39dinner with somebody or a group of
37:41friends and they're all on their phones
37:43uh and essentially what we're just doing
37:45is sharing space in order to eat food I
37:47I think and get a vestage of what human
37:50interaction was once like um and then
37:52maybe you share a video right yeah I do
37:56think that we stay connected I mean
37:59here's the benefits right there's plenty
38:00of benefits of course to the internet
38:02and that you can re refine these friends
38:05and then actually you know now that I'm
38:07on book tour I get to see old friends
38:09that only know that I'm here because of
38:11the internet right very really
38:15great in some ways though it also
38:18reveals the hypothetical friendships
38:21right we were talking about this at
38:22lunch that one has on Facebook you have
38:26these friends that hypothetically you're
38:28still friends with right you've liked
38:31that they just had a kid or that you
38:33know they put some new flowers in their
38:34yard and they've liked you know
38:36something you did that you had a good
38:38lunch somewhere and because of those
38:40little likes we feel connected but then
38:43actually showing up in their town and
38:45like seeing hey would you like to get
38:47together for a drink it's like too much
38:49you know no no no can't do that but um
38:51or you don't get a response until you
38:53know weeks later and saying oh sorry I
38:54missed you right or if you have to move
38:57this is always the thing will the people
38:58show up to help you
39:01move I think we are growing more
39:04disconnected in that way um video gaming
39:08culture in some ways is a perfect
39:10example where you have people with very
39:13strong communities online they're gaming
39:15and they have their friends online and
39:17it's International and and this is not
39:20to denigrate that right that's that's
39:22profound for for people and it's a
39:23meaningful relationship and yet their
39:26wives or girl friends are in bed waiting
39:28for them to come back to bed and fall
39:32asleep without them because they're
39:33there playing the video games for the
39:35next three or four hours this is a
39:37common and not to gender it I mean it
39:39can be the opposite gender but I've
39:40heard a lot of women complaining about
39:42this recently about these sort of lost
39:45boyfriends to uh World of Warcraft or
39:48whatever the game
39:50is so yeah it's a really weird conundrum
39:54that we have where I think we're
39:56connected with so many more
39:57people but on an intimate level on a
40:01onetoone basis it's getting more fraught
40:04it's up to us I think to overcome that
40:06and really make
40:08those those moments of contact with one
40:12another does that a get at with the same
40:15question for right is this a good or bad
40:17thing for for all of
40:19mankind my feeling is it's not that good
40:24what where we're seeing that I think
40:25we're getting way more connected out out
40:27there um I'm going to say that with a
40:30caveat in a moment right that
40:33interpersonally no it's not that good I
40:35think you know I was talking with my
40:36students and they I asked them about
40:39dating nowadays I said would you call
40:41somebody that you were interested in
40:43dating and they said no of course you
40:45wouldn't call I was like why not and
40:47they said well because then you hear
40:49their voice right as though that was
40:51self-evident right then you'd actually
40:53have to hear their voice and I said are
40:55you kidding me like you're going to have
40:57to hear their voice at some point but at
41:00least texting for a long period of time
41:02they could avoid that interpersonal
41:05contact so I do think that it's a bad
41:08thing in that we are moving further away
41:10from actual communities and in some ways
41:13evidence of this I think our physical
41:15landscapes in many places are
41:17deteriorating so we have empty houses
41:21empty strip malls um I mentioned
41:24fracking and all sorts of uh flammable
41:28water I mean God knows what else is
41:30going on here where I think our
41:33landscape deteriorates and yet as we
41:35move into the virtual world we're going
41:37to be able to have the most beautiful
41:38landscapes ever imagined and that will
41:42be preferable to the Landscapes that
41:45we're leaving behind which is actually
41:46the world of which we need to survive
41:48on the caveat is on another way it makes
41:52us way more socially active and
41:54Progressive and aware so I've been
41:56mentioning the Dakota pipeline I
41:57wouldn't know about that a lot of people
41:59would not know that that's going on
42:00without the internet right uh police
42:02brutality uh sort of social injustice
42:05and ways of fighting
42:07that again you have to be on the ground
42:09to fight it right I mean there's a way
42:11that you can just be an activist by
42:12clicking like I support like or you know
42:15and I don't know that how much that does
42:17I think you do have to be out in the
42:18streets so to speak but I I say that's a
42:22really benefit to the humankind that we
42:24know about things that previously were
42:26buried
42:28so uh you obviously talked a lot about
42:30how um some technologies subtract away
42:34from the Human
42:38Social infrastructure do you see any
42:41Technologies today or the future that
42:43will be
42:45additive good good question yeah the
42:48question is so I'm talking about how
42:50Technologies take away from this human
42:52infrastructure right this human
42:53connection what technologies can I can I
42:57again this is almost like a utopian
42:58question right could I invent a
42:59technology or there technologies that
43:01exist um that can bring us closer
43:05together and of course those exist I
43:08mean this app that I was talking about
43:11where people can now you know promote
43:14what they're doing and teach canning
43:17right or something like this and this
43:19was an interesting conversation with the
43:20person because they said Well when the
43:22people show up what I realized was
43:24everybody was taking notes on their
43:25phones while they're trying to learn
43:27canning and you know take pictures and
43:29then they ended up on their on their
43:31email and so the woman said I have to
43:35actually take the phones away during
43:37this which is very akin to
43:39teaching what would be some great
43:42Technologies here I mean obviously
43:45drinking water I I I start thinking
43:47immediately of nature right so drinking
43:49water is going to become an issue uh for
43:52us and so Technologies wherein it helps
43:56us to purify drinking water and uh that
43:59kind of Technology unlimited energy
44:01power you know uh clean energies and
44:04Technologies for that ways of connecting
44:06to people in the community to help build
44:09more local social and uh ex sort of
44:13those kind of
44:15Technologies and that exists I mean
44:17that's already there right
44:19um I think probably what I'm looking at
44:23this is just this kick that I'm on
44:25recently is do the Technologies try to
44:28exploit you in some way the apps we're
44:30using right do they try to exploit your
44:32info in order to sell you something is
44:35there a commodification happening to our
44:37interactions I think often there is
44:39right this is one of the things that we
44:41are building a lot of Technologies on is
44:44how can we get that that's usually I'm
44:47just going to make a broad statement
44:49here I think that usually leads to a
44:50negative thing because then we learn to
44:52sell out our friends to some degree so
44:55the benefits would be a beneficial
44:58technology is somehow where you use it
45:00it's not selling out your friends and in
45:02fact it's helping you uh help other
45:05people so we have things like that
45:07gofund me and um many of these kind of
45:10funding things where you can create a
45:12way to help somebody get their dream
45:14started I think is fantastic right and
45:17more of those types of things certainly
45:20there's these
45:21spiritual uh apps that are coming out
45:24and I don't know what to think about
45:25these yet right so like meditation apps
45:27and you can then meditate with them and
45:30that's definitely better if you're
45:31waiting for the bus for 10 minutes to
45:33meditate than crush candy or like launch
45:36Angry Birds at something I have to think
45:38that's going to make us more conscious
45:41and well-rounded and meditative
45:44people and that of course can go further
45:46and further right I mean one of the
45:48things that uh Terren McKenna and jiren
45:51laner talk about is virtual reality
45:54becoming these Landscapes where we can
45:57have our wildest dreams and these sort
45:59of beautiful um almost psychedelic
46:02Landscapes that we'll enter
46:03into I could see on the way over here I
46:06was thinking wow what if you had these
46:08glasses again right or these these
46:10contacts that let you see bioenergetics
46:14of people right or you looked at a tree
46:16and you could suddenly see the sap going
46:18through all the leaves and you could see
46:19kind of fractal like patterns all around
46:22so what were you seeing you're seeing a
46:23more Cosmic
46:25vision that would be cool right I'm
46:29trying to figure out what the problem
46:30with that is cuz I'm always looking at
46:32well where would the problem be and
46:34maybe like at the ends of the leaves it
46:36says you know if you like this Leaf
46:38click here you know and whatever you
46:40know would you like a new pair of shoes
46:42along with the aura that you're seeing
46:44or something like that that's the
46:46problem again I always go towards
46:47marketing but I think things that make
46:49us more conscious and more connected or
46:51is the way to go with
46:54that and and so the question is
46:57that in many ways
47:00the with some of the evidence we have
47:03diversity of of thought and difference
47:06is minimizing right and so in this
47:10story these characters are sharing
47:13everything
47:14and would that make them more
47:18homogeneous essentially right this
47:20almost retain theity by sharing yeah so
47:23this this idea of even though when
47:25sharing everything how do you retain
47:26your individuality in there and not
47:29become just kind of part of the global
47:32think mind
47:33right yeah and immediately I'm thinking
47:36about Buddhism and Daoism and these no
47:40you know these spiritualities of which
47:43one tries to attain that right this
47:45selfless
47:47Universal
47:49Consciousness and I mentioned McKenna
47:53McKenna also sort of prop prophesized
47:56this where we're using all these gadgets
47:59just because we need an external
48:02validation of our own internal
48:04capabilities we could actually pull all
48:06this information through the kind of
48:09psychic abilities or the the
48:11superconscious abilities that the brain
48:13has we just haven't accessed it yet so
48:15we need external
48:18validation that's a more positive in
48:20some ways approach than the question uh
48:23is asking
48:24because you know and so maybe part of
48:27the question then is what's the
48:29distinction between those two paths
48:30because one is a shrinking of
48:32Consciousness it almost seems right
48:33there's a lack of
48:35diversity there's uh less of your
48:41individuality and that you know again
48:44and I keep going back that's a good
48:45thing in in Buddhism one wants that you
48:47want to transcend the ego uh and here we
48:50go back to like good Technologies like
48:53sure what if we had technologies that
48:55helped us transcend our egos my God if
48:57we could ship one to Donald Trump we
48:59would maybe you know see a whole
49:01different story here all the all the
49:02we'll give it to all the candidates out
49:04there and see what happens uh as an
49:08experiment the difference I think tends
49:10to
49:11be where it then leads us to right in
49:15this
49:18story the real danger
49:21becomes that the character is sharing
49:24stuff that ends up making him
49:27unlikable which is what he
49:29fears right and and this knowledge of
49:32each
49:34other's weak points without a
49:38development of compassion empathy and
49:42general expansion of consciousness makes
49:46us probably less likely to be empathetic
49:48and and and care for other people right
49:51this was kind of what I was talking
49:52about with the preferences where there's
49:54a way that maybe by always our
49:57preferences we're we're minimizing our
49:59ability to deal with other people right
50:01certainly we could see this in beauty
50:03standards where the airbrushing and the
50:06photoshopping make real people not as
50:08attractive quote big quotes around
50:11attractive and so this kind of blurring
50:13of those boundaries leads us into a
50:18predefined homogeneous place that's
50:21being defined Again by outside forces
50:24and which
50:27isn't isn't really the problem here
50:30except they're living in a society where
50:32that probably is exerting this pressure
50:34now that I'm thinking about this this
50:36part of it like why wouldn't sharing
50:38everything with your partner be a great
50:40thing well because you if you've tried
50:42it it's not always a great thing right
50:44uh there are things that sometimes are
50:45too too problematic
50:49um and that's that was what I was making
50:51fun of in this story but I think this
50:53kind of overcoming our own Egos and
50:55overcoming a a and
50:57also having compassion for one another
51:01we're not developing that as quickly as
51:02we're developing our technology and so
51:04the two things are being outpaced uh our
51:07own our own psychic and moral
51:09development isn't keeping Pace with the
51:11technological stuff and that's where the
51:15problems come in otherwise I think we
51:17might find a greater diversity of who we
51:21really are right um but it's a fantastic
51:24question I'm I'm interested in thinking
51:25about that even even more and seeing
51:27where is that difference lie between
51:30what you're showing seeing with the
51:32statistics of limited diversity but not
51:34in a good way not like we're all one
51:37right yeah thank
51:40you thank you very much for coming
51:43to yeah thanks so
51:45[Applause]
51:55much e

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