[extropy-chat] Future friendly movies

[Al Brooks]

Does anyone here like time travel films? This is a
plot I wrote down: a Jewish scientist's daughter
travels from the year 2097 to the year 1945, to sleep
with Hitler.
 If the film were well done it would be guaranteed a
success, as the notoriety of such a plot would draw a
large audience.


> My current favorites for transhumanist movies are
> The First Immortal
> and Down and Out in Magic Kingdom.
> But any good story with a human angle and set in a
> rear-singularity
> world with uploading technology would do. A series
> would perhaps be
> even better than a movie in terms of impact.
> G.
> 
> 
> 
> On 8/6/05, Mike Lorrey <mlorrey at yahoo.com> wrote:
> > I concur. Such movies should also, besides
> portraying science and
> > transhumanism positively, show the true dark
> underbelly of luddism. One
> > movie I think actually did this quite well was
> "AI", which portrayed
> > the AI boy sympathetically and humanity and its
> fears of AI negatively.
> > 
> > I have long thought that the Larry Niven/Jerry
> Pournelle novel "Fallen
> > Angels" would make a good transhumanist movie.
> Neal Stephenson's
> > "Cryptonomicon" would do well also.
> > 
> > --- Giu1i0 Pri5c0 <pgptag at gmail.com> wrote:
> > 
> > > I have long been persuaded that the best way to
> promote a positive
> > > and
> > > hopeful attitude toward future developments in
> science and technology
> > > is
> > > through movies. Apparently the idea has been
> taken up by the US
> > > establishment.
> > >
> >
>
Slashdot<http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/08/05/1413200&from=rss>:
> > >
> > > *According to the New York Times, the Pentagon
> is funding classes in
> > > screenplay writing for 15
> > >
> >
>
scientists<http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/04/movies/04flyb.html?ex=1280808000&en=b35c2085878bcf51&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss>.
> > > The idea is to encourage kids to go into science
> and engineering
> > > through
> > > mainstream media and thereby presumably bolster
> long-term US national
> > >
> > > security. While it sounds like a lot of fun for
> the researchers
> > > involved,
> > > and anything that stems the spiral of the US
> into a culture of
> > > anti-intellectualism is a good thing in my book.
> Will glamorizing
> > > science in
> > > the movies make kids pay better attention in
> chemistry class?
> > > *In the New York Times
> > >
> >
>
article<http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/04/movies/04flyb.html?ex=1280808000&en=b35c2085878bcf51&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss>the
> > > idea is using movies to make science sexy again
> so that American kids
> > > chose technical careers and replenish a pool of
> US experts on
> > > technologies
> > > for national security. Professional scientists
> and science
> > > communicators are
> > > asked to contribute to film making as they are
> the ones who can
> > > develop
> > > realistic future scenarios: "to reconcile the
> cinematic suspension of
> > >
> > > disbelief with the scientific method and with
> their basic purpose of
> > > bringing accuracy to the screen".Teaching
> screenwriting to scientists
> > > was
> > > the brainstorm of Martin Gundersen, a professor
> of electrical
> > > engineering at
> > > the University of Southern California and
> sometime Hollywood
> > > technical
> > > adviser. Recently, he was asked to review
> screenplays by the Sloan
> > > Foundation, which awards prizes for scientific
> accuracy, and found
> > > most to
> > > be "pretty dismal," as he put it."My thought
> was, since scientists
> > > have to
> > > write so much, for technical journals and
> papers, why not consider
> > > them as a
> > > creative source?" Dr. Gundersen said.
> > > I believe the same concepts can be used to
> promote a friendlier
> > > attitude
> > > toward radical, "transhumanist" scientific
> advances and their
> > > deployment in
> > > society through technological (and legal)
> developments. We need
> > > movies set
> > > in believable and "accurate" future scenarios
> and with a positive or
> > > at
> > > least non-threatening view of future
> technologies such as radical
> > > life
> > > extension, Mind Machine Interfaces (MMI), and
> eventually mind
> > > uploading.
> > > I think Matrix was a horrible movie as it had a
> very dark atmosphere
> > > and
> > > made viewers actually scared of the future.
> There are many excellent
> > > science
> > > fiction novels that could be turned to good
> pro-science,
> > > "transhumanist"
> > > movies. I am sure we can help the movie industry
> with ideas and
> > > scenarios.
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