Truth, Technology and the Visual/Virtual World

de Jaron Lanier

This work, edited by Bellamy Printz, of Cleveland Public Art, is a transcription of Spectrum, the Lockwood Thompson Dialogues at the Cleveland Public Library, two public programs held in 2005. Spectrum is a program of public conversations focusing on issues that impact visual and popular culture, presented by the Library in partnership with Cleveland Public Art. The purpose of the forum is to generate innovative, unexplored, and provocative dialogues that will become part of Cleveland’s cultural inventory. Jaron Lanier, computer scientist, composer, and visual artist from Berkeley, California was the moderator for both programs. In April he held a public conversation with Dr. Vilayanur S. Ramachandran, a scientist interested in art and the brain. The discussion topic was learning to appreciate the brain in new ways because of new technologies for looking at the brain. In October he held a second public conversation with Paul D. Miller, also known as DJ Spooky That Subliminal Kid, talking about music and the implications of technology, internet, and digital media on contemporary culture.