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Filmmaker's Statement - Why the Singularity?I first learned about the Singularity concept in 2000 while on the road self-distributing my last documentary BUTTERFLY (about the young woman who sat in an ancient redwood tree preventing it from being cut down). The idea that the rate of technology advances exponentially sounded reasonable. And when I started to read about the science involved I was pretty impressed with the arguments and thought it would make an interesting doc. I spoke with many people in the film community and pretty much across the board everyone laughed saying this was sci-fi, not a subject for a serious doc. In 2000 no one I spoke with had even heard of nanotechnology. Since that time I continued researching the underlying science and began to talk with many people in the small future science community. The past 9 years have seen radical future technologies moving from marginal concepts toward mainstream technologies. The community itself has grown from a handful of individuals to hundreds of organizations and associations involving leading members of the scientific community. This spring, the Singularity University opened its doors at NASA Ames in Silicon Valley. Roadmaps to these future technologies are being created and the building blocks are put in place. Three years ago I decided the time was right to start shooting interviews with scientific leaders and just last month I began editing. With over 75 interviews and a strong understanding of the arguments, I have an amazing story to tell with truly profound implications. The Singularity documentary will address these questions: What is possible for our not too distant future as a result of rapid advances in technology? What is not possible or highly improbable? Are these forecasts soundly based in science? How is it even imaginable that technology could seemingly advance so rapidly? Who are the people creating future technologies? What are they doing now? And who is framing the discussion to prepare us for our future? As with each of my previous feature documentaries, the Singularity documentary will not tell the viewer what to think. Instead the viewer will be guided through interviews and left to make his or her own determination as to whether these technological advances are good or bad for humanity. The goal of this film is to excite people that have an interest in deep questions regarding what it means to be human, their place in the world, and about future technology generally. The documentary is also intended to reach science and technology professionals and raise the bar as it regards scientific inquiry. While it is clear that we cannot be certain of what our future brings, it is nonetheless important to understand the great strides being made in technologies such as nanotechnology, artificial intelligence, and molecular biology, and how these technologies will radically alter the way we live. Doug Wolens -- July 2009 |
Featuring:Ray Kurzweil
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