October 27-28, 2023

Technology: Tragedy or Transcendence?

Advances in AI and biotechnology and rekindled fears of nuclear annihilation highlight the arc of our escalating powers over the natural world. Please join Former California Governor Jerry Brown and a distinguished group of scholars, scientists, public policy experts, and storytellers to discuss a range of ideas central to addressing the opportunities and challenges posed by our advancing technologies.

Through genuine depth of dialogue, we will seek to define the dilemma, clarify the human needs and moral imperatives that compel its development, and provide an aspirational vision that can align and empower our technological quest.

Friday October 27, 2023

7:00 PM - Science Fictions: Dreams, Visions, Nightmares
In this opening session of the Technology: Tragedy or Transcendence symposium, Robert Harrison (Rosina Pierotti Professor in Italian Literature, Stanford University), Alexander Nemerov (Carl and Marilynn Thoma Provostial Professor in the Arts and Humanities, Stanford University), and Micheal Flaherty (filmmaker and founder of Walden Media and Think Again Studios) will provide a rich visual interrogation of the mythologies embedded in film, art, and literature and discuss how they shape human perceptions of technology.