Decipher SciFi

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Natural Sciences
**Decipher SciFi**

Decipher SciFi explores the how and why in science fiction with conversations about technology, humanity, and the future. This is not a review show, nor will you see much criticism or snark. It is a rationally optimistic look, through film, at where society and technology are and where they are headed. Also, butts.

Latest Episodes:

The Fountain: nebulae, mesoamerica, and finding meaning w/ Daniel Barker Aug 02, 2016

Show notes

Aronofsky

Shooting for the moon. Making beautiful film.

History

Olmec, Mayans, Aztec. Murder factories.

Nebulae

Particularity. Stellar nurseries.

Life and Death

Differing viewpoints, religious and atheist.

The Fountain graphic novel by Daren Aronofsky and Kent Williams: iTunes Amazon
Darren Aronofsky remastered and mixed Director Commentary: David Weisbrod
Uncertainty Principle the Podcast: Uncertainty Principle

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Brazil: user interface satire, complexity, complexity, and ducting w/ Bradnon Rollins Jul 26, 2016

Show notes

Sci-Fi Dystopias

1984, Brazil, Farenheit 451, etc. Why do these count as scifi?

User Interfaces as analogy

Thanks to Chris Noessel for pointing in the Facebook group the way the “badly designed” user interfaces are really incredibly well-designed, if the point is absurdism. :)

Complexity

In business, objects, life, gadgets, systems. Ducts! Creepin’.

Security Theater

Statistics, fear of skin cancer vs shark attack. Viscerality.

Euphemistic Language

Covering up reality. Making uncomfortable behaviour easier to swallow. Hiding reality.

Dreams and Reality

Cracking up. Dreams. Endings.

War Co. Expandable Card Game: WarCo
The Egnineering Guy: YouTube

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Godzilla: postwar Japan, science, and regrets w/ Miles Greb Jul 19, 2016

Show notes

This is real life

Well, partially. Lcuky Dragon #5. Hydrogren bomb testing. Real life and movie deaths. Press censorship.

Giant movie monsters

Godzilla and his ilk. The Lost World. The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms.

Oxygen destroyer

¯\(ツ)/¯

Science and regret

Oppenheimer. Eyepatch guy. Suicide to save the world. Analogies.

Goodbyes

Let them fight.

Godzilla: Half Century War by James Stokoe: Amazon
King of the Monsters: History of Japan Podcast
Double Blasted: Radiolab
After the Gold Rush: After the Gold Rush

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The Expanse: Nick Farmer on conlanging and the intersection of language and scifi Jul 12, 2016

Show notes

Conlang

What are constructed languages? Who makes them?

The Expanse

Designing the language for the TV show. Designing a posteriori languages and a priori languages and difficulties of each.

Slang

A Clockwork Orange, Andrew Niccol, and other uses of slang to flesh out fictional worlds.

Pidgins, Creoles

What is a creole, and how did Nick approach designing one for The Expanse

The Art of Language Invention by David J Peterson: iTunes Amazon

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Weird Science: science, magic, and moral development in adolescence Jul 05, 2016

Show notes

John Hughes

And the Brat Pack. Uncle Buck and Breakfast Club.

Smagic

Science so unscientific, it is magic: smagic. Callbacks to pygmalion and Frankenstein.

Sexism/Objectification

Boy howdy. Literally using a barbie to create a living sex object. Consent. Creating sex bots. The 1950s comic on which the movie was based.

Geekery

What are they? what are we? Geeks? Nerds? Both?

Growing Up

Adolescence sucks. Being a sexually frustrated teenage boy. Fantasies and ethical concerns.

Frankenstein w/ Joe Ruppel: Decipher SciFi
Made of the Future/Weird Science: Mars Will Send no More

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Jupiter Ascending: gene splicing, industrialized panspermia, and going over the top Jun 28, 2016

Show notes

Jupiter

Baby naming. Looking through a telescope with the kids and co-bff Joe. Astrology. 😒

Fermi Padadox

Jupiter Jones: Because a dream is the only way any of this make sense. Caine Wise: Compared to what? The idea that you’re the only intelligent species, on the only inhabitable planet, in a universe so full of planets that you don’t even have a number to describe how many there are.

Civilization Development

“Tersies.” Seeding planets. The “prometheus problem.” Coexistence with dinosaurs??

Harvest

Analogies to our treatment of animals. It can still be “affecting.”

Genetic Modification

Cyberpunk. CRISPR. Animal trait splicing. Channing Tatum with his mouth open.

Space Feudalism

Lots -isms and -igarchies and whatnot. An economy sort-of based on time reminds us of Andrew Niccol’s In Time.

Nihilism

What would you do if you owned whole planets?

A Quick Note on Jupiter Ascending's Politics: This Cage is Worms
Antibodies Part 1: CRISPR by Radiolab: Radiolab

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Tomorrowland: the World's Fair, retrofuturism, and making dreams reality Jun 21, 2016

Show notes

Brad Bird

50s and 60s techno optimism. The Iron Giant. The Incredibles.

World’s Fair

Stages of the worlds fair. Our tech and relationship to it.

Walt Disney

Futurism. Techno optimism. Shaping reality to fit his vision.

Tomorrowland

Disneyland. EPCOT. Disney’s vision for a designed city.

A sense of wonder

Childlike optimism. Positivity in the face of pessimism. Three wolf moon.

Future Visions

Visions of technology and the future from different periods.

omg car is driving how can that be

Walt Disney - The Triumph of the American Imagination by Neal Gabler: iTunes Amazon
A 19th Century Vision of the Year 2000: The Public Domain Review

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Senenity: Firefly, reavers, and space settlement sans FTL Jun 14, 2016

Show notes

Joss Whedon & Firefly

Johhhhhhn Cena prank call. Fox’s predilection for cancelling the most-loved shows. Viewing orders.

Hard and soft scifi

Joss Whedon doesn’t care about the science. Star system design without FTL. A call-in from Adrian Falcone.

Sci-Fi western

From cyberpunk to westerns. Frontier living.

Culture and language

Language evolution on generation ships. Creoles. Joss’ poetic Rialogue.

Reavers

The mythology and the more reasonable backstory. Samuel Mumby calls in to express his appreciation for the former. “Who does the dishes?”

Religion

Sci-fi treatments of religion by Whedon and others.

Firefly: iTunes Amazon
Serenity on Science Fiction Film Podcast: LSG Media
Bad Character by Ted Chiang: The New Yorker

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The Man From Earth: biological immortality, and what is a micromort w/ Adrian Falcone Jun 07, 2016

Show notes

Production

Jerome Bixby’s final, lifelong work. A bittorrent success story. The Man From Earth: The Series

Why this movie is the best

A great mechanism for great conversation: a collection of domain experts exploring hypotheticals.

Human Evolution

Biological differences. Geography. Proto human language.

Memory and Learning

Plasticity. Long term memories. Retrospective fill-ins. Meta-memory.

Immortal Biology

Regeneration. Disease. Scarring and cancer.

Nasty, Brutish, and Short

Living through humanity’s violent past. Adjusting to the current morality. Old fashioned ways.

Danger and Risk

Micromorts. Judging risk and how to live life when you’re immortal.

"Good job, BRAIN!" by Good Job Brain: GoodJobBrain.com
Risk. by VSauce: YouTube
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Transcendence: Transhumanism and AI takeoff scenarios w/ Zoltan Istvan May 31, 2016

Show notes

Zoltan!

Running for President of the USA as an atheist and a transhumanist.

The Singularity

Kurzweil. Vernor Vinge. The post-work economy. Luddites and progress.

Artificial Intelligence

Uploading the human mind. Will people try to convert the first real artificial super intelligence?

Transhumanism

Improving humanity through technology. Medicine. Life extension and immortality. The Transhumanist Wager. The power of love.

Zoltan Istvan: ZoltanIstvan.com
Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies by Nick Bostrom: Amazon iTunes
The Singulatiry is Near by Ray Kurtzweil: iTunes Amazon

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