Dean's Open Forum - Jaron Lanier, USC Annenberg Innovator In Residence

Sept. 15, 2010: Dean's Open Forum - Jaron Lanier, USC Annenberg's 2010 Innovator In Residence

Join Dean Ernest J. Wilson III for a discussion on "Self and reality: Finding clarity in the digital noise" with Jaron Lanier, USC Annenberg's 2010 Innovator in Residence. From Lanier: "We humans have always been able to confuse ourselves by letting the means we use to communicate get ahead of us. We certainly can do this by talking, and don't even get me started about writing. When networked computers came along, media became a nocturnal, hyperactive thing that keeps on chattering even when we aren't listening. It makes up arguments to itself and then expects us to go along with them. It also follows us around everywhere. What are we to do with this peripatetic constant companion?" Lanier, author of "You are not a Gadget: Manifesto" (Knopf, 2010), blogger and columnist, computer scientist, composer and visual artist, currently serves as partner architect at Microsoft Research, which he has been affiliated with since 2006. Time magazine named Lanier one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2010, and in 2005 Lanier was selected as one of the world's top 100 public intellectuals by readers of Prospect and Foreign Policy magazines. Commentary by communication professor Dmitri Williams.

For more information on Ernest J. Wilson III: http://annenberg.usc.edu/Faculty/Communication%20and%20Journalism/WilsonE.aspx

For more information on Jaron Lanier: http://www.jaronlanier.com/

For more information on Dmitri Williams: http://annenberg.usc.edu/Faculty/Communication%20and%20Journalism/WilliamsD.aspx

Category:

Education

Tags:

• USC
• USC Annenberg
• Ernest J. Wilson III
• Jaron Lanier
• Dmitri Williams
• digital noise
• self
• reality
• clarity

[JimBCameron]

Really enjoyable talk, but agreed, Dmitri came across a bit whiny & sniffy.

[jkapler]

1) Dmitri's attitude in this interview has to be disheartening to the university. It certainly was to me. Professionals disagree without sneering.

2) The A/V team can't position the mics away from people (faculty) eating lunch? I'd skip lunch for a week to sit at a table with Jaron. #brutal