Futurist, philosopher and filmmaker Jason Silva is heading to 琉璃神社.

This will be the first time National Geographic鈥檚 BrainGames host will offer his perspective in a public format during his tour at the Hack Your Reality event at Summerhill Winery, Oct. 17.

鈥淢y presentations are a journey that walks you through my own response to the human condition. It鈥檚 based on this idea that what are we meant to do with our unique situation?鈥� said Silva.

His presentations are inspired by American anthropologist Earnest Becker鈥檚 book Denial of Death.

鈥淗e was saying the source of human neuroses and existential dread鈥� is that people are starved for meaning or purpose, which is obvious, but the question is why?鈥� said Silva.

According to Becker, the source of anxiety and dread in humans is that no matter how successful we are, how creative, how rich, 鈥渨e鈥檙e housed in heart-pumping, breath-gasping decaying bodies,鈥� said Silva.

So, the question becomes 鈥渨hat are we meant to do with ourselves?鈥� he said.

A media storyteller, Silva started creating short YouTube videos called Shots of Awe in an attempt to answer his own existential questions.

What he found were others who thought just like him, which made him feel less alone.

鈥淲hen I say 鈥榟acking your reality鈥� it鈥檚 really saying 鈥榳hat are the things that we do in our lives鈥� how do our creative and linguistic choices govern our experiences?鈥欌�� said Silva.

Silva will start with his own response through videos where he said, people can empathize.

The talks will be broad-based to include general topics like technology, love, creativity and more.

Love, he said, is to put a person on a pedestal, making them divine.

鈥淭o fall in love, is for one person to take on a special meaning for you,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t is a religious problem ultimately, we鈥檝e replaced this god in the sky and put them in the body of the person with the same results,鈥� he said.

One of his first videos to go viral was one about love called Existential Bummer.

鈥淣o matter how holy, how divine our lovers are, they are tinged with a bit of sadness, the part of us that knows that we are temporarily lying to ourselves. It鈥檚 kind of like the part that鈥檚 aware that time will keep passing, that love will age and the bummer of that,鈥� he said.

Silva believes we need our illusions, like the feeling of love, to keep us from going insane. 鈥淥ur illusions are a healthy response to our situations.鈥�

鈥淓arnest Becker says people who are insane are suffering from the truth. So not to go mad is a form of madness, but a necessary form of madness,鈥� he said.

These illusions prevent us from believing all is for nothing, he said.

鈥淛ust because I know love won鈥檛 last forever doesn鈥檛 mean I won鈥檛 consume the drug,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 like to inhabit both of these levels.鈥�

The presentations are meant to share his viewpoints and not to be treated like answers to personal questions, he said.

Tickets are available online though .

carli.berry@kelownacapnews.com
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