Proximity, Photographs, and Podcasts (Nyla Brewster, Sruthi Palaniappan, and Sahar Mohammadzadeh)
Proximity, Photographs, and Podcasts
Nyla Brewster, Sruthi Palaniappan, and Sahar Mohammadzadeh
Podcast link: podcast
INTRODUCTION
For our final
project, our team decided to compose our own apocalypse using the mediums of
comparative photography and podcasts. Throughout the course, several
apocalyptic themes and motives have been studied, from robotics, environmental,
nuclear, and even religious. Countless authors and artists have chosen to
represent their interpretations of the end of the world through a multitude of
different media, ranging anywhere from videos, paintings, cultures, and
literature interpretations. Although there exists great diversity in the way
individuals believe the end of the world will occur and even more so through
the mediums through which they are depicted, there stands one common mysterty
between all hypotheses about the apocalypse: when will it occur?
The timeline and
proximity of the end of the world ranges dramatically, but understanding how
close humanity is to its end is critical when discussing how best to combat and
prevent the end of the world.
In order to
better understand the different timelines and proximities of different
apocalyptic trends and ideas, each member of the project decided to focus on an
apocalyptic theme: climate change, religious explanations, and artificial
intelligence takeover. The change in our perceived reality about the importance
and imminence of each of these themes was explored through three main steps.
Our research is first rooted in our classwork, understanding the historical
lens of each situation and examining the evolution of each theme’s urgency as
we move to modern times.
Second, we
further examine the juxtaposition of the countdown until the end of the world
through our chosen medium of photography. Historical photographs from Harvard’s
archives are examined, studied, and later compared with our own personally
taken photographs. This goes to portray - through our own eyes and individually
taken photographs - how we see the urgency of the end of the world changing in
our own communities and relative realities, understanding that the apocalypse
may no longer be a futuristic concept but issues that our generation must
grapple with. Finally, we reach out to experts within the Harvard community to
conduct a series of interviews for our podcast, focusing on the timeline,
proximity, and actionable steps that our generation (college students
specifically) can take to combat the imminent apocalypse. The sections below
analyse our personal reflections and provide the context behind the separately
submitted podcast, which conveys the highlights of our focus groups and
interviews.
CLIMATE CHANGE
Situation Historically: Throughout the
course, a recurring theme that continues to emerge when discussing the end of
the world is its inherently connected with changes in one’s environment,
bringing about a drastic lack of resources for humanity to live upon. Long
before phrases like “global warming” and “climate change” became entrenched in
daily conversations, the sparks of the Industrial Revolution from the 1760s
through the 1840s lead many scholars and artists to see a dreadful apocalypse
through the way corporations and individuals were brutally exploiting the
earth. As early as 1816, poets like George Byron envisioned a burning world of
death, scarcity and fire in his work “Darkness.” What is more, artists like
John Martin in 1849 warned against a desolate and self-destructive future in
his painting entitled “The Last Man” where a sole individual stands amidst
chasms of destruction and decay where there was once life, trees, and futility.
Although there have been signs that the end of the world could very well be
through environmental dangers ever since the consequences of the Industrial
Revolution began to be understood, it seems that current societies seem
unnaturally close to meeting their own fate.
Situation Today: Given robust evidence
found by scientists, less people today deny that climate change is a real
threat to our world. The collective action issue to address such a massive
problem makes devising solutions complicated, as everyone plays a role and must
unite to save our planet. More compelling cases are made in 2010 through
Frederick Buell’s “A Short History of Environmental Apocalypse” and Stefan
Skirmshire’s “Eternal Return of the Apocalypse.” Moreover, authors like Ingrid
Lilly take note of how larger populations are beginning to address the
dangerously real consequences of pollution through her work “The Planet’s
Apocalypse: The Rhetoric of Climate Change.” The most shocking of all research
and literature conducted, however, was the UN’s report in 2019 that claimed
that should humans continue to deplete their resources and pollute the earth at
its current rate, our planet will experience “irreversible climate change” in
ten years. It seems that, if anything, this is the most possible and fathamable
outcomes that would lead to the end of humanity as we know it.
Timeline, Proximity, and Pictures: The
warnings of the end of the world through climate change are not only evident
through the works observed in class, however. Thomas Cole, a painter
traditionally known for his romantic landscapes and admiration for American
wildlife, creates a series of five paintings from 1833-1836 near the end of the
Industrial Revolution when deforestation and environmental impacts were
beginning to have tangible consequences. The fourth painting in the series,
named “Course of an Empire,” is accurately dubbed “Destruction” (Harper, 2017)
(Figure 5). The scene is littered with tumultuous watres, unsolicited fires,
the crashing of ships, civilians drowning, and an overwhelming sense of death
and despair. It would seem as if the
society is almost at war against mother nature, aggravated by the immortal and
disrespectful extraction of her resources. This painting, although already
encompassing tropes of environmental destruction, is even more jarring when
compared to Cole’s usually calm and angelic landscape depictions. Just a
juxtaposition relays the urgency that historic artists felt about the
consequences of climate change. Figure 6, as a modern comparison, is a picture
I took of a trash room to depict how something so seemingly small and part of
our everyday lives is contributing to the climate crisis in the basement of
every single one of Harvard’s living amenities. This complacent behavior
comments on the fact that although modern societies are well educated about the
realities of climate change and the urgency behind its impacts, even the most
educated populations seem to be taking little action in preventing the issue
from leading humanity to its end. While we have introduced more bins to recycle
and compost, people are still not making an active effort to utilize such
options. What is jarring in the picture is that it depicts how little the
recycling bins are used in comparison to the trash bins, explicitly portraying
how current populations are unwilling to change in their facilitated
lifestyles, even if it comes at the price of our own destruction.
Interview, Implications, and Personal
Reflection: To better understand how perceptions of the climate apocalypse have changed over time, I conducted an
interview for the podcast with Professor Joyce Chapline in the History
department who focuses on the histories of science, climate and
environmentalism. Throughout the podcast it became evident that there was
something especially unique about the nature of a scientific apocalypse. In
comparison to other fields highlighted in the podcast, the climate apocalypse
is one rooted in factuality. It is a scientific truth that humans have directly
impacted the Earth. Through carbon emissions, pollution of the air, dumping waste
into oceans, and many, many other damaging practices, man has left a terrible
mark on the world. The climate apocalypse specifically is one with effects we
are witnessing in current time. Every year, polar ice is melting, the Earth is
warming, and countless other side effects of the damage that has been done to
the Earth. As mentioned in the podcast, in order to properly address the
climate apocalypse, governmental intervention along with great levels of human
action is a necessity. The signs are measurable, present, and are not going any
unless there is a great change. Especially among younger generations such as
myself, there is a great need to act as soon as possible. Imagining the end of
the world, both in a scientific standpoint and in other fields, provides an
outlet for us to assess our current day activities and realities. We can use
such predictions of an apocalypse to inform what changes we need to see in
society today to avoid such an end to our world.
RELIGION
Situation Historically: Throughout Stories from the End of the World, we
have highlighted the intrinsic aspect of eschatology in religion. The Book of
Revelation, for example, provides the apocalyptic prophecy for the Catholic
faith. Other religions, such as Buddhism and Hinduism, also contain their own
form of a second coming or end of times despite their more cyclical perceptions
of time. Moving beyond the most famous texts to artwork and other forms of
media, an apocalypse has been portrayed in a number of different forms throughout
religious history.
Sandro
Botticelli, for example, famously painted Mystic
Crucifixion in 1497, depicting the ever present battle between good and
evil. As a class, we had the privilege of viewing this painting in the Harvard
Art Museums and analyzing the many apocalyptic themes seen throughout. As
societies have developed, religion has been passed down uniquely and is still
widely followed today. As a result, the role of the apocalypse in the study of
religion is ever present and likely will be for as long as religion exists.
Situation Today: Although many
centuries have passed since the creation of Mystic
Crucifixion and the majority of famous sacred religious texts, the role of
religion remains prominent in the lives of many. It is important to note,
however, that the 21st century has brought a lot of changes to the role of
religion in society. There is an overwhelming push to make societies as secular
as possible and make religion a component of private life exclusively, rather
than law, for example. Additionally, with journalism and mass media, religion,
along with many other large institutions, have been heavily scrutinized. Movies
like Spotlight, a 2012 movie
detailing the horrific history of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church, have
called a number of people to question insutuialized religion. In fact, there
are more Atheists and Agnostics in the world than ever before (Bullard 2016).
With this evolution in mind, the religion aspect of this research project seeks
to explore the evolving role of the apocalypse within religion.
Timeline, Proximity, and Pictures: Throughout
history, there have been a number of major countdowns to religious apocalypses.
Some tell of the second coming of a savior, others the complete destruction of
the world as we know it. One recent example was seen in 2012. The Mayan
religion adhered strictly to a calendar based on astronomical patterns however
in 2012, the calendar came to an end. Many believed that this was a prediction
of the end of the world and a number even prepared as if 2012 was the last year
of their life. While 2012 is the most prominent example of this most recent
decade, there have been apocalyptic predictions for centuries. Y2K, for
example, occurred in the turning of the century. Another prominent example, one
from the 20th century, is the Millerite movement. In the early 1840s, a man
named William Miller predicted the world would end in 1843. When that did not
occur, he altered his calculations to
1844 (Nichol, 296). Once again, it is seen that consistently throughout
religious history apocalypses gain much attention, however are yet to occur.
With this great area of ambiguity, the impending nature of a religious
apocalypse is not as serious as those based on other, more tangibly measured
disciplines, such as science. Figure 4 is an insight into the current fear of
an apocalypse in religion. I took this picture myself when walking down a
street in New York City this past weekend. A group of carolers, pictured, were
handing out pamphlets encouraging people to convert to Catholicism so that they
will be spared when the world ends and a special chosen few are saved.
Something to highlight is the lack of dates and concrete information involved
in the handout and my conversation with the woman, who approached me after I
took the photo. Once again, I was presented with the great lack of certainty
that surrounds the apocalypse for many faiths. Many strongly believe that it
will happen, however it has proven difficult to predict as seen through periods
like the Millerite Movement.
Interview, Implications, and Personal
Reflection: In order to discuss the evolution of the apocalypse within the
field of religion I conducted my segment of the interview with Professor
Catherine Brekus. Professor Brekus studies American religion throughout time
and its relation to American culture. My interview focused on three main
topics: the past role of the apocalypse in religion, the current, and the
implications of our changing society on a belief in a religious apocalypse.
Brekus herself has intensely studied the Millerite Movement and while similarly,
she highlights the great ambiguity
throughout history, she also makes the point that religion is “steadfast
throughout time”. Although religion today has waned among many, it still
remains as a source of hope and meaning for millions of people. As a result,
the belief in an apocalypse that comes along with many of those faiths will
remain along with it. For myself, after going to Catholic school for much of my
life and studying failed apocalyptic movements such as Y2K and the Millerite
Movement, I find more validity in the apocalypses discussed by my peers, as all contain a higher amount of fact and
science. I do however think religious eschatology as a whole is extremely
interesting, as very few things have been preserved throughout time as well as
religion. With this project, along with many of the themes and motifs learned
in class I am excited to go out into my everyday life and assess the different
ways I encounter and analyze apocalypses whether it be through literature,
artwork, or another medium.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Situation Historically: Ever since the
early 20th century when technology began to integrate itself as a critical part
of the world’s daily tasks, the realm of new inventions and innovations have
served as a source of skepticism (Godin, 2008, pp. 50-60). Would it be possible
that humanity would create and advance itself towards its own destruction? Such
questions are first posed and explored in E.M. Foster’s “The Machine Stops” in
1909 (Foster, 1909). As industrial advancements change the working and living
nature of humans entirely throughout the roaring ‘20s in the United States,
filmmakers including Fritz Lang in his piece Metropolis warns against humanity’s capitulation to machines,
depicting soulless workers that are eventually “fed” to technology (Lang,
1927).
Situation Today: These long held
concerns that technology with drive the eventual end of the world; however, are
much more pressing and urgent today than they ever were before. With the rise
of daily reliance on cell phones, tablets, and most importantly, developments
in Artificial Intelligence, authors ranging from Mehlhauser, Bostrom, Geraci,
and Boden make the case for why humanity ought to be more cautious when playing
with fire (Geraci, 1970; Muehlhauser et al., 2014; Boden, 2018). With
Artificial Intelligence, there exists a real “risk in passing control of the
future to machines, for they may not share our values” and such consequences
can be compounded beyond repair as machines are “self-improvement,” learning
how to make judgments, decisions, and take action without any human
intervention (Muehlhauser et al, 2014, pp. 42-43).
Timeline, Proximity, and Pictures: In
less than a century, our advancements in technology have lead humanity from the
first cars and airplanes to fully automated and voice controlled houses, smart
devices, and machine-learning lead software. Although this trend is easily
depicted through literature and daily integration of modern advancements, the
quick pace of the evolution of Artificial Intelligence is readily observable
through art and popular media. Such fast changes can only lead modern artists
to assume that the end of the world through a technological takeover is closer than current societies
anticipate. This can be explained through the juxtaposition of two major works
of art that have captured the world’s attention. Initially in 1933, artist
Diego Rivera shocked the globe when creating his masterpiece “Man at the
Crossroads”(Figure 1) (Rivera, 1933). The mural, originally slated for all
international viewers in the lobby of the Rockefeller Plaza, depicts many
apocalyptic tropes through technology. In the center, a man is shown
controlling machinery surrounded by a fist holding a futuristic orb depicting atoms
with dividing cells and biological, chemical advancements. The artists
reflected that such aspects symbolized dangerous discoveries made possible by
telescopes, microscopes, and other scientific advancements,
warning against a distant time where machinery will have a mind of its own
(Hieronimus, 2011). Most recently, however, an installation at the Biennale Art
Festival in Venice portrayed how Rivera’s fears have already become a reality.
Sun Yuan and Peng Yu’s exhibition “Can’t Help Myself” (Figure 2) employs an
industrial robot and software systems to examine the world’s increasingly
automated global reality where territories and corporations are controlled
mechanically (Estilier, 2019). This commentary serves as a stark contrast to
Rivera, claiming that the apocalypse through artificial intelligence is much
closer than anyone previously anticipated.
Interview, Implications, and Personal
Reflection: To evaluate the relative proximity of the apocalypse through
Artificial Intelligence and to understand how pressing of a concern it poses to
humanity’s survival compared to other threats, Keith Raffel was interviewed.
Raffel, currently a lecturer at Harvard, is a technology executive who founded
an internet software company and managed a DNA-sequencing business, both
heavily entrenched in the creation and adoption of Artificial Intelligence.
Questions posed throughout the podcast segment aims to reflect upon the history
of technology through our society, address the pace at which technology is evolving,
and understand the societal consequences and obstacles that accompany it. The
conversation, as it unfolds, comes to show that Raffel is not interested in
discussing the morality of future robotics and machine learning. Instead, the
professor highlights how full integration of artificial intelligence is
inevitable, estimating that our entire societies will be altered within a
matter of fifteen to twenty years. He goes further to argue that works of
literature that use the rise of artificial intelligence as a mode of
apocalyptic themes are much more real than we give credit to, daring to
challenge how most of the writings have been categorized as “fiction.” The
interview then ends with a call to action, urging college campuses to
prioritize the education of this true threat to humanity (Mohammadzadeh, 2019).
Although it is clear that the end of the world through the apocalypse is closer
than anyone may have anticipated, I personally feel that the situation is so
advanced that the common man is insofar unable to employ any actionable changes
to prevent such seemingly inevitable outcomes. However, I do find it
increasingly critical that college campuses, like Harvard especially, begin to
place courses about Artificial Intelligence and the cutting edges of technology
at the forefront of their academic interests.
FIGURES
Fig. 1: "Man at the Crossroads" by Diego Rivera
Fig. 2: Sun Yuan and Peng Yu's "Can't Help Myself"
Fig. 3: Newspaper Documenting the Millerite Apocalypse of 1843
Fig. 4: Carolers in New York Handing Out Information on the End of Time
Fig. 5: "Destruction," 1836, part of the "Course of Empire" series, by Thomas Cole
Fig. 6: Harvard Trash Room
Boden,
Margaret. “Artificial Intelligence: A Very Short Introduction.” Margaret A. Boden Oxford University Press,
16 Nov. 2018, global.oup.com/academic/product/artificial-intelligence-a-very-short-introduction-97801
99602919?cc=us&lang=en&.
Boticelli, Sandro. “Mystic Crucifixion,” 1497. Currently resides in
Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, MA.
Brewster, Nyla. “Catherine Brekus on Modern Religious Eschatology.”
Nov. 2019.
Buell, Frederick and Stefan Skrimshire, “A Short History of Environmental
Apocalypse” and "Eternal Return of the Apocalypse,” Future Ethics, 2010.
Bullard, Gabe. “The World’s Newest Major Religion: No Religion” National
Geographic 2016 https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2016/04/160422-atheism-agnostic-secular-no
nes-rising-religion/
Byron, George. “Darkness,” 1816, https://poets.org/poem/darkness.
Estiler, Keith. “Sun Yuan &
Peng Yu Bring Provocative Artworks to Venice Biennale 2019.” Designboom, 2019, hypebeast.com/2019/5/sun-yuan-peng-yu-bring-provocative-artworks-to-venice-biennale-2019.
Foster, E.M. “‘The Machine Stops’ Comment On The Differences Between
Vashti And Kuno In Their Attitudes Of Life Inside The Machine.” WriteWork, 1909, www.writework.com/essay/machine-stops-e-m-forster-comment-differences-between-vas
h.
Geraci, Robert M. “Robert M. Geraci, The Popular Appeal of Apocalyptic
Ai.” PhilPapers, 1 Jan. 1970,
philpapers.org/rec/GERTPA.
Godin,
Benoît. “Innovation: The History of a Category.” Project on the Intellectual History of Innovation, 2008, www.csiic.ca/PDF/IntellectualNo1.pdf.
Harper, Kyle. “6 Ways Climate Change and Disease Helped Topple the Roman
Empire.” Vox, Vox, 4 Nov.
2017, www.vox.com/the-big-idea/2017/10/30/16568716/.
Hieronimus,
Bob. “ The Death and Rebirth of the Apocalypse Mural Is Compared to the
Legendary Diego Rivera's Man at the Crossroads Mural.” The Death and Rebirth of the Apocalypse Mural Is Compared to the
Legendary Diego Rivera's Man at the Crossroads Mural, Ordered Destroyed by
Nelson Rockefeller in 1933 - 21st Century Radio and Hieronimus & Co., Inc.,
2011, 21stcenturyradio.com/news/apocalypse-and-diego-rivera.html.
Lang, Fritz. “Metropolis at 90: Five Early Sci-Fi Films That Paved the
Way for Fritz Lang's Classic.” British
Film Institute, 1927,
Lilly,
Ingrid E. "The Planet's Apocalypse: The Rhetoric of Climate Change,” Augsburg Fortress Publishers, 2016.
Martin, John. “The Last Man,” 1849.
Muehlhauser, Luke, and Nick Bostrom.Why We Need Friendly AI, 2014,www.nickbostrom.com/views/whyfriendlyai.pdf.
Nichol, Francis D. “The Growth of the Millerite Legend” pp. 296-313 Church History. Volume 21, No. 4. 1952.
"Only 11 Years Left to Prevent Irreversible Damage from Climate Change, Speakers Warn during General Assembly High-Level Meeting,” United Nations Meetings Coverage, March 28, 2019.
Palaniappan, Sruthi. “Joyce Chaplin on the Climate Apocalypse.” Nov. 2019.
“Rivera, Diego:
Man at the Crossroads.” Khan Academy,
Khan Academy, 1933, www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-1010/art-between-wars/latin-american-modernism 1/a/diego-rivera-man-at-the-crossroads.
Comments
Post a Comment