After watching Clouds, I began to think of several classes offered at Parsons (Creative Computation – CCLab, OpenFrameworks, Internet of Things, and Shaders). The computer visuals in the movie per question seemed relevant to the topics discussed. But, I felt they were too subjective. Overall, it was nice to see a compilation of practitioners in the fields of creative technology, computer programing, digital design, and engineering, provide their insights.

While picking three questions addressed in “Clouds,” I listed a few quotes that strike my thoughts the most.

How do we hack reality? (Where does reality lie? )

• Memo Akten- It’s to create an alternative reality.
• Daniel Shiffamn- It’s a system (the body is a system of cells).  In theory you can build the whole universe in your computer.
• Ramsey Nasser- Worlds have consistency, we cannot predict what we do in every single step.

Do Computers Make Us Smarter? (What happens after we die? )

• Computers are bicycles of the mind
• Computers can go further than biology and medicine
• Bruce Sterling-  “Process is a beautiful and intricate. These ‘ones’ and ‘zeros’. There’s something profound about that.”
• Martin Wattenberg: “How would you diagram a hundred million things?”
• Lindsay Howard: “Human Civilization- A tumblr that when you scroll, you see old computers in landfills. It’s streams, streams, of death.”
• Bruce Sterling: “I’m going to learn something in the clouds.”

What Will Happen When the Singularity Arrives? (What is storytelling?)

• Kevin Slavin- “They are good at simulating every possible thought that has been thought. Computers simulate.”Stories have power with humans because we feel human agency behind them. That once you start introducing system level, there’s a complexity to that that has been poorly served thus far.
• Marcus Wendt- “You need to recombine different aspects of the story. That’s where code again, is an interesting tool for film-makers and storytelling’
• Casey Reas- “This new model. It’s not cinema nor a game. But it puts things together that is entirely engrossing”