A Species Between Worlds is an ambitious month-long forum in NYC to contemplate our relationship to our devices and the surrounding world
A Species Between Worlds: Our Nature, Our Screens — an immersive journey that explores the ever-increasing imbalance between technology and our own humanity. Created by artist and photographer John Mack, the month-long exhibition is opening up vital conversations about who we are, where we are going, and what actions we can take to ensure the survival of the natural world.
Housed in over 17,000 square feet of space in New York City, A Species Between Worlds will run from September 1 to 30, 2022, serving as a hub for some of the most influential voices at the forefront of defending human awareness in light of the encroaching digital landscape. The exhibition will feature more than 65 artworks, along with a customized app to guide visitors through a gamified psychological exploration.
All Tech Is Human is taking part in this ambitious project, serving as host on Tues, September 13th for a 200 person gathering from 6-8pm, where there will be a discussion with Stanford professors Rob Reich and Mehran Sahami about their book, System Error: Where Big Tech Went Wrong and How We Can Reboot (part of our Responsible Tech Summer Reading List). This gathering will also serve as the release party for All Tech Is Human’s new Responsible Tech Guide, which provides guidance for a broad range of stakeholders and new voices to help co-create a better tech future. The evening will be moderated by David Ryan Polgar, founder & director of All Tech Is Human.
Who is John Mack?
John Mack is an artist, author, lectures and the founder of the non-profit initiative Life Calling, who mission is to foster awareness and balance for a society in the digital age. Mack is releasing a collection of poetry, A Land Between Worlds: The Shifting Poetry of the Great American Landscape to coincide with A Species Between Worlds. Mack serves as a board member of Fairplay (listed in the upcoming Responsible Tech Guide), a “nonprofit organization committed to helping children thrive in an increasingly commercialized, screen-obsessed culture, and the only organization dedicated to ending marketing to children.” Mack is also a 2022 honoree of The Explorer’s Club 50: Fifty people changing the world who the world needs to know about.
Who Will Be Speaking at A Species Between Worlds?
A Species Between worlds is lining up both emerging and well-known voices sitting at the intersection of tech & humanity, including Sherry Turkle, Rob Reich, Angela Glover Blackwell, Tristan Harris, Baratunde Thurston, Yuval Noah Harari (video premiere conversation with John Mack), Frances Haugen, Gabo Arora, Marshall Davis Jones, and Jonathan Haidt.
There are also a range of provocative and challenging discussions to get audience reflecting on their relationship with their devices, including Can the Metaverse Be Sacred?, To Be Young and On the Internet, The Ethics of AI, Crossroads of Tech & Democracy, and Our Avatars, Ourselves: A Youth Town Hall Exploring Autonomy, Technology, And Our Relationship With The Environment.
Events for A Species Between Worlds are based on four key pillars:
Events on Our Calendar
September 13th | System Error: Where Big Tech Went Wrong and How We Can Reboot + release party for All Tech Is Human’s Responsible Tech Guide. You’ll hear from System Error authors Rob Reich and Mehran Sahami. Moderated by David Ryan Polgar, founder & director of All Tech Is Human.
September 14th | The Age of Perpetual Distraction. Featuring Sherry Turkle, author of The Empathy Diaries, Reclaiming Conversation and Alone Together, in conversation with Tali Horowitz from Common Sense.
September 18th | To Be Young And On The Internet. Girl Up (UN Foundation) and the Tech Coalition team up for this 12-2pm event. “Girl Up's young women leaders join tech industry representatives to share insights into how GenZ navigates both the opportunities and challenges that the internet holds, and how tech companies are working overtime to keep them safe.
September 20th | Crossroads of Tech and Democracy. “What responsibility does tech have to support healthy governance? What does a good relationship between tech companies and democracies look like? How much government do we want in our technology and vice versa?” Featuring Glover Blackwell, Gabo Arora, and moderator Tobias Rose-Stockwell.
September 22nd | The Wisdom Gap: What We Need To Build A More Humane Digital Future. Hosted by the Center for Humane Technology, this evening featuring their president, Tristan Harris, a prominent voice in the movement who was heavily featured in The Social Dilemma (Netflix).
September 24th | Our Avatars, Ourselves: A Youth Town Hall Exploring Autonomy, Technology, And Our Relationship With The Environment. Featuring writer, producer, and tv host Baratunde Thurston (who is hosting Unfinished Live) and spoken word artist Marshall Davis Jones, who appears as himself in Ray Romano’s Tribeca Film Festival acclaimed Somewhere in Queens.
September 29th | Information Overload: Crisis of Social Media. “How do we decide what power our information holds? How do we access it, evaluate it properly, and then determine how to act? How can we reclaim our autonomy when we're drowning in information?” Featuring Jonathan Haidt, Jason Steinhauer, and moderator Cleo Abram. Steinhauer is the author of History, Disrupted: How Social Media & the World Wide Web Have Changed the Past (also featured on our Responsible Tech Summer Reading List).
Check out all full list of event at A Species Between Worlds
