Person
Every book Jason Silva recommended on podcasts
Jason Silva is a filmmaker, futurist, and speaker who has appeared on podcast platforms like The Joe Rogan Experience to explore themes of technology, human evolution, immersion, and the philosophy of the mind. Silva's podcast discussions are heavily informed by visionary literature that examines the convergence of digital technology, human creativity, and evolutionary biology. On the podcast, Silva recommended John Markoff's What the Dormouse Said to explain the historical connections between computer scientists and the countercultural psychedelic movement in Silicon Valley. He also recommended Frank Rose's The Art of Immersion to illustrate the future of immersive storytelling and media consumption. In addition to direct recommendations, Silva frequently cites foundational books to support his intellectual arguments. He referenced Kevin Kelly's What Technology Wants to discuss the concept of technology as the seventh kingdom of life, and cited Geoffrey Miller's The Mating Mind to link human creativity and intellectual discourse to evolutionary mating displays. Silva has also invoked Steven Pinker's The Better Angels of Our Nature to chart the historical decline of human violence, Peter Diamandis and Steven Kotler's Abundance to analyze evolutionary negativity bias, Richard Dawkins's The Selfish Gene to introduce cultural memes as a new form of replicator, and James Gleick's The Information to argue that information serves as the fundamental building block of reality itself.
Books recommended by Jason Silva
-
The Art of Immersion: How the Digital Generation Is Remaking Hollywood, Madison Avenue, and the Way We Tell Stories
The Art of Immersion: How the Digital Generation Is Remaking Hollywood, Madison Avenue, and the Way We Tell Stories is a non-fiction book by former Wired journalist Frank Rose that explores how digital technology and media are transforming narrative storytelling.
Recommended“that idea like there's a great book called The Art of immersion by Frank Rose who used to be at wired who says that the future of immersive storytelling”
Where to get it
-
What the Dormouse Said
What the Dormouse Said by John Markoff is a historical account tracing the origins of the personal computer revolution to the counterculture and psychedelic experiments of the 1960s San Francisco Bay Area.
Recommended“there's a book called by John marov called what the door Mouse says which talks about that where that came from”
Where to get it
-
Abundance
Peter H.
Discussed“Peter diamandis did a presentation about this at the Ted conference just a week and a half ago and he has his book called abundance”
Where to get it
-
The Better Angels of Our Nature
The Better Angels of Our Nature by Steven Pinker is an extensive historical and data-driven analysis arguing that violence has steadily declined throughout human history.
Discussed“steven Pinker called better angels of our nature, he wrote a book called The Better angels of our nature is a tech talk called Ted Talk called the myth of violence and he actually went up there and explained that the chances of a man dying at the hands of another man today are the lowest, and they've ever been”
Where to get it
-
The Information
Discussed“and you know James Glick who wrote the book the information says that the most the primary building block of reality might be information before before you know it before matter itself”
Where to get it
-
The Information Diet
Discussed“it's called the information diet and it says that it's really up to us to take responsibility over our information diet”
Where to get it
-
The Mating Mind
The Mating Mind by Geoffrey Miller is an evolutionary psychology book that posits the human brain is a sexually selected feature, functioning as a complex display mechanism comparable to the peacock's tail.
Discussed“it's called The Mating mind, it was written by Jeffrey Miller and he says that the brain's extraordinary capacities for creativity for discourse for everything we do even build airplanes and iPhones is ultimately our glor version of the peacock feather”
Where to get it
-
The Rational Optimist
The Rational Optimist by Matt Ridley offers an optimistic look at the long history of humanity, arguing that human progress is driven by innovation and the exchange of ideas.
Discussed“there's a book by Ridley called the rational Optimist and he coined the word idea sex and he says that ideas coming together”
Where to get it
-
The Selfish Gene
The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins is a landmark popular science book that popularized a gene-centric view of evolution and introduced the foundational concept of the meme.
Discussed“he became a meme which you know in Richard Dawkins book The Selfish Gene he says that there was this new replicator”
Where to get it
-
What Technology Wants
What Technology Wants by Kevin Kelly is a visionary examination of human evolution, culture, and technology, famously framing technological innovation as a living, breathing seventh kingdom of life known as the technium.
Discussed“what does that say Kevin Kelly, okay, the the trippy W co-founder of wired in his book what technology wants he calls technology the technium, he says it's the seventh Kingdom of life”
Where to get it
Appearances
| Episode | Podcast | Date | Books |
|---|---|---|---|
| #369 - Jason Silva, Duncan Trussell, Ari Shaffir | The Joe Rogan Experience | 2013-06-21 | 4 |
| Joe Rogan Experience #194 - Jason Silva | The Joe Rogan Experience | 2013-04-10 | 6 |