You gotta love that they're now putting backwards messages into the audio tracks on Lost.
The Basics
- I'm a father of three boys, husband of one wife, and author of seven books, and co-founder of three web sites. We spend most of the year in Marin County, California though I'm on the road a lot giving talks. (You can see the full story here.) Personal correspondence should go to sbeej at earthlink dot net. Media requests should go to Matthew.Venzon at us.penguingroup dot com. If you're interested in having me speak at an event, drop a line to Wesley Neff at the Leigh Bureau (WesN at Leighbureau dot com.)
My Books
Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation
An exploration of environments that lead to breakthrough innovation, in science, technology, business, and the arts. I conceived it as the closing book in a trilogy on innovative thinking, after Ghost Map and Invention. But in a way, it completes an investigation that runs through all the books. Sold more copies in hardcover than anything else I've written.The Invention of Air
The story of the British radical chemist Joseph Priestley, who ended up having a Zelig-like role in the American Revolution. My version of a founding fathers book, and a reminder that most of the Enlightenment was driven by open source ideals.The Ghost Map
The latest: the story of a terrifying outbreak of cholera in 1854 London 1854 that ended up changing the world. An idea book wrapped around a page-turner. I like to think of it as a sequel to Emergence if Emergence had been a disease thriller. You can see a trailer for the book here.Everything Bad Is Good for You: How Today's Popular Culture Is Actually Making Us Smarter
The title says it all. This one sparked a slightly insane international conversation about the state of pop culture -- and particularly games. There were more than a few dissenters, but the response was more positive than I had expected. And it got me on The Daily Show, which made it all worthwhile.Mind Wide Open : Your Brain and the Neuroscience of Everyday Life
My first best-seller, and the only book I've written in which I appear as a recurring character, subjecting myself to a battery of humiliating brain scans. The last chapter on Freud and the neuroscientific model of the mind is one of my personal favorites.Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities, and Software
The story of bottom-up intelligence, from slime mold to Slashdot. Probably the most critically well-received all my books, and the one that has influenced the most eclectic mix of fields: political campaigns, web business models, urban planning, the war on terror.Interface Culture : How New Technology Transforms the Way We Create and Communicate
My first. The book I wrote instead of finishing my dissertation. Still in print almost a decade later, and still relevant, I think. But I haven't read it in a while, so who knows what's in there!
I'd also like to think there are easter eggs in and around the show that continue to remain undiscovered.
Wouldn't it be fun if there was another mystery to piece together, after Lost had ended? A mystery for the fiercest analytical minds with access to all the boxsets.
Hm. Just a dream I have.
Posted by: Mikeachim | February 11, 2007 at 05:40 AM
Hi Steven,
I'm a huge fan of yours ever since reading Emergence. I read your blog on a regular basis. I don't know why this is my first post. But it wont be my last :)
The backwards masking seems to be a reference to a Buddhist view on Space and Time.
"The wise know how to use time and space perfectly; they lead free and harmonious lives. Fools are enslaved by time and space; they are busy running around all day. Wise or foolish, the difference is obvious."
Also, I had a feeling the 23 Enigma would start to pop up more often. Notice the room number was 23. 23 showed up alot during the ARG and also, of course, is one of "the numbers". The song "Catch a Falling Star" could also be a refernce to a John Donne poem of the same name. Note the ending of the poem:
If thou find'st one, let me know,
Such a pilgrimage were sweet;
Yet do not, I would not go,
Though at next door we might meet,
Though she were true, when you met her,
And last, till you write your letter,
Yet she
Will be
False, ere I come, to two, or three.
Discordian belief ( joke or not ) is becoming a very large theme in the show as well as Emergence. It may not be apparrent to most people, but its there. Decartes was the first to understand that our minds are software residing on hardware... which leads us to...drum roll please....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergent_materialism
I know you followed the ARG and one of the biggest revelations was the meaning of the numbers. They are core factors in the Valenzetti Equation (fictional for the show ). This equation predicts the end of human civilization, much like The Drake Equation is supposed to show how many intelligent civilizations exist in the universe. If you can change any of these core factors... you can stop humans from destroying themselves. IMO, That room is used to try and figure out how to change the 23 factor of the equation. I'm not quite sure how yet. But it seems to be trying to seperate the body from the mind, and thus free the fools from time and space. This was the room that Ms Klugh threatened Walt with. It was this room where Walt was able to project himself to the Losties... he was able to overcome time and space ( the backwards talk was a nice touch ) It's not pleasant, as we are bound to this reality by our own choosing.
Now I know this blog is not a Lost theories discussion board, but much of the themes you discuss in your books are popping up in the show.
I'm starting to think the Lost writers are fans of yours :) Or perhaps the emergent collective detective is starting to make itself known...much like my mind tells my feet to keep walking forward.
Is there a pacemaker on the island? At first it seemed that way, but now its looking like Emergence is playing out. Maybe thats what the island really is... the emergent mind of a combination of random occurence and controlled conditions. Even The Others were surprised by the plane crash... Ben needs a spinal surgeon and one fell out of the sky. A random occurence set forth a greater pattern of events.
My material body is trapped. But the mind that emerged from all those cells talking to each other, can exist outside of time and space. I think Room 23 was putting that idea to the test.
Apologies for the ramblings... it's alot to digest! I know this is a show that trys to mix alot of mysticism with pseudo science, with real science.
I can't figure out if after reading Emergence that now I see it everywhere, or if I read Emergence because I already felt it was there. Whatever it is... I'm starting to see it in everything.
If all humans keep doing is telling themselves that their bodies have to run around like madmen... then it is true that only (a fool's) mind is enslaved by time and space.
Thank you for the wonderful books and thoughts, they literally changed the way I view the world.
Posted by: Kinetic | February 18, 2007 at 01:41 PM