Episode 005 Jason Silva

Summary

• Jason Silva is a modernday working philosopher and has been described as the Timothy Leary of the viral video age
• He is an epiphany addict and autodidact, and his work reflects his obsessions and sensibilities
• His web series, Shots of Awe, is a stream of consciousness orgy on topics such as futurism, existentialism, metaphysics, and the convolution of humans and technology
• He is an excellent presenter and teacher, and has hosted on television and presented at the Festival of Dangerous Ideas
• He has a natural gift for connecting dots and drawing connections that lead to ahha moments
• He has honed the craft of presenting by going into a flow state and finding the space to fully express himself
• He has been influenced by his mother, a teacher, and was recognized for public speaking and creative writing in middle school
• Jason Silva was born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela, and is bilingual in English and Spanish.
• He studied Film and Philosophy at the University of Miami.
• He believes luxury is novelty and that dopamine is a mood regulator transmitter that rewards us for exploring and overcoming obstacles.
• To him, being jaded is like being dead, and he strives to hack his own cognitive ecstasy.
• He believes that set and setting can control one's experience, and he listens to music he discovers from films.
• Jason Silva is a big fan of instrumental film scores, particularly film trailers.
• His favorite recent score is the Inception soundtrack by Hans Zimmer.
• He believes music can elicit emotion and frame his reality.
• His morning routine includes coffee, exercise, and healthy eating.
• He typically works in the early to midafternoon and goes to bed around 1112pm.
• His first paid gig was with Current after submitting a documentary he made in college.
• He used to be a collector of DVDs and is still neurotic about his list of movies.
• Jason Silva is a control freak when it comes to traveling and is sensitive to jetlag.
• He is obsessed with movies and particularly enjoys films that make him question his perceptions of reality, such as "Inception," "The Matrix," "The Truman Show," "eXistenZ," "Vanilla Sky," and "Momento."
• He considers himself a recovering planner and is envious of free spirits.
• He has learned to trust his own intuition and follow his gut when it comes to making content.
• He is currently working on finessing out how to make content that will lead to traveling the world and keynotes.
• When asked which sense he would miss the most if he lost it, he could not pick one.
• Jason Silva chose "Time" from "Inception" as his theme song.
• He would like to be able to lessen the anxiety he often has to deal with.
• Chris Anderson, the curator of TED, is the first person that comes to Jason's mind when he hears the word successful.
• He would like to study with Danny Boyle, the director, to learn how he edits and puts songs to the moments he is trying to create.
• Jason's advice to his younger self is to not be afraid and to let go of unnecessary fears and worries.
• He is currently working on Brain Games and his Shots of Awe videos on YouTube.