Waking Dreams: Jason Silva’s Philosophical Phantasmagoria

This is the first installment in a Journal series that will explore the ins and outs and random asides of this year’s Burning Man theme, Waking Dreams: past, present and future visions of our hypnagogic reality.

You may already be familiar with Jason Silva from his appearance on the Burning Man LIVE podcast. Or from his tenure as host of National Geographic’s Brain Games. This amazing philosophical rant, The Human Condition, was recorded in Black Rock City 2019, and then enhanced via AI to add kaleidoscopic art visuals. The resulting video is thought-provoking and extraordinarily trippy – and a great way to kick off a season of thinking about the power of dreams to recreate our world. 


Cover image artwork from Jason Silva’s video

About the author: Stuart Mangrum

Stuart Mangrum

Stuart is the director of Burning Man Project's Philosophical Center and the host of the Burning Man LIVE podcast. His first Burn was in 1993. He lives in Baja California with his wife Paizley and a clowder of cunning cats.

5 Comments on “Waking Dreams: Jason Silva’s Philosophical Phantasmagoria

  • Madrone says:

    Wow!!! What a brilliant gift! Thank you Jason!

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  • Thomas (the Bishop) Andrejko says:

    I am my own reality therefore I Burn and Burn again.

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  • geomom says:

    Fasten your seatbelts, ladies and gentlemen. It’s going to be a bumpy night.

    Nice rant. Great skins.

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  • Jonesy says:

    Are there any camps at Burning Man that are gluten free? I’m gluten intolerant and it’s important to my health and wellbeing that everyone know that. I can’t eat gluten, not even a little bit. What are some of the camsp?

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  • Good Peeps says:

    Jason Silva is great! After discovering him on the Burning Man Live podcast, I listened to every episode of Silva’s Flow Sessions podcast one after the other. The interviews are excellent. I’m more inspired than I’ve been in years! I wish he’d pick it back up and record some more episodes. Thank you Jason!

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