2015-10-24 (Amsterdam) The technological sublime

Jos de Mul. The biotechnological sublime. Lecture at the Vrij Nederland Everything is algorithm session at the Brainwash Festival. Amsterdam, Agnietenkapel, 5PM, October 24, 2015.

Every once in a while we experience something extraordinary, something that lifts you above everyday reality . Such ‘awesome’ experiences might happen when we come across a magnificent landscape, hear a piece of music that really moves us, or when we fall deeply in love. Traditionally these kinds of extraordinary experiences are called “sublime”. In the following I will present some reflections on one particular kind of sublimity: the technological.

I will develop my  argument in three parts. First I will point out the meaning and history of the concept of the sublime. Next, I will argue that in de twentieth century, the sublime has transformed from a natural to a technological category. In the third and last part I will defend the thesis that in the age of sublime algorithms, the  sublime becomes a natural category again, which leaves us with some uncanny questions.