Legendary director Werner Herzog on “huge stupidity” in Los Angeles, the dangers awaiting General Z and “the future of truth”

In a large -scale conversation with luckThe director, born in Bavaria, often refers to his history in the investigation of documentaries and feature films about the endless research on humanity. “Wrestling with this question” has “my magic has been involved” from very early, he says: “I think it is something inherent in art, poetry, or in the cinema. It is exactly, no one knows.” Herzog runs whether he had fallen anywhere in the question, and now after he was in his eighties. He cited the example PillarHis last documentary film on whether there is a mysterious giant type of elephant hiding, somewhere in Africa. “Sometimes preserving the dream is better than seeing it by fulfillment,” he explains.

He cited a survey of 2000 philosophers seeking to define the concept of truth, and “no one has a real answer.” Many Herzog movies pick up this feeling with strange and even strange officials, which is looking for a kind of truth that may be clear to himself. Sometimes, the border between art and the artist was unclear, with Herzog and his creative partner, Klaus Kinski, taking their dangerous tasks that appear on the screen to violent clashes with each other, as it was captured in the documentary in 1999, My dear friends.

But in the “future of truth”, Herzog addresses current events: artificial intelligence, fake news and technology. In 11 short chapters, it discusses the difference between facts, truth and confidence in the twenty -first century and linking them to return to examples of the history of the world. For example, the fake news that was rampant throughout ancient Rome, and the strange works of “family romance” in Japan as companies provide representatives who stand for missing friends or family members on a temporary basis. ((Herzog made a movie About this, too.)

The director spoke to luck About his own phobia, what he sees as the risks facing General Z from the explosion of technological progress, and why he comes to the love of his adopted hometown in Los Angeles a lot.

The “massive stupidity” in Los Angeles

These “incredible times”, he says luck“He does not believe more than anything we had in the history of mankind,” then touches his adoption home. Los Angeles is “a city that has most materials, most cultural materials, in the United States, and perhaps even in the world,” as he claims. While strangers may imagine Hollywood’s surface sparkle, Herzog sees a city teeming with artists, writers and inventors.

“All this arises” in southern California: the greatest painter, the entertainment center, even the bodybuilders at Golds Gim, Venice Beach, all along with “men like aerobic studios and yoga for children at the age of five.” He explains that this duplication is its view of the world. “Los Angeles artistic richness with the tremendous stupidity in Los Angeles, happens at the same time. You have to accept it.” He said that he believes that this duality “has to do with human nature”, and is linked to his argument that what you feel is true and what you know is literally true is not the same.

The director’s affection for America extends beyond the global centers as well. It regrets the mistreatment of what “The Heartland”, consisting of “good people, but was taught, raised, and deprived, and has never been mentioned in the media, to the margins.” These people warned that “the majority, and you should recognize it and do something about it.” He added that he was “angry” when he hears the talk about “the bridge states.” He says he continues to tell his friends who grew up in a place like Kansas: “When was the last time you spoke to your old high school, when was that? When did you show that you are interested in them?” (Herzog interview with luck It happened before the killing of Charlie Kerk, and the representative of the comment refused these developments.)

Despite his reputation for being bohemian in his art, Herzog is in some values ​​that can be called the old model. He even defends the prevailing Hollywood cinema: “Group dreams in the world come from here,” adding that “this is not something, but you cannot ignore it. He gave us wonderful and wonderful things.”

For Herzog, this coexistence of higher art and optimism is part of the twisted Los Angeles genius. This duality says “related to human nature,” and this is part of what it relates a lot about artificial intelligence.

“Twaddy without meaning” from artificial intelligence and old assets of fake news

Herzog said that he sees artificial intelligence and fake news that mixes together to create the post -truth age in which we live, noting that he and the “Slovenian philosopher” did not reveal his name, but it is assumed that he is Slav ZizekHe holds a conversation created from artificial intelligence on the Internet that have no parallel in real life. She is completely fake, and their famous voices that were captured in a conversation have never happened – however, it also exists. He writes: “Our voices are accommodated with great accuracy, but our conversation does not make sense …

It tells Duke luck He does not let artificial intelligence in his life. “It really didn’t affect it, because I do not use it.” He says he does not even have a mobile phone. Instead, “I find new ideas and new thinking – equally”, stressing the pain he is dealing with to interact with the real world on a daily basis. It is one big exception: “There is one visible phenomenon for me, because I use email … unknown people write to me.” He said that he has fans who are less than 15 years old and write to him, and they want to “know certain things: smart and unusual questions.” He said he was happy to interact with a young fan, “If this is a serious request.”

Herzog is mentioned luck This fake news is old at the time, citing examples from ancient Egypt and ancient Rome. The example of the Roman Emperor Nero, who lived after committing suicide, is mentioned with “fake Neros (appears) in Asia Minor, to northern Greece”, and the developments were “floating and eating” by naive topics.

Herzog book goes to more details about the fake Neros procession, as it evokes a long time before the Internet, when the fake service provider can impersonate the dead emperor, gain a great follower and indulge in some excellent banquets along the way. The first two of these were discovered, and unfortunately for them, his head was beheaded, but the fake news had a strong grip. “The popular belief that Nero will return, a march on Rome, and the emperor becomes again, extending to the fifth century,” he writes Hurtzog – 400 years after the death of the original. “In Tokyo to this day, we can admire the rival in fashion and guitar in public parks, hundreds of them or more … We will always have Elvis, a sleeping king on the mountain.”

For Herzog, the procession of lies in History only supports his need for continuous vigilance, and the last chapter of his brief book: “The truth has no future, but the truth does not have a past either. But we will not do that, we cannot, we cannot give up searching for it.”

Herzog expresses his concern for young generations that have arisen in a world dominated by screens and applications. “There is a generation … it will really struggle in their lives if they depend a lot on social media and their mobile phones,” warns. Herzog is arguing that their experience actually becomes “only at the secondary level, from applications on their mobile phones.”

He tells the story of one of his acquaintances from a modern job that he was unable to move in five blocks in Los Angeles Google The maps, after you learned the actual streets. “This really matters to me when I think about this generation. They will have a very difficult time to adapt to reality, and real reality, to the basic reality, to the barefoot reality.”

He adds, he is concerned, about how much we want to delegate to technology. “Do you want to delegate your dreams to artificial intelligence?”