Terry A. Davis: The Genius of a Schizophrenic Programmer

    Terry A. Davis was a software programmer, revered as a genius in the programming community for his solo creation of the operating system known as TempleOS. Davis's story presents a uniquely tragic yet novel insight into the mind of a man who was able to create one of the most novel and creative computer programs in history, all while dealing with the unrelenting symptoms of severe schizophrenia.  

    Davis worked as a software engineer for Ticketmaster before having a psychotic break that would change the course of his life and work forever. After being a staunch atheist most of his life, Davis experienced a Schizophrenic Episode after becoming increasingly paranoid, in which he began believing that God was talking to him through his car radio, telling him to drive south to Texas, where he dismantled his car in hopes of finding a tracking device. After the incident, he was found by local police and admitted into a psych ward in Arizona with the diagnoses of Schizophrenia and Bipolar disorder. 

    Luckily, his parents were able to care for him after his stint in the psych ward, fearing he might pose harm to himself or others. Now free from the time constraints of work, the programmer began creating what he believed God had revealed to him was his purpose in life: a program that allowed him to communicate directly with God. Davis worked tirelessly for 10 years on the project. Starting from scratch, he created his own computer program, coding language, and a complex universe of programs designed to allow users to experience direct contact with a higher power. To the average person, it may be difficult to understand how impressive and unheard of creating something like this is. To understand this feat, imagine creating a car from scratch. Not buying all the pieces and assembling the vehicle (which would be impressive in itself), but creating each component of the car individually, inventing new tools to work on the car, and then constructing it in a way and for a purpose no one had ever thought of. The operating system itself is akin to popular operating systems like Microsoft or Windows, which took years and a team of hundreds to invent. The "tool" he invented to create his programs was a coding language called "Holy C" a derivation of the traditional software called "C", which made his coding virtually unintelligible to most in the field of programming. 

    His creation, TempleOS, is a biblical-themed operating system which Davis believed was the "third temple" of the bible that God willed him to create during his schizophrenic delusions. The system included programs like a shooter game called "God's Revenge", a religious oracle that generated bible verses, and a flight simulator named "After Egypt" which served as a biblical allegory. These biblical references reminded me of musician Nick Cave's book "Faith, Hope, and Carnage," in which he discusses a particular infatuation he has with art that incorporates biblical imagery and allegory. He sees this art as not only interesting in itself but uniquely powerful for its ability to serve and honor a divine purpose above the physical world. 

In the study of creative psychology, there is a lot of discussion on how neurodivergence and mental illness can lead to extremely unique creative processes and products. Although Davis described schizophrenia in a YouTube video as "an illness of no hidden rewards," and no one would doubt the struggles associated with this type of mental illness, TempleOS is undoubtedly a testament to the ability for divergent thinking related to neurodivergence. Divergent thinking, where a creative comes up with an unconventional process or answer to a problem in their work, is particularly important to Davis's story.  

     His neurodivergence was not a minor trait, but instead what allowed him to interact with unique problems (such as how to create a program that will enable him to speak directly to God) and devise entirely new solutions (by creating an entire technological universe from scratch). The hallucinations and delusions that severed his connection with reality and the belief that God was dictating technical specifications like a 640x480 resolution and a 16-color display(which Davis believed established his covenant with God) were clearly not obstacles to his work. Instead, the "divine revelations" were as real as the code he wrote, directly fueling a decade of dedicated work and a creative product that was unheard of. This aligns with the long-documented and complex link between schizophrenia and creative output, where novel cognitive processes can often allow creatives to implement associations between their radically different reality and their work. It is consistent with psychological research that Davis's work, like that of many creatives with schizophrenia, can be difficult for others to understand and interact with in a meaningful way. Davis's genius was unquestionable, but the mental illness that, in many ways, moved him to create made his work so divergent from the scope of traditional technology that it had little use to anyone but himself. Nonetheless, the tragic and beautiful story of Terry A. Davis will live on in the memories of those who recognized his unique genius. 

Sources:

Alden, Winston. "TempleOS and the Strange, Sad Case of Terry A. Davis." Steemit, 12 Sept. 2017, steemit.com/computers/@winstonalden/schizophrenia-and-genius-templeos-and-the-strange-sad-case-of-terry-a-davis.

Steve Martin and his creative process

Steve Martin is known for movies and shows, but also for his stand-up comedy. Relating to comedy, he became famous for it in the 1970s. He would make appearances on Saturday Night Live and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. He started comedy because of his love for the art form and wanting to perform. As a child, he was influenced by Laurel and Hardy, along with I Love Lucy. His creative process for his stand-up comedy is craftsmanship, audience feedback, and a unique personal touch. He wrote his own material and relied on creating tension within his comedy. 

While relating to his acting, he started acting in the 1960s. The movie that he is most famous for is Father of the Bride, and right now most famous for the show he is doing called Only Murders in the Building. He created his creative process from his stand-up comedy days, which involved craftmanship, audience feedback, and a unique personal style.

In The Creative Act: A Way of Being, Rick Rubin talks in the book he talks about openness, which helps since Martin is very open to hearing what other has to say about his work. That is then used to help create better work for the audience. Steve Martin was the co-creator of the show Only Murders in the Building, so he added ideas. For example, he wanted three old guys who lived in a building to solve murders. Seeing it now, it seems he got feedback and took it to help him have two old guys and a younger woman in the show. He also wanted the murders to be presented at the end of the season, which are presented within the show. Given Rubin's idea of practice over product, it relates to Martin with how he worked to create the show, act, and stand-up comedy, which all require you to practice getting to the end product. Another thing that Rubin talks about is being intentional, which is what Martin is doing with all that he does in order for his products to be interesting to the audience. 

He's Been Here The Whole Time: Sam Reich and "Game Changer"

    Sam Reich was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1984. At age 16 he dropped out of high school due to clinical depression and began pursuing a career in acting, later moving to New York City and founding the comedy group Dutch West. In 2006 the internet comedy company CollegeHumor discovered Reich and hired him as their Director of Original Content, eventually being promoting him to President of Original Content. While in this role Reich founded CollegeHumor's offshoot production company Big Breakfast and moved CollegeHumor's video team to Los Angeles, California. In 2020 he bought a struggling CollegeHumor, including its streaming service Dropout, from IAC and assumed the role of CEO. The streaming service became so successful that the CollegeHumor name was dropped entirely in favor of simply being called Dropout in 2023. Reich now oversees the content being created for Dropout, participates from time to time in various shows, and hosts his own shows Game Changer and Make Some Noise. 

Sam Reich

     So, what is Game Changer, anyway? The premise is in the tagline: "The gameshow where the game changes every show". Every episode, Reich presents three or more contestants with a new game or puzzle and gives no explanation or context before filming begins. With a grand total of 7 seasons available on Dropout and an 8th having just finished production, the games have ranged from from a lie detector controlled by the contestants' partners to a queer single-day parody of The Bachelor to an election for Honorary President of Dropout. Even when old games like "Sam Says", "Make Some Noise", and "Secret Samta" are brought back, there's always a new twist that keeps the format fresh. A number of episodes have even spun off into their own shows on Dropout, such as the musical improvisation game "Official Cast Recording" inspiring Play It By Ear and the secret social deduction game "Tell Us About Yourself" becoming Dirty Laundry. 

The premise of "One Year Later"

    Reich most often attributes the success of Game Changer and Dropout as a whole to the people who work there, cast and crew alike, and that care shows. Before beginning a new season of Game Changer begins filming he takes stock of what the cast members are comfortable doing for the show, and if a contestant is uncomfortable with the direction an episode is going in, they have the right to call a time out and stop recording to discuss problems. In 2023 Dropout began profit sharing for the first time, where anyone who had been paid any amount of money by the company- cast, crew, and even talent who auditioned that year- received a share of the total profits. Even as an outsider looking in, there is a camaraderie between the Dropout folks that make the shows a joy to watch- and even more fun when Sam inevitably sticks three unfortunate contestants in yet another psychological torture trap of a game. 

One of the aforementioned psychological torture traps

    In Culture Care, Fujimura introduces the idea of "border stalkers", people on the margins of groups that have a capacity for leadership and bringing people of different identities together. Reich has discussed that, despite initially wanting to make acting his career, he has gradually gotten further and further away from being an actor as he moved from director to producer and finally to executive. He sees his role as providing a space for all kinds of performers to come together, make each other laugh, and just have a good time. I believe that he fits the role of a border stalker quite well, and as a regular Dropout watcher myself I can't wait to see what he comes up with next. 

Sudan Archives: Redefining the Violin

     The first time I heard a song by Sudan Archives was last year in my dorm when my roommate played “Nont for Sale” while we were studying. I was immediately captivated and curious as it sounded like no other music I’d heard before, consisting of an R&B flow/beat but also featuring violin at the same time. I started diving deeper into her discography and loved so many of her songs as they are so unique and unlike anything I had heard before. 

Brittney Parks first started experimenting with playing violin over self created loops whenever she had time between jobs and would upload them to SoundCloud, not taking it too seriously. She began making music under the name Sudan Moon, but after moving to LA went by Sudan Archives, as she is known today. In an interview she recalls her introduction to electronic African music through picking up a vinyl of Francis Bebey and loving the music. She dove deeper into this, reading and researching West African fiddle music, pushing her to keep producing and playing violin while blending it like Bebey did. When she was younger, she picked up violin by ear in church but was not interested as much as playing it in a “classical” way, so when she found West African fiddle music it inspired her to play her own way, not as an accompaniment but the star of the song, sometimes aggressive and other times soft. 

In an interview with Brittney, she described how she comes up with her music. She said she usually starts off with a melody in her head, and runs to her violin to record that part of the song. From there she uses loop stations and other music software applications to capture her melody and how she wants it to sound. She doesn't think in terms of “classical violin” or “pop violin” but rather plays how she feels while interconnecting both electronic and West African fiddle music in her own creative way. She describes her music as a cultural fusion, drawing from classical composition, Sudanese fiddling, Irish folk, and trap beats. She is not afraid to break barriers in her music, and is an incredibly creative and innovative musician. 

While Brittney Parks and Jennifer Doudna are creatives in very differing fields, they still share some similarities in their creative processes. They both went into fields wanting to create something new and never done before, for Brittney that was to use violin in a way that was not classical, and for Jennifer that was to create an accessible way to read and rewrite DNA. They challenged the limits of their fields, bringing these new ideas in and experimenting until they were satisfied with what they created. They both relied on experimentation for their work, for Brittney that was through trials of making different beats and layering it with violin, and for Jennifer that was working in the lab and conducting research that each time got her closer to discovering CRISPR. They are both incredible creatives, questioning what music could sound like and what science could look like through their innovative lenses.

Grant Perez: From Youtube Covers to International Tours

    Grant Perez is a Filipino-Australian singer, songwriter, and musician who is widely known for his blend of an energetic yet smooth mix of pop, indie, and jazz sounds. The songwriter’s most notable song being “Cherry Wine”, which has over 200K listens on Spotify alone, is one of Grant’s first singles off his first album “Conversations With The Moon” which was released in September of 2021. As of lately, he has been touring around the United States, Australia, and Europe. 

    Grant got his first exposure sharing song covers on Youtube from his home. From his bedroom, he began to grow his fanbase and supporters and from there, he slowly began writing on his own singles and eventually began releasing albums. With the rise in popularity in his works he got to open for the band Rex Orange Country’s tour and even landed an interview with Teen Vogue. Grant dives into how he creates music and what is generally the process and what his inspirations are. He describes how his Filipino roots inspire a lot of his sound as it “is all smooth and it’s all about love”. He believes that his sound comes from soft rock, from bands such as The Eagles and Bread mixed with sounds like Usher’s and Musiq SoulChild. Grant dedicates a lot of his inspiration and success to his family as they were the ones who helped initially push him to create and share his music and sound to the world. 

    For Grant, he attributes much of his rise to popularity to his single, Cherry Wine, which is by far his most popular song. Not only that, but it is also his most notable worldwide successful song. In addition to this, he is thankful for how this song has helped bridge a connection between him and his community. Similarly, In Makato Fujimura’s “Culture Care”, he insists on how art can act as the bridge between communities. In this case, between Grant Perez and whomever listens to his work. But in addition, a bridge between people’s emotions and an outlet for others to seek strength, comfort, and confidence in. Grant Perez’s mix of creations of love and heartbreak songs alongside his musical inspiration from soft rock, Filipino, pop, indie, and jazz roots create an outlet for him to share his love of music and be a safe haven for others to share and partake in. 

Listen to Grant Perez's Most Listened to Single: Cherry Wine !

George Orwell: A Warning to Future Generations

 

  

  In 1984, George Orwell uses art to shape long-term cultural consciousness and create a warning for future generations. He uses dystopian storytelling to not merely critique the contemporary political climate, but to warn future generations and shape cultural understanding of oppression, truth, and surveillance. 

    

    Makoto Fujimura addresses this type of art in Culture Care, "artists can think generationally, providing for a stronger foundation for deeper reflections in culture". By thinking beyond their moment in history, artists can pave the way for future societies and help them listen to history's warnings. 

    Orwell goes beyond his current culture to caution future societies about totalitarianism, surveillance, and language manipulation. He added concepts to global culture, such as Newspeak and doublethink, to shape how future generations discuss power and authoritarianism. Orwell gave future generations a vocabulary for oppression that would be used by creators to keep exploring political climates. 

    Similar themes of surveillance, authoritarianism, propaganda, and loss of individuality appear throughout the media that followed 1984. Works such as Fahrenheit 451, The Handmaid's Tale, and V for Vendetta present societies under extreme control, visions that once seemed like dramatic hypotheticals. Yet, as we examine modern political climates and technological developments, these once impossible warnings begin to become very apparent and realistic. Audiences are reminded that Orwell's concerns extend far beyond fiction. 

Farah Khan: A Love Letter to Bollywood

Om Shanti Om is considered one of the most celebrated films in Bollywood entertainment. It became the highest grossing Hindi film of the year when it was released in 2007. The film is a love letter to Bollywood with its nostalgic references, chart-topping soundtrack, star studded cast, and fantastical storytelling. It stars the named "King of Bollywood" Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone in her debut role. All this lead to Om Shanti Om winning the award for Best production design at the 55th national film awards and becoming a defining Bollywood film of the 2000s. All of this is under the directorial leadership of Farah Khan.

Farah Khan on set with lead actor Shah Rukh Khan

Om Shanti Om was only Khan’s second film after releasing her directorial debut with Main Hoon Na in 2004. Khan has been on the creative team for multiple other creative works and it was while she was working on the musical Bombay Dreams that the idea for Om Shanti Om came to her. She felt that the concept of the musical, a poor boy becoming a star, was unrealistic and this led her to add one of the biggest twists of the story: reincarnation. The movie focuses on a young struggling actor named Om and the way that he does become famous is after he dies and is reborn as the son of a successful actor. Khan created a fun and welcoming environment on set with many actors speaking fondly of her after their time on the film. Many lines in the movie were not in the script and were improvised by the actors instead showcasing Khan's willingness to listen to all voices apart of the project. 

Lead actress Deepika Padukone in the number "Dhoom Taana"

Om Shanti Om is an incredible genre-bending tale that manages to combine romance, drama, action, and comedy all into one musical masterpiece. The vibrant colors and staging gives the film a whimsical appeal that brings fun while the underlying tragedy of the story remains. The music and dance of the film captures the audience with its elaborate group numbers, romantic duets, and heartbreaking motifs. In The Creative Spark, author Augustin Fuentes writes on page 226 “We also dance. The movement of bodies is rhythmic, and sometimes arrhythmic, fashion…can be used to relieve stress, to flirt, to reinforce social bonds, and to tell stories.” both dance and music are used effectively in all of these ways in Om Shanti Om.