OLP Are Spiritual Machines
By Ellen Chiu
Our Lady Peace's fourth album Spiritual Machines, derives its name from Ray Kurzweil's book, The Age Of Spiritual Machines - When Computers Exceed Human Intelligence. Stumbling upon it in a bookstore, OLP's guitarist Mike Turner admits that while it was initially the "book's nice, shiny cover" which caught his eye and made him pick it up, the promising critics' reviews led to his purchase.
A voracious reader, Mike was engaged in the reading of this book for two months for though the language was not difficult, nor was it textbook-thick, the issues within the book presented a major challenge. Mike reflects, "It's an important book with enormous ramifications. One idea would lead to nine or 10 other ideas," resulting in an endless cycle of deliberation.
Good pieces of literature and art are stimulating, they have the power to present the audience with a perspective previously unexplored, alter our mentality and even completely deconstruct prior assumptions. And Kurzweil's book does this. For example, Mike explains, "humans were not and are not the goal of the evolutionary process. We are the product of it. The next being may not be organic; it may be machine-based."
Kurzweil's book describes the near future in which the intelligence of computers surpasses that of humankind's, ultimately becoming our teachers, companions and lovers. Furthermore, The Age Of Spiritual Machines depicts a future of an improved living experience as the result of the merging of human sensitivity with artificial intelligence, a view which Mike, the self-described "idealist" and "optimist" shares:
"Computers may just be a better extension of ourselves. Technology's increased capacity for intelligence and awareness may lead to the making of better decisions and this may very well take us from our violent past." So no visions of a dark dystopia (think The Matrix) in this age of increased technological intelligence? Mike concedes that there is a definite potential for great destruction. However, "if computers are better at performing those decisions, should we be worried? No, not really."
So enthusiastic was Mike about the book that the controversial topics appeared repeatedly in conversation and led to Raine's eventual investigation of the book. Since then, the rest of the band has been absorbing the ideas through Mike and Raine's fascination with the book. And the title just seemed to lend itself naturally to the band's new concept record, the result of an "organic and collective mindset."
Not only is the book's impact evident in the title of OLP's album, but also within the band's work itself. After contacting Kurzweil personally through email, a correspondence developed, and the band found the author to be "wonderfully approachable." In fact Kurzweil even appears on the album to contribute some readings.
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