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As the tick to the flesh, the digital device to the psyche device. The remedy is a matter of Truth.

JOHN MACK, 2021

THE CALL

ON THE LINE/

_the choice

Our humanity is on the line. In the age of ever-increasing digital dependence, we find ourselves further and further divorced from ourselves, our community, and nature. We are currently deciding, rather unconsciously, as to whether we will carry our humanity with us into the future.

OUR CALLING/

_mission

Preserving our humanity in the Digital Age.

CALLING THE SHOTS/

_the need for higher education

Modern education is geared to serve the call of intellect rather than the call for self-awareness. Where intellect has created great tools to serve us, our lack of awareness points these tools against us; such is the result of superhuman technology in the hands of unaware users. What is needed is a Higher education—one that cultivates the inner seed of our humanity—to ensure we use our tools rather than allowing our tools to use us.
ANSWERING THE CALL/
_the opportunity
The Digital Age calls us to meet the rising digital tide in a shared vision of our humanity and its future. We assist in answering the call through expanding self-awareness. This is achieved through educational programming rooted in immersive experiences across the arts, culture, and nature, inclusive of publications and self-learning tools—each fostering and catalyzing a more balanced, nuanced and thoughtful perspective as we navigate the Digital Age.
CALLING IT OUT/

_vision

We envision a future where we remain grounded in our humanity—no matter the technological environment—ensuring we thrive in all that makes us human, individually, collectively, and with nature.

FOUNDER

John Mack is an author, artist and founder of the nonprofit, Life Calling, whose mission is to preserve our humanity in the Digital Age. Over the past decade John has expressed concern over the effects on our humanity in the wake of our increasing dependence on smart-devices. In September 2022 Mack debuted Life Calling’s signature program A Species Between Worlds: Our Nature, Our Screens in New York City, a public educational forum and immersive exhibition which serves as an invitation to contemplate our relationship to our devices and the surrounding world while inciting the introspection needed to prevent the loss of our humanity. A Species Between Worlds coincided with Mack’s publication of A Land Between Worlds: The Shifting Poetry of the Great American Landscape, a collection of poetry, and Notes to Selfie: Bits of Truth in a Phoney World, a volume of thoughts and aphorisms. Mack recently published Notes to Psyche: Mindful Thoughts for Thought-Filled Minds, part of the Handbook Series by Life Calling.

Mack was an honoree of The Explorer’s Club 50: Fifty people changing the world who the world needs to know about. He is a frequent speaker at conferences and universities on the subjects of technology, awareness and consciousness and has served as an adjunct lecturer for the Graduate program of Design at the University of Lisbon. Additionally, Mack serves as a board member of Fairplay, an organization that strives to create a world where kids can be kids, free from the false promises of marketers and the manipulations of Big Tech.

FOUR SIGNALS

Life Calling 4 signals

A SPECIES BETWEEN WORLDS

A Signature Program by Life Calling
In responding to the call for preserving our humanity in the Digital Age, A Species Between Worlds’ educational forum and immersive exhibition is an invitation to contemplate our relationship to our devices and the surrounding world while inciting the introspection needed to prevent the loss of our humanity.
_Immersive Photography Exhibit & Gamified Meditation

A Species Between Worlds is a gamified meditation examining the intersection of humanity and technology. Sparked by the Pokémon Go® craze and a subsequent stampede in Taipei in 2016, Mack has sought to explore the often slippery intersection of virtuality and reality through a technology-forward narrative arc that centers the individual and aims to foster balance and awareness between our technology and ourselves. Featuring more than 65 artworks including imagery of more than 50 U.S. National Parks and the Seven Wonders of the Natural World, the exhibition features a customized app, which guides visitors through a gamified psychological exploration framed by the artifice of the Pokémon Go® interface, which gradually fades as reality is restored.

_Forum

The A Species Between Worlds Forum combines thought-provoking artwork with an innovative program exploring the nexus of new technology and human behavior with a group of intersectional leaders from the fields of art, academia, technology, and business. Together, we seek to understand our relationship with technology through interactive panels, deep-dive conversations, town halls, partner events, performances, and more. The New York Forum featured programming partnerships with the David Lynch Foundation, the Center for Earth Ethics, Digital Fashion Week, Center for Humane Technology, Fairplay, New York Center for Living, The Explorer’s Club, and many others.

LECTURES

John Mack’s main lectures include A Walk in the Park: Exploring the Truth of Our Nature and The Future of Space Travel: Ascending Beyond the Gravity of Mind. He is currently designing a course curriculum in human awareness which includes the introduction of a never-before-seen map of human consciousness that illustrates the analogous phenomenon of inner realities and outer, digital worlds. Rather than constituting just a personal development tool, this model is meant to be available as an instrument that can be used and developed in multiple fields, such as psychology, anthropology, spirituality, sociology, politics, personal development, relationships, and more.
iade masterclasses
It’s HAI Time: Ensuring Human-Centeredness Before It’s Too Late
Lecture
CA, USA
May 2023
Freedom Matters Podcast

The Tools of Our Mind

Podcast Episode by Freedom Matters. Host and Producer: Georgie Powell

Freedom Matters

live on Apple, Anchor, Spotify.
November 10, 2022

The Slowdown Podcast
John Mack on Why Reality Cannot Actually Be “Augmented”

Podcast Episode sponsored by Grand Seiko

At a Distance / The Slowdown
live on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and Stitcher
October 24, 2022
Yuval

Leaping off the Timeline . John Mack & Yuval Noah Harari

In Conversation

Awareness 1 on 1

Tel Aviv, Israel

April 20, 2022

iade masterclasses

Charting Paradise

Lecture

GLEX Summit

Azores, Portugal

July 2022

iade masterclasses
A Walk in the Park: Exploring the Truth of our Nature
Presentation
NYC, USA
April 2022
iade masterclasses

The inverse universe / The vertical homonym

Workshop

Lisbon, Portugal
December 2021
Coda Summit

Consciousness merges with the algorithm

Presentation

Scottsdale, AZ

November 2021

To inquire about booking speaking engagements please contact us.

BOOKS

A Land Between Worlds

The Shifting Poetry of the Great American Landscape

Covering nearly fifty of the most iconic U.S. National Parks, Mack uses poetry, landscape photography, and an interactive augmented reality app to invite us into a deep conversation about the encroaching digital landscape, our attachments to it, and the uncertain fate of our nature.

Know More

Notes to Selfie

Bits of Truth in a Phoney World

A pocket-sized book of thoughts, contemplations, and aphorisms, Notes to Selfie addresses complex issues of human consciousness, asking us to question who we are the Digital Age. Philosophical, witty, concerning, and eye-opening, the truths in Notes to Selfie serve as simple cues to deepen our understanding of our humanity vis-à-vis the relentlessly encroaching digital landscape.
Notes to Psyche
Mindful Thoughts for Thought-Filled Minds

A pocket-sized book of ideas, contemplations, and aphorisms, Notes to Psyche challenges the very limits of thought. Philosophical, witty, challenging, and mind-opening the observations and questions in Notes to Psyche are sparks to ignite higher consciousness. What introspection and awareness might such illumination open for your own inner navigation?

PRESS

Yahoo Finance
June 2023

Immersive Exhibit, A.I. VERSUS HUMANITY launches at and in partnership with London Design Biennale for A.I. thought-leadership Forum at Somerset House

PR Newswire
“Following his recent US address at Stanford University’s Institute for Human-Centred AI in California, John Mack and his non-profit, Life Calling, will take the London stage with lectures and discussion exploring the human relationship with existing and emerging digital technologies. Themed “AI will never surpass our humanity”, Mack will extend his unique stance on such complex issues on humanity and psychology vis a vis the digital age. (…)”

Aesthetica Magazine

June 2023

Are Humans a species between worlds?

Aesthetica Magazine

“Humans are a species between worlds,” John Mack says. “Smartphones, designed to be tools, have become our reality — and with every swipe, tap and pinch, our humanity is being exported, little by little. (…)
SME Magazine
May 2023
Life Calling founder John Mack speaks at Stanford’s Institute for Human-Centered AI
SME Magazine
“Author and artist John Mack addressed Stanford’s Institute for Human-Centered AI on Wednesday, May 10 on the rise of AI, the existential threat it poses to humanity, and the opportunity for a deeper connection to ourselves (…)”
BusinessMatters
April 2023
Calling It Out: Our use of mobile phones is the seed to irreversible climate change
BusinessMatters
What might the world’s first mobile phone call, made on this day 50 years ago, have to do with irreversible climate change? asks author and artist John Mack, founder of Life Calling (…)
Time Out New York
September 2022
This new Chelsea gallery show will make you rethink your relationship with your cellphone
Rossilynne Skena Culgan
“Called “A Species Between Worlds: Our Nature, Our Screens,” it’s a free exhibition running through September 30 at Skylight Modern (537 West 27th Street) that explores our relationship with our smart devices. The two-story show features photography and poetry by John Mack presented alongside a month-long forum with high-profile speakers, including Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen and Yuval Noah Harari, the bestselling author of Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind. (…)”
International Business Times

August 2022

Life Calling: The Illustrious New Movement Tasked With Rescuing Us From The Tyranny Of Tech
IBT UK Contributor
John Mack is a man on a mission. Having spent the last two decades working as a photographer in Mexico, France and most recently Spain, Mack is now swapping the photography life for an altogether different one. He has become an author, poet and campaigner during the inexorable rise of technology, who wants to wake up the human race before it sleepwalks into total digital enslavement. (…)”

2022 June

Life Calling presents A Species Between Worlds: our Nature, our Screens.

“An immersive exhibition and forum examines the intersection of humanity and technology.

Debuting in September 2022, in New York City

The Work of Artist and Author John Mack, A Species Between Worlds is an Experience Grounded in Technology, Photography and Psychology. (…)”

2021 December

Announcing the Creation of Life Calling Initiative

“The Life Calling Initiative was announced today in New York City.. It responds to our increasing reliance on technology in the Digital Age, and the various challenges this reliance presents to humanity. Our new technological tools may be moving us away from the experience of the natural world. The newly established Life Calling Initiative explores this nexus of new technology and human behavior. Its fundamental mission is to both raise awareness and to develop educational
strategies to best avert these dangers. (…)”

STAY IN TOUCH

To receive information about upcoming programming and events, please fill in the fields below. For other inquiries, please contact us at info@life-calling.org

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