David E Shaw attends 2015 Curiosity Retreat

by David E Shaw

The 2015 Curiosity Retreat in Gateway Canyon, Colorado addressed issues ranging from astrophysics and big data, to the creative brain and conscious capitalism.

Author and historian David McCullough discussed the Art of Discovery, focusing on the game changing impact of the Wright brothers of Dayton, Ohio, who ushered in the era of human aviation more than a century ago. McCullough’s new book, The Wright Brothers, chronicles this amazing story.

As a group, we explored the “creator economy” with Paul Saffo, the human face of big data with Rick Smolan, “digital transcendence” with Jason Silva, quantum realities with Brian Greene, the US declaration of independence with Danielle Allen, the neuroscience of creativity with Nancy Andreasen, and other topics. We explored musical creativity with saxophonist Steve Coleman.

I moderated a session on the wonders of the oceans with my friend and legendary marine scientist Dr. Sylvia Earle. Sylvia has more than 6000 hours of scuba diving time and has inspired ocean stewardship efforts around the world.

At a Curiosity Project advisory board meeting we discussed the third major transformation in broadcast media: streaming video on demand (SVOD). Our ad-free SVOD service called “CuriosityStream” was launched in March 2015 and has attracted great attention.