Spectrum of Spirit: A Digital Sanctuary for Spiritual Discourse and Community

The "Spectrum of Spirit" blog features insightful articles, essays, and reflections penned by the founder, Paul, and diverse guest contributors. Focusing on contemporary spirituality, the blog offers regular updates with weekly themes and seasonal reflections, fostering ongoing engagement and a deeper understanding of spiritual practices and trends.

What If Stories Could Connect Us to the Past, Inspire the Present, and Envision the Future?

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By

Paul Hudson

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7–10 minutes

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From a Biblical perspective, stories are everything. Without stories, there is no Bible. I believe without stories, there is no religion, there is no understanding, and there is no expression. Without Moses telling the story of origin to the newly freed Hebrew people, without the disciples telling the story of Jesus’ life, without John telling the story of his vision of the end times, the bible has no substance. I believe stories are what bridge people to one another, but also can individualize one’s experience. I believe the ancient epics around the world, the way history interprets these epics, and the visual representations of these epics, recreate seasons of humanity that were not experienced by the contemporary world. I believe stories can create space for insights and connections can be made.

I believe storytelling is one of human’s most powerful superpowers, to explore a world filled with misunderstanding. I believe storytelling started as an oral tradition to create culture and tradition, however, the storytelling realm evolves on a daily basis. I believe technology moves storytelling from oral tradition, to a still art tradition, writing tradition, moving images tradition, and now a Generative Artificial Intelligence tradition. I believe storytelling can bring pride to an individual or a group of people in both positive and negative expressions. I believe intentional storytelling can open up new creative pathways in one’ spirit, sparking the imagination of what is unseen. I believe storytelling can influence your own understanding as well as the audience you are telling the story to. I believe intentional storytelling can inspire reflection of one’s own story and the story of a group one has previously ascribed to or currently finds belonging in.

Technological Stories

I love Generative AI. Generative AI has been one of my new fascinations over the past couple of years and has assisted my exploration of different perspectives in my spiritual journey. It challenges me to think in ways I haven’t been able to challenge myself before. Though I would caution taking everything Generative AI produces as fact, I do believe the technology can provoke curiosity. Generative AI has developed very fast, not only providing written responses to prompts, but also being able to produce images and videos. I imagine if humanity would respect AI enough to process the written works that shaped our society, AI could offer a perspective removed from the bias of human experience.

Stay Spiritual released a video, reacting to a trailer of “Mahabharat: An Eternal War” by Augmentables1. After watching the video, James and Justin share their thoughts on the Generative AI produced work. James opens up the conversation commenting on how far from perfect the trailer is, but is impressed by how much Generative AI can put together already2. James thinks it will only be a few years before we have full fledged movies made from Generative AI3. Justin responds with a question, wondering how much time passed from tube tv, to black and white, to color, to choppy4. Justin continues, wasn’t it just a couple years ago humans developed Generative AI and is amazed the video has any sort of cohesion5. Justin is surprised that some characters look computer generated while other characters look hyper realistic, and Justin wonders why AI couldn’t keep the consistency between characters6. James notices people’s comments, “this is the end of Hollywood”, but thinks the movie industry could save itself a lot of money using AI for some of their releases7. James asks if Justin would pay to go see a movie in the movie theatre if he knew it was 100% AI generated8. Justin responds he probably would, not quite yet, but could see himself in a few years because it’ll be undeniable9. Justin shares that in your life, things will come to an end, or seem to come to an end, or change and recommends getting used to things changing10.

The Generative AI used by Augmentables brought visuals to a story I have heard bits and pieces of. The AI tools used in the video brought life to spoken and written words from many seasons ago. The ancient epic of Mahabharat was made into a modern spectacle. The fundamental story of a group of people can now be shared with a global audience with engaging sounds and videos. The themes central to the Mahabharat, like duty and spirituality, now resonate with a global culture through the visually compelling Generative AI trailer.

Though Generative AI brings a lot of positives to the film industry, there are two sides to the coin. Without real people acting and creating the cinematic world, there may be some level of authenticity lost in the production. I believe Generative AI does not have the emotional intelligence of humans yet, which brings the challenge of AI making media that is culturally sensitive or aware of our current world’s environment. Lastly, the artwork of these sacred texts could lose its integrity when Generative AI technology attempts to reinterpret the work from its perspective. I believe every type of storytelling has pros and cons, and I believe as we move deeper into the digital area, these are some areas of concern as we tell more and more technological stories.

A Monumental Story

While I was getting my undergrad degree, I learned that some Nazi propaganda referenced the ancient Greek and Roman empires. I believe this was used to encourage the Nazis to see themselves as the descendants of the great empire and step into a modern version of their ancestors. It is no surprise to me Adolf Hitler used this type of propaganda to influence his followers to contribute to his cause. As much as the Western world has impacted our contemporary world, I believe the way European culture has adopted and adapted stories has affected identity in our modern world. I believe the German, the French and the British all used their discoveries to best apply their previous understanding to their findings. Though there have been people who used their findings in the way Hitler did, there are also scientists who have used their findings to admire culture, crossing the power of their heritage with prominent appreciation for others.

Cultural Diversity released a short showcasing a British scientist’s exploration of Algeria’s Ancient Roman architecture11. The short opens with a split screen, the top half has Arabic words mixed with the English words “Mary” and “beard”12. The bottom half of the screen is a landscape of what I assume is Algeria, there are Arabic words on the top of the bottom screen as well as an Algerian flag and a purple logo with “dz” and Arabic words13. The video is accompanied with intro music that has an upbeat feel to it14. We then see a woman scientist sitting down turning towards the camera as her body is positioned in a different direction15. The woman starts speaking in English followed by English subtitles16. After she speaks, another unseen woman translates her English words to Arabic with her voice amplified higher than the original speaker17. The woman says “Algeria is no stranger to the conflicts of empire, to put it mildly. From the ancient Phoenicians, through the Arabs and Ottomans, to the French, and that’s not to mention the Romans. In fact, it’s in Algeria that some of the most impressive Roman remains in the whole world are to be found. And they have really important stories to tell”18. The woman is then seen in an open, ancient-appearing field, walking with the playback speed increased19. The music changes giving feelings of adventure and exploration as she steps through the ruins of the land20. The short finishes with the scientist talking about the landscape in detail without being able to hear her audio21.

Culturaldiversity did an exceptional job of giving a short speed run of what I imagine is an informational and entertaining documentary. As the scientist pointed out in the short, Ancient Rome had a significant impact in Algeria for a substantial period of time. The ruins are proof of Roman architectural ideas existing in the land we now know as Algeria. The structures are a testament to the layered history the scientist introduces the short with. The Phoenicians, Arabs, Ottomans, French, and Romans all blended their influence with the indigenous people to further add to the complex culture of modern Algerian.

Algeria holds remnants of ancient civilization that has been documented and shared with the world. However, I don’t believe all of our countries have had the ability to preserve their stories through writing as well as the Ancient Romans did. It disappoints me that we probably don’t have the written record of every civilization that has ever existed, yet I would encourage you to search for the history of your land. I would encourage you to take pride in the land you live in, not just in terms of taking care and sustaining the environment, but pride in who you identify with that has come before you. I would encourage you to allow a positive version of pride to bring you a connection to your ancestors, both through blood and through shared space. Additionally, I would encourage you to connect to yourself and those around you who you trust along with allowing this unity to be a driving force in your life. I would encourage you to embrace this connective force, building it to build a more appreciative life. With this newfound appreciation, I believe we could live in deeper wonder of the cultural landmarks around the world and the collection of monumental stories associated with the land.

Call to Storytelling

Invite others stories. Share technologies. Create monumental moments. Own your spirituality. Acknowledge cultural stories. Engage with others’ artistic vision. Familiarize yourself with Generative AI. Take pride in your narratives. Reflect on videos. Tell your stories of importance. Continue to reimagine. Weave your connections. Treasure timeless traditions. Make space to call others to your story.

Bibliography

  1. Stay Spiritual, “Mahabharat AI Generated Video I Foreigners Hindu Reaction Video,” YouTube, December 3, 2024, accessed December 4, 2024, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKjI5vGq6N0&t=142s. ↩︎
  2. Stay Spiritual ↩︎
  3. Stay Spiritual ↩︎
  4. Stay Spiritual ↩︎
  5. Stay Spiritual ↩︎
  6. Stay Spiritual ↩︎
  7. Stay Spiritual ↩︎
  8. Stay Spiritual ↩︎
  9. Stay Spiritual ↩︎
  10. Stay Spiritual ↩︎
  11. Culturaldiversity, “العالمة البريطانية المشهورة تتغنى تفتخر بالتاريخ الجزائري الاثار الرومانية الجزائرية لها اهمية كبيرة,” YouTube, December 3, 2024, accessed December 4, 2024, https://www.youtube.com/shorts/CIBIbwhAHyc. ↩︎
  12. Culturaldiversity ↩︎
  13. Culturaldiversity ↩︎
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  21. Culturaldiversity ↩︎

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