Lo and Behold: Reveries of the Connected World

Werner Herzog has a long history of making some of the best and most well researched documentaries I've ever seen, and this one might just be the most relevant in today's world. Lo and Behold focuses on the effects things such as the internet have had on our planet, as well as all the things that can be considered related to the internet such as AI, video games, and hackers. While the film is not that short, it's hard to describe its contents since so many technical terms get thrown around. He begins at the University of California where, at the end of the 60s, pioneering work on the internet itself started, and we get a look at the very first computer installed there. Werner then interviews a bunch of people who work in various fields pertaining to technology, such as self-driving cars, autonomous robots that play football with each other, and radio telescopes that search the universe for any auditory signs of intelligent life. He even talks to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who even at this stage wants to send people (and the internet) to Mars, and believes it will be feasible soon. He's convinced that after the initial difficulties of establishing a colony on mars is achieved, giving the people living there internet access will be a pretty easy task: mars' hostile environment means internet coverage would only need to cover the limited amount of structures in the colony itself, which (according to Musk) would only require a few satellites. Of course, relaying information back to Earth would be somewhat of a problem, as the two planets are often at varying distances to each other. Herzog speaks with people that develop cars that are able to drive themselves, which is ironically a business Elon has been getting into in recent times. Someone tells Werner about how even though there are still many advancements to be made, self-driving cars already have a feature that enables them to learn from their own mistakes, and not only this, they're able to transfer the information to other cars. This allows the designers to continuously make lifesaving adjustments to the vehicles as soon as new information becomes available. Next, Werner deals with a serious subject, and devotes a whole chapter as to how the internet has been responsible for just as much evil as good. In 2006, a teenage girl named Nikki was killed in a motor collision in california. Pictures of her corpse (which were almost unrecognizable) were posted online, and within hours, millions of people had seen them. Due to the anonymous nature of the internet, some people will go out of their way to post extremely offensive and abhorrent things that you normally couldn't get away with in real life, and many users of different websites began taunting Nikki's family over this incident. Because of these cowardly attacks, her family has completely withdrawn from using the internet, and they are convinced it is immoral and evil rather than just bad. Unfortunately, the online world is full of people like this because there's no one to tell them they can't behave this way. It really should be against the law, but with no practical way to enforce it, it will remain a fantasy. Finally, Werner discusses the implications of hacking and artificial intelligence, the latter having a really big effect on the present. A guy who was a former hacker himself reveals some insight into the world of cybercriminal activity. Apparently, people are the weak link in cybersecurity operations, not technology itself. If you have a really well-protected company that has an expensive firewall and enviable antivirus software, all it takes is someone to persuade or bribe someone at that company, and the hacker is in. As for AI, some people being interviewed are convinced that within the next 60 years or so most manual labor jobs will be performed by robots, as they do repetitive tasks well. We have a long way to go however, since even insects are capable of more advanced actions than most robots. The internet is such a massive place, assembling a book of every user on it would stretch on for 72 miles, and nobody can predict what it will end up doing in the future. Once again, Herzog impresses me. I didn't really agree with Elon's plan of making mars a second home for humanity itself, since even if it works out someday, people will be restricted to living in bubbles because the whole planet is a barren rock that is -150 degrees. Werner does give his own thoughts on different subjects during the film but mostly lets the interviewees speak for him. Some of the concepts are beyond even my level of understanding when it comes to computers, but overall, this documentary was a smartly made, intelligently laid out presentation on arguably the most important innovation of this era.

It's interesting how Werner Herzog doesn't even own a cell phone, but his examination of the Internet can be more smart, unique, terrifying, entertaining, weird, and funny than anyone else's.

"Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World" is Werner Herzog's latest documentary film, and it takes an extraordinary look at the Internet. There's plenty of screen time given to both how it affects humans, and the science behind it all. There's hackers and robots, as well as stories about Internet addiction and abuse. There's comedy, tragedy, horror-and it's all real, and it's really, really fascinating. Sometimes when a film covers a lot of material it becomes overwhelming, and tonally all over the place, but Herzog manages to balance everything just perfectly so the whole film works very well and never feels like too much.

There's plenty of fun to be had watching "Lo and Behold". It's not just an average, boring science documentary, it's a genuinely entertaining movie. Some of the most fascinating people you'll ever see are interviewed, and they tell some of the most fascinating stories you'll ever hear, and it's all filled with humor and, at times, even absurdity. It's fun to watch, and it will make you think. There's plenty of questions raised that are amazing, and there's plenty raised that are scary. It's a movie unlike any other I've seen be released this year, and it will blow your mind!

I have seen Werner's name and jumped on it. Wow! Must see it.

Minute after minute it becomes more painful. An exercise in ignorance, a glorification of stupidity. Back in the late 1970s there was no Internet, only ArpaNET. Yet the director and his ignorant crowd find the Internet in 1969! And what a wonderful thing! When all your life you have used pen and paper and now, an old man, someone shows you the magic of Skype, sure, it looks magical. But when you look at the protocols of the Internet, how they were built, how they were simply a way some bearded geeks made computers actually talk in English words between them, it becomes scary. No encryption. No privacy. Not because the ones designing the internet ever cared about privacy. That was way beyond their ability. The broken email protocol in which anybody can inject emails and pretend to be someone else. All the identifying bits. The lack of certification, because they all knew each other. A mess. A disgusting mess that even today seems impossible to fix. Yet it remains the only option simply because nobody has the resources to start a second project.

And all are competing in who can be more ignorant. Did you know that on the Space Station one module communicates with another module on the Space Station through the Internet? The people inside might suffocate because some security cameras are trying to download the latest Xmen movie. Lawrence Krauss, the specialist into the Origins of the Universe. Actually a clown specializing in talking for big sums of money. Did he program something for the Internet? He is a physicist. Was Internet started in his University lab? Nothing at all. He is there to talk about "will it have its own consciousness?" He has no idea. But he has enough fans that he was inserted to help the box office.

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I just saw this film at the SF Film Festival. I thought it was excellent. It was far better than I expected. I am not a tech person and assumed I would not really appreciate the subject matter. I only went to see it because I usually enjoy Herzog films and figured I would give it a chance.

Wow, it kind of blew my mind to see the range of material that was covered. I was quite impressed that he managed to cover such a large canvas and each segment was fascinating. He created 10 segments, each focusing on a different perspective on tech. I really liked the fact that he started from the beginnings of the Internet and interviewed many of the earliest key people involved. This record of their experiences makes the film an invaluable document of history.

I also really liked the fact that he confronted some of the very serious problems that the Internet has created in our world and didn't just focus on the wonderful aspects.

Definitely check out this film, whether you love the Internet or hate it, there is great stuff here to ponder....

As another reviewer pointed out, this documentary lacked somewhat in depth, mostly due to the sheer number of topics covered (I believe there were 10). That's quite a few for a 98 minute work, so don't expect a terribly lengthy discussion on any one topic. Nonetheless, I thought it was highly entertaining with plenty of dry, computer nerdy humor while also managing to squeeze in enough serious commentary to make this overall a very thought provoking documentary.

Each topic is (obviously) related to the internet and what has developed from and within it, and each topic is covered primarily through interviews with experts in various fields (for many of the experts interviewed, their enthusiasm for the subject is palpable and quite endearing), with a few breaks for personal interest stories related to a given topic. For the most part, the topics are covered in chronological order.

To me, the early days of the internet, artificial intelligence, and the "internet of me" were the best sections, but all were worthwhile. The sections on AI and "the internet of me" in particular really make you wonder what the world will look like in 20 or 30 years. It's difficult to think of another invention or innovation that has changed society as pervasively or as quickly as the internet has. This film does a nice job of capturing that recent history and imaginatively foreshadowing what might be just around the corner.