Many hats can be worn in the world of entertainment and performance art. Local comedian, playwright, and musician Wes Borg will be changing his chuckles to a more serious tone when he speaks at the upcoming Tedx Victoria conference.
Borg will talk about the importance of resistance in all human growth and how we stop growing when life is too easy. Although this is a serious subject, he still promises some humorous moments.
“As modern-day humans, we try to make our lives more convenient,” says Borg, “and how we’re trying to build robots that make our lives more convenient by having robot answering machines, etc. Instead of helping us, they’ll have the opposite effect on how we function as humans.”
The inspiration for Borg’s talk came from moments he’s had in his life where he’s realized that people are starting to depend on robots and machines that actually make us go backwards instead of forwards.
“One day at the gas station the automatic door was broken and a lady opened the door, but let go too early. The door ended up smashing her in the face, so we both had a little chuckle over it,” says Borg. “That humanly moment wouldn’t have happened if the robot doors were working.”
Borg says we don’t have to talk to each other anymore or even go through the checkouts at some grocery stores because we can go through self-checkouts. He notes that we can spend all day without even having any human contact.
“Without socialization we’ll lose the ability to connect with each other, and since humans are just a small little thing in this unforgiving universe, we have to civilize, work in groups, cooperate, procreate, and give a shit about each other if we want to make it as a species,” he says.
Borg is very familiar with human interaction, considering he started his comedy career at 15 years old. He used to recite Monty Python lines in his class and it paid off one day when he was asked to join an improv tournament.
“As a comedian I try to cheer people up, at the very least, and try to make them have a better day than they did before,” says Borg.
He admits that there are also less noble reasons for being a comedian.
“But us comedians also do it for our own selfish purposes, to feel good about ourselves.”
Tedx Victoria 2012: Momentum
November 17
Victoria Conference Centre
tedxvictoria.com