Terra Lumina – an Album Inspired by Science, by John Boswell and William Crowley

December 18, 2012 By 3 Comments

“I love big ideas…but those ideas still have to compete in the marketplace…If you want those ideas to reach anyone you gotta make them sing.” – Jason Silva

If Humanist values are going to sweep the culture, we gotta make them sing. We have to find ways to convey our ideas and values in ways which don’t only stimulate the mind but which also set the heart aflame. We have to communicate with every mechanism at our disposal – theatre, dance, image, film, architecture, and particularly music – if we are to compete both with religions and with the surrounding commercial culture (which does little to promote ethical values).

That’s why I’m so excited that Terra Lumina, a science-inspired album by John D. Boswell (of Symphony of Science fame) and vocalist William Crowley, has just been released for digital download today! Boswell’s work is inspiring, magical, wondrous – he creates some of the finest expressions of Humanist values in song I’ve ever encountered – and I highly recommend this exquisite work, as well as his Symphony of Science and Remixes for the Soul albums. Boswell takes the heady, big ideas which Humanists tend to love so much, and makes them sing.

Go buy it.

Filed Under: Ingersoll's Voice, Music Tagged With: , , , , 3 Comments
  • Baal

    OT:
    “If Humanist values are going to sweep the culture, we gotta make them sing.”
    Oddly, in the current market of ideas, the most effective route might be to paint humanism as an exclusive tribe with a narrow mindset that can be easily leveraged for othering. I often feel that I’m pushing uphill to get inclusiveness and broader identities adopted rather than label adoption with categorical thinking.
    On Topic:
    I’m tempted to get the album for the nearly absurdist notion of singing science.

    • James Croft

      The tension between establishing strong in-group ties versus remaining open and non-tribalistic is a tough one, which I think about a lot. Currently, I tend to think nontheist groups err on the side of caution and are too afraid to create a strong in-group mentality, thus disabling them from being truly effective communities. On the other hand, I’m acutely aware of the dangers of overdoing it. Striking the right balance is tricky…

      • Baal

        Thanks for the reply. I think the inherent virtues of humanism provide some protection against overdoing it. The goal of human flourishing and minimizing harms limits most of the strong in group disadvantages. Were we to see humanists floating purity arguments, using social shaming as a tool or relying on fear to compel adherence then it’d be time to dial back on the push for in-group unity.