This is My Property. I’m Putting Something on it
The Georgetown professor isn't a toy lover—he's trying to convey a philosophical idea about the nature of free will and the capacity of humans to remake the world around them.
https://reason.com/video/2022/05/23/meet-newton-howard-the-brain-scientist-who-put-giant-transformers-in-front-of-his-d-c-home/
----------------
In March of 2021, the brain scientist, inventor, and national security advisor Newton Howard erected two Transformers statues of Bumblebee and Optimus Prime outside his home in the District of Columbia's Georgetown neighborhood. His neighbors were furious and demanded that he take them down. Howard refused.
"With an abundance of real issues in the world…[why were] two sculptures…at the center of debate by such high intellectuals and high-powered people?" he asks.
They complained to the district's Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs and the federally funded Old Georgetown Board, which oversees the historic neighborhood. Howard was fined $20,000 and ordered to dismantle them.
After 11 years in the intelligence community, during which he worked as an analyst for the CIA, dictating to him what he was allowed to put on his property, he says, was a violation of the principles he had dedicated his career to upholding.
"This is my property," he tells Reason. "I put something on it."
But why Transformers? He's not a toy lover or a fan of the animated movies or TV shows. Instead, he's trying to convey a philosophical idea about the nature of free will and the capacity of humans to remake the world around them.
Photo: Taylor Crul - U.S. Air Force via CNP/picture alliance/ Consolidated News Photos/Newscom
Music: "Helix" by Break of Reality via Artlist; "Source Code" by Jimmy Svensson via Artlist; "Guardian Angel" by Ian Post via Artlist; "Moon Travel" by Roman P via Artlist; "Plastic Breath" by Tamuz Dekel via Artlist; "The Undertake" by Borrtex via Artlist;
"Fury" by Ardie Son via Artlist
Written and produced by Noor Greene; edited by Danielle Thompson; shot by Isaac Reese, Mike Koslap, and Aaron Schwartz; audio by Ian Keyser.
-
1:07:42
ReasonTV
8 days agoHow NPR lost its way | Mike Pesca | The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie
38.7K6 -
1:30:19
Flyover Conservatives
1 day agoPro-Life Advocate Facing 41 Months in Prison: Courageous Stand for Life and Faith - Bevelyn Beatty Williams; U.S. Debt Crisis Hits New High – Can It Be Fixed? - Dr. Kirk Elliott | FOC Show
55.9K17 -
54:33
LFA TV
1 day agoSurvey: 28 Percent of Democrats Wish Trump Were Assassinated | Trumpet Daily 9.19.24 9PM EST
66.1K22 -
49:12
Glenn Greenwald
1 day agoDems' Attacks on the Green Party, Israel/Gaza's Effect on 2024, and More with VP Candidate Butch Ware | SYSTEM UPDATE #337
84.7K112 -
1:38:08
Donald Trump Jr.
17 hours agoMake America Healthy Again, Interview with Robert F Kennedy Jr | TRIGGERED Ep.175
172K239 -
58:17
Josh Pate's College Football Show
10 hours agoWeek 4 Upset Alerts | Florida & Billy Napier Future | Biggest Vegas Movement | Cole Cubelic Joins
59.9K5 -
1:00:00
The StoneZONE with Roger Stone
11 hours agoPennsylvania is the Key to Trump Victory - w/ Cliff Maloney of the PA Chase | The StoneZONE
89.8K12 -
4:34:40
Tundra Gaming Live
17 hours agoThe Worlds Worst Horror Streamer Has Heart Attack Playing Phasmophobia
54.4K -
6:33:42
MissesMaam
14 hours agoManager Ma'am 💚✨
79.1K5 -
1:48:05
The Big Mig™
12 hours agoDHS -”5 Assassination Teams Actively Trying To Kill Trump”
97.6K22