Human 33: Jess Herrington

Neuroscience PhD student, artist, writer

Jess is an artist, writer, interactive designer, and is currently completing her PhD in visual neuroscience. Her work merges art and science by creating surreal worlds in augmented and virtual reality for scientific, creative and educational purposes. Through her work, Jess explores how we represent ourselves in the age of the internet by altering self-perception through play and interaction. As well as presenting at international vision conferences, art galleries and festivals, Jess has collaborated with the Australian National University, the National Portrait Gallery, the National Gallery of Australia, Adobe and Instagram. Jess has published in scientific journals, and writes about art, science and technology for publications such as Sci Art in America, Lateral, Runway Experimental Art and Medium.

Jess is a human mammal. Here are her thoughts:

What brings you the most joy in life?

My family. I also love learning new things!

What does success mean to you?

Feeling happy and satisfied with life. Of course, what that means for each individual is different.

What do you see as your greatest achievement?

Having my son. I’m also about to have a second baby, during a pandemic!

What are you most grateful for?

I feel like I’ve been lucky despite the pandemic. This is because most of my work is digital, so my work opportunities have only increased. I’m also very thankful to live in a house with a backyard during this most recent lockdown. I was in an apartment for the last one, and it was not so great.

What is something most people don’t know about you?

I love living in cities now, but I actually grew up in the country and I’m the eldest of 5. When I was a kid, I really wanted to be a vet and I was obsessed with knowing everything I could about horses and dogs. To this day, I’ve retained a lot of obscure horse and dog facts.

Who or what has had the biggest influence on your life?

The internet.

What do you regret?

Not taking more risks as a teenager and in my early twenties. I was very shy and not very assertive.

Has there been a defining moment in your life? Can you tell us about it?

I finished my Honours degree in art with a less than perfect grade (shock horror, I know!). This was a blessing in disguise, it made me a lot more motivated and gave me the freedom to try new things (like neuroscience) which hadn’t been a large part of my life before that.

As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I wanted to be an artist or a vet.

What advice would you give your younger self?

Throw yourself in and do it! Just say yes and figure it out afterwards.

What is the most important thing we can teach kids in school?

So many things, it’s hard to pick just one. Perhaps critical thinking, creativity, and coding.

If you could have a conversation with anyone, living or dead, who would you choose and why?

Bill Murray. Or Tina Fey. I love the creativity of comedy, and I think it’s such a great thing to apply to real life.

What do you doubt most?

I’m not a fan of the sloth as an animal. I don’t like them or trust them. I doubt them, their intentions, and abilities.

When did you last have a significant change of mind?

The pandemic has allowed me to think differently about where I want to live, and my priorities in life. A silver lining.

What is the role of luck in our lives?

Everything is down to luck. Of course, you can influence your luck, but whether you can do that is also down to luck.

Do you have a favourite quote? What is it? Why do you like it?

I like this quote by Douglas Adams. It just sums up life for me.

"Anything that happens, happens.
Anything that, in happening, causes something else to happen, causes something else to happen.
Anything that, in happening, causes itself to happen again, happens again.
It doesn't necessarily do it in chronological order, though."

What would you do with your life if you had unlimited financial resources?

I would give a lot of money away. But it would be great to have houses in different countries and travel between them. Barring a pandemic of course.

What concept/fact/idea should every human on the planet understand?

The scientific method is a pretty useful one.

Do human beings have free will?

No, but we have the illusion of free will, and maybe that’s good enough.

Do you believe in God?

No.

Could we be living in a simulated universe?

Maybe? I’m not fully convinced by the logical arguments for it. It reminds me a lot of the philosophical brain in a vat thought experiment, but with more brains.

Will the continual development of technology have a net positive or negative influence on humanity?

I’d like to be technologically optimistic and think it’s a net positive, but of course there will be problems to continually overcome.

What is the single greatest achievement of humanity?

Control of fire?

What do you see as the biggest existential threat to humanity?

Probably climate change.

What does it mean to live a good life?

Having good relationships with the people that are important to you.

What is a good death?

A quick and painless one.

Thanks for your time, Jess!

Twitter: Jess_Herrington

Instagram: jess.herrington

Website: jessherrington.com

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