My Dialogue with Johnny: Finding the Creativity in Madness

Now that the media circus has died down somewhat, a 2016 dialogue I had with Johnny gives a view of the demons he has wrestled with, his creative energy, his intelligence and his gentle humbleness.

About a year ago I re-posted the footage of a dialogue I did in March 2016 with Johnny Depp before about 2500 people in Phoenix AZ. The dialogue took place associated with a workshop the institute I headed held on the subject of Pattern Processing in the Human Brain and in Machines.

At the workshop neuroscientists and computer scientists discussed pattern processing mechanisms—in particular ones that had gone wrong, to both gain a better understanding into the workings of the human mind, and also to help ensure that AI designers could avoid similar mistakes in machine learning. Associated with each such workshop we tried to host a public event in order to help inspire and better connect the public with the exciting ideas being discussed.

I had talked to Johnny for some time during the year before the actual dialogue about doing a public discussion together. He is naturally a shy person, and I was grateful that he trusted me in such a public forum. The idea of connecting creativity and madness, in personal context, as a way of discussing his own work and interests was something he was interested in discussing, and it was a perfect complement to the meeting we were having.

I think the discussion revealed a great deal about how to cope with what could be various mental roadblocks to success, but it also gave a somewhat unique and window into the mind of someone who has touched the lives of so many people with his performances, and is clearly beloved by millions of people around the planet. It demonstrated his deep interests in a variety of areas, his wide reading, his humility and gentleness, and overall presents a picture that you don’t get with the standard pap celebrity interviews on television.

Given recent events, the discussion takes on some new interest, so I thought I would link to it here.

The video is in two parts. The first part is our discussion, and the second part is the audience Q&A that took place after intermission. I hope you enjoy it.

Part 1

Part II: