Forest 404
What is Forest 404?
Introduction:
Quick! Look around, try to spot at least one tree close by, now imagine if we omitted this tree from existence, and followed by another, and another, and we continued this process until eventually there were no more trees inexistent on this planet. What would we do then? Will we humans be able to survive? And will A. I take over if humans can survive no longer? These are some of the questions you will likely ponder when listening to this engrossing podcast, known as Forest 404.
Unlike other podcasts, Forest 404 is diverse; instead of the same monotonous continuation of a story, Forest 404 is structured in a way that each episode is then followed by a soundscape, this includes the background audio played in the episode and allows the listener to experience it individually without any other audio distractions. Along with this, Forest 404 includes pod talks which are factual discussions from a range of guest speakers, including musicians, bioethicists and anthropologists who guide the audience through the themes and issues that are presented by the podcast.
Forest 404 is one-of-a-kind; this sci-fi thriller intends to give its listeners an enhanced audio experience. This podcast depicts a world in which forests and all other forms of nature have been erased from existence. In this society, only one species rules the planet, and it’s Artificial Intelligence. After a data crash, known as The Cataclysm, protagonist, Pan, discovers a sound recording of an enigmatic sound known as a rainforest and intrigued by this, she becomes determined to hunt down the truth and uncover the reality of the slow world (which is our present world). However, will Pan’s journey lead her to something far greater than a tree?
Additionally, Forest 404 has a supplementary intention far more valuable than the sole purpose of entertainment. Forest 404 was created with the intention of it being a social experiment, designed to boost understanding of people’s thoughts and emotions to sounds based on nature.
Episodes:
Forest 404 is a podcast set in a futuristic world where a virus of the extinct nature has escaped into the world of robotic people.
The story begins and is told from the perspective of Pan, who’s job is to listen to old recordings and decide if they are worth the memory space they take up. While stumbling through these files, she comes across a recording of a 21st century rainforest. Like never before, she was mesmerized and remained stubborn to hold onto the sound despite warnings from her boss, Daria. Due to her negligence to comply, Daria, as well as cyborg peacekeeping services, begin to chase her down through the muddled, vertical cities of the future.
Pan is desperate to not only run in order to save her memories, but to also uncover the hidden, dirty truth behind them. The contents of the sounds are described as “the breach”, and the sound a “virus.” Many warnings come her way, but Pan pays little attention to this and continues to excel to her final goal of knowledge.
She passes through many obstacles on her questioning journey, and after seeking advice from interlocutors (wisdom people) and brain transplants, she finds herself running towards the oldest, and only real human alive, Theia. Once at Theia’s hideout she discovers the truth about the world and what it has become. Her own identity is revealed as a robot and so is everyone in society’s. An algorithm based AI had taken over the human population. Climate change had progressed so rapidly that most of the world had become uninhabitable. Nature and all living things were extinct, leaving the world to be run by human-like robots. All that was left of the “slow world” was Theia’s one tree and the forest soundtrack, which was designed to make the robots go mad, which it proved to do.
Nearing the conclusion of the podcast story, Pan is caught, and many of her friends die as a result. Despite the developed tension and somewhat conflicting ideas between them, Pan and Daria decide to team up to release the sounds of the virus, nature sounds into the world. Knowing the dreadful repercussions which could occur, they decide to do this as they outweigh the dangers by the idea that everyone must realise their situation and the world they live in.
The ability for robots like Pan to have a mind of their own is both a surprising and scary realisation during the plotline. It provokes thought about how doomed our world could be if AI continues to develop and become more prevalent in our daily lives. Through this, the episodes can serve as not only entertainments, but a warning for us all, and a call for action to open our eyes to climate change and the AI takeover which is progressing. Overall, the story of Forest 404 is able to reveal the truth of the dystopia our world could become if climate change continues unhalted, and we allow AI to perform more tasks for us.
Soundscapes:
Nature can definitely affect a person’s state of mind. There is an atmosphere of tranquillity when we are surrounded by nature, trees produce oxygen which makes us refreshed, sometimes accompanied by streams and the sound of birds chirping, the whole scenery relaxes our bodies and minds. However the sound is underrated when compared with the sight and feeling of nature. Sound is perhaps the most crucial part of being with nature. When listening to the podcast of whale songs and woodland walk, my brain entered a state of serenity. I felt somewhat lethargic and I could physically feel my heart rate slow. This contrasts the sounds of St Petersburg which is quite similar to the city here in Melbourne. This is because most cities contain the same things. The only difference is the amount of vehicles and traffic there. For example cities in Beijing would be much busier and louder than the cities in Australia.The vehicles in cities are then similar to the death of pan. It sounds kind of like a car malfunctioning however with more screeching buzzes. It has an irritating ring and it reminds me of people who have had dehydration. It sounds like her breath is taken from her and her head is spinning extremely fast. Daria’s dream starts off in a serene state, like the other natural sounds we heard before. However as the track progressed the sounds of nature began to twist and turn, with the features of a lethal virus. It is accompanied with the dark side of nature, like creatures lurking in the dark ready to hunt down their prey. The fear that progresses in the podcast is mainly due to the feeling of helplessness, that you are the prey of nature. Maybe behind the bushes and trees there is a large silhouette waiting a long time to devour you. The sounds of nature can vary a lot and the sounds of the forest 404 theme definitely shows that. It creates a sort of serene atmosphere where we just melt into our chairs, and it helps clear our mind. The theme also signals the ending. This is probably from watching the forest 404 episodes. This is because everytime the theme plays, we know it is the relaxing ending and so we instinctively think that it is the end. Sounds are an important part of our lives. It can create different atmospheres with different sounds and helps you think and act in different ways. A typical example of this is music. People tend to listen to music because it helps to hype them up in preparation of major events. Music is such a powerful aspect of sound, to the point where some people are reduced to tears when exposed to a particular form of music. Then on the other side of the spectrum, it can annoy and hurt our ears making us deranged. In conclusion, sound is perhaps the most crucial part of forest 404, it changes our feelings and thoughts.
PodTalks:
After each explosive episode comes an accompanying pod talk answering the many questions, we consider during this amazing podcast. The story set in a dystopian future overtaken by robots, leads us to the point in which we ask ourselves, can this really occur? Is it possible that we will be overthrown by our own creations? Will our world seem to turn out the way it did in Forest 404? This podcast is one that really arouses our sense of curiosity and that is what the pod talks fulfils. These pod talks are small snippets with professionals on a certain topic, speaking to us and telling us the true possible outcome for our world, whether good or bad. The reality of the earth we are within is terrible and we can see that through these pod talks. Some of these things are already happening, AI taking over our lives and time, climate change being a real pain in the neck and issues like our memories being stored in data banks. The scary veracity of our world coming to an end is truly becoming an existence. Pod talks are the type of thing in Forest 404 that stir up your emotions by answering your question by giving you a much heavier load to think about all over again.
Forest 404 harnesses the suspense in their great series and turn it into awareness on the world’s real problems. We can see through these pod talks how everchanging our world is, from a world that never knew what an iPhone was to one in the future run by robots. This podcast is not just a fictional story of something that may happen in the future but an educational experience full of excitement on the arising problems hereafter, and that can be done through the pod talks. The pod talks are something you look forward to uncovering ideas you would have never though about. They speak to you but at the same time bring slight fear telling us that humans are the cause of most destruction and explain that the way we are going is not good for anyone. The professional speakers inform us on the topic by first stating the facts and then expressing their own opinion on the subject. This gives us two views on certain areas, providing us with a new perspective on the situation, helping us learn to make a difference as the coming generation. A confusing, jampacked episode may be hard to completely comprehend but that is why the pod talks are there, just to calm the raging questions in your mind with superb answers by revered speakers. Forest 404 is a sequence of events that create a n awe-filled atmosphere and one of the items that complete this environment is the pod talks. The pod talks at times might get boring or uninteresting but truly is a great way to exit each episode of the series. The pod talks in Forest 404 are great and really add to the wonderful experience you already have listening to this pod cast.
Conclusion:
In summary, Forest 404 is fascinating not only its ability to give its audience a phenomenal audio experience that makes you feel immersed, but also its ability to make you feel more engaged with nature.
By listening to this podcast, you begin to observe the nature that surrounds you everywhere you travel, the presence of nature which you generally disregard in your day-to-day life. This podcast depicts how significant trees are in our lives and influences us to want to give back to nature. However, the ever-going implication of man, such as deforestation, are only driving our world closer towards this dystopian society and bringing humans closer and closer to the point of extinction.
Forest 404 sends a strong message about valuing nature and valuing our world. It has opened our eyes and has given us an insight into how the imminent future could likely persist if the human race does not begin to appreciate nature and continue to disregard its true significance. How will our future generations live in a world without nature?
