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Was hoping this was an April fool's thing. What's with tech's obsessive use of Japanese culture? As if the ubiquitous "zen" prefix wasn't bad enough.
by kyleschiller 10y ago
Was hoping this was an April fool's thing.
What's with tech's obsessive use of Japanese culture? As if the ubiquitous "zen" prefix wasn't bad enough.
- rootsudo 10y agoCause Japan is exotic and cool, plus the words are trademark free.
- userbinator 10y agoCoincidentally, the Japanese like to use English to appear 'exotic and cool' too.
- mrkgnao 10y agoIs it the hackerly affinity for Zen Buddhism (e.g. koans, among other similar things), perhaps? Or Steve Jobs' fascination with it, or the countercultural openness to "exotic"/Eastern spirituality that many of the people driving tech today grew up around? There's this association of Eastern countries with "wisdom", too. I'm reminded of Feynman's anecdote from Surely You're Joking where he visits Japan with a colleague and it transpires that a woman (a hotel staff member, iirc) happens to see him naked as he emerges from the bathroom, and surprisingly little "drama" ensues. He remarks that if it were the USA, there would have been a lot of "little shrieks", and his colleague exclaims, "God, are we uncivilized!"