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This doesn't sound like a very good way to gain a deeper understand of technology. I'm not sure if you can really compare religion and spirituality with technol

This doesn't sound like a very good way to gain a deeper understand of technology. I'm not sure if you can really compare religion and spirituality with technology. Most other developers and hackers I know, myself included, have some of their best ideas and insights when they are NOT focusing on technology or the problem at hand. Also, anecdotally, the majority of these people are not the stereotypical hollywood portrayed geeks who care about nothing other than hacking technology. They are usually well adjusted people with lives that go far beyond their work because most successful developers understand that to be good at your job also requires you to have a healthy and non-obsessive relationship with your work. So unless you have Aspergers or something like that then this is likely to be a pretty unhealthy way to live your life. Humans require social interaction, time to unwind, physical exercise etc.

mbrock 9y ago
A lot of monasteries have way more social interaction, unwinding time, and exercise than most IT workplaces offer. The month I spent in a temple was definitely like that! I mean, where else do you have tea every evening together with dozens of diverse people? I went jogging every other days and did weight training and yoga the other days. Every day involved hours of mostly light physical work (cooking, cleaning, some crafts, sometimes construction, etc). And the relaxation I had there was deep and rejuvenating. The difference between monastic or temple architecture and routine, and that of offices, is really interesting... If I ever create my own office, it will be more like a temple! (Without the religious hierarchies and faith affirmations, probably...)
- chuck4932 9y ago
  That sounds pretty awesome actually. Apart from the exercise/socialising what was the main activity you did in the monastery? I'm assuming its something religious/faith based?
  - mbrock 9y ago
    Whether it's religious or faith based is a kind of tricky question because it's a "Zen Buddhist" place (in rural Sweden, as it happens). To make a long story short I'd say yeah, basically you spend the time eating, working, praying, and sleeping, except that the "praying" doesn't have a content except for something like "realizing that awareness is already inherently clear and ready", or just abiding in awake alertness without "complaining", or something like that. There's also chanting which is more explicitly religious, but I interpret this whole religious business as being basically just memetic strategies that use this aesthetically coherent gestalt to reinforce some hard-to-describe point. Image google for "zazen" and that's basically what's going on for hours every day, during meditation retreats many hours every day (with breaks every 30 minutes or so so your knees don't implode).

mbrock 9y ago

A lot of monasteries have way more social interaction, unwinding time, and exercise than most IT workplaces offer. The month I spent in a temple was definitely like that! I mean, where else do you have tea every evening together with dozens of diverse people? I went jogging every other days and did weight training and yoga the other days. Every day involved hours of mostly light physical work (cooking, cleaning, some crafts, sometimes construction, etc). And the relaxation I had there was deep and rejuvenating. The difference between monastic or temple architecture and routine, and that of offices, is really interesting... If I ever create my own office, it will be more like a temple! (Without the religious hierarchies and faith affirmations, probably...)

chuck4932 9y ago
That sounds pretty awesome actually. Apart from the exercise/socialising what was the main activity you did in the monastery? I'm assuming its something religious/faith based?
- mbrock 9y ago
  Whether it's religious or faith based is a kind of tricky question because it's a "Zen Buddhist" place (in rural Sweden, as it happens). To make a long story short I'd say yeah, basically you spend the time eating, working, praying, and sleeping, except that the "praying" doesn't have a content except for something like "realizing that awareness is already inherently clear and ready", or just abiding in awake alertness without "complaining", or something like that. There's also chanting which is more explicitly religious, but I interpret this whole religious business as being basically just memetic strategies that use this aesthetically coherent gestalt to reinforce some hard-to-describe point. Image google for "zazen" and that's basically what's going on for hours every day, during meditation retreats many hours every day (with breaks every 30 minutes or so so your knees don't implode).