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Buddhist thinking does give people narratives/rituals/methods to detach, that are without doubt of great value in today's hyperconnected world. And hyper connec

by kopo 8y ago

Buddhist thinking does give people narratives/rituals/methods to detach, that are without doubt of great value in today's hyperconnected world. And hyper connection does make us all vulnerable indeed. But on the other end of the spectrum, Sugata Mitra, the educator, likes to say humanity has just uncovered the ability to murmurate like starlings, thanks to the hyperconnectivity the internet enable. It's still early days and pretty chaotic and mad, but just like a crowd has some magical self organizing ability to synchronize their clapping, who knows whether this hyper connectivity is on the verge of producing the same. I'd like to think we will get there, and are just going through a temporary bumping into each other phase. The talk for anyone interested - https://youtu.be/upg8LlJZtas?t=3567 https://youtu.be/upg8LlJZtas?t=3567

mbrock 8y ago
I sometimes wonder if we should just totally embrace our onlineness instead of always treating it as a failure, an addiction, a horrible alienation. For example I remember when I was living at home, me and my brother and sometimes even my mom, we would chat on some instant messenger (or IRC) instead of talking... That can be framed as some kind of dystopian nightmare, but it's also just two people talking using a textual medium, and why is that bad or unnatural? What if we could have both meditation retreats and something like online immersion retreats? What if a couple relationship can be improved by using social technology, what if that stuff doesn't only ruin our natural wholesome way of being but can instead really bring us closer and allow for whole new ways of understanding each other...
- kopo 8y ago
  Good points. It feels like we are in some kind of "learning" phase, developing our ideas of what is useful and what is not. Who knows whether it will take 2 more years or 20 before the final verdict is delivered.

by kopo 8y ago

mbrock 8y ago

I sometimes wonder if we should just totally embrace our onlineness instead of always treating it as a failure, an addiction, a horrible alienation. For example I remember when I was living at home, me and my brother and sometimes even my mom, we would chat on some instant messenger (or IRC) instead of talking... That can be framed as some kind of dystopian nightmare, but it's also just two people talking using a textual medium, and why is that bad or unnatural? What if we could have both meditation retreats and something like online immersion retreats? What if a couple relationship can be improved by using social technology, what if that stuff doesn't only ruin our natural wholesome way of being but can instead really bring us closer and allow for whole new ways of understanding each other...

kopo 8y ago
Good points. It feels like we are in some kind of "learning" phase, developing our ideas of what is useful and what is not. Who knows whether it will take 2 more years or 20 before the final verdict is delivered.