Zen Computer - Softcover

Philip Toshio Sudo

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0684854104 ISBN 13: 9780684854106

Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 2001

Synopsis

Anyone who has ever cursed a computer will benefit from Zen Computer, with its soothing approach to living calmly amid the constant upheavals of new technology. In a simple, easy-to-read style, Philip Toshio Sudo shows how the ancient principles of Zen philosophy apply to the modern science of bits and bytes, helping computer novices and the techno-savvy alike deal with everything from computer crashes to major life changes. Divided into short, concise chapters, the book includes a user's guide to mindful computing, and features "The Seven Rules of Zen Computer." Quotes from thinkers such as Blaise Pascal, Albert Einstein, and Bill Gates illustrate the links between Western science and Eastern philosophy, making Zen Computer accessible to all readers, regardless of their familiarity with Zen. Filled with Zen stories, samurai maxims, and beautiful artwork that combines Japanese brush painting with digital imagery, Zen Computer shows us how the interface between the traditional and technological can be found right here, right now.

About this title

About the Author

Philip Toshio Sudois an award-winning journalist and the author of Zen Guitar. His background in Zen comes from the extensive study of Eastern philosophy, twelve years of living in Japan, and the study of the martial arts. He lives with his wife and children in New York City.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Chapter One: Read Me
Release Notes for Zen Computer, Version 1.0

Thank you for choosing Zen Computer. May it give you a lifetime of good use.

This application marries the ancient principles of zen philosophy to the modern science of bits and bytes. Anyone who uses a personal computer can benefit, regardless of technical know-how. One run through the application and you'll never look at your computer in the same way again.

In an age of rapid technological advances, in which computers keep changing the way we work and play and even think, Zen Computer offers a way of living calmly amid constant upheaval. The very underpinnings of zen philosophy assume a world of continuous, unbroken change, in the cycles of day to night, season to season, birth to death. "You never step in the same river twice," goes the zen adage, for in zen thinking, everything flows and changes at every moment.

How to live with constant change, manage it, and deal with the fear it brings -- especially if the change seems overwhelming, as it can today -- lies at the heart of zen study, and thus, at the heart of Zen Computer.

Visionaries may paint a fantastical future driven by technology, a wired planet of cyberspace and virtual worlds with unprecedented access to information and knowledge. But cyberspace and virtual reality will offer no escape from the problems of the human heart. Information and knowledge will not supplant the need for wisdom. Rather than create a user-friendly virtual world, Zen Computer seeks to make a real world of friendly users.

Luddites fear that technology will dehumanize us, even enslave us, as we become increasingly dependent on machines for our way of living. That's all the more reason we need Zen Computer.

We lose our humanity when we become an extension of the machine -- rigid in our thinking, unfeeling and uncaring, treating others as nameless, faceless numbers. We ignore common sense and begin uttering phrases like, "I can't deal with you because you're not in our computer," or, "The machine says the answer has to be this." We stop acting from the heart and start becoming drones.

Zen Computer is the antidote for those forces that make us drones.

Much as people may long to turn their backs on technology and return to a simpler life, in truth, we cannot retreat from technology anymore than we can unlearn how to split the atom. If we are to live in this brave new world and retain our humanity, our true battle lies not with technology, it lies within. There is where Zen Computer does its work.

We must accentuate the fact that we're human and that, as such, we differ from other species in three distinct ways:

our communication skills

our ability to use tools

our self-awareness

Zen Computer seeks to cultivate all three qualities -- improving our communications to promote better understanding, turning our use of tools into an art, raising our self-awareness. In short, Zen Computer views the computer as a means of elevating our humanity, not squashing it.

The computer is perhaps the most powerful tool ever put in the hands of the individual. Only the gun may rival it. But if the pen is mightier than the sword, then PCs should outperform the Uzi. Think of the personal computer's ability to amass and analyze information; present ideas in word, image, and sound; store, replicate, receive, and globally transmit those ideas instantly. These capabilities put enormous power in the hands of people. A lone voice can now communicate a message to thousands, even millions, with a few simple keystrokes, connecting with other computers in every corner of the globe.

Such power demands responsible use. Just as a gun can be put to ill purposes, so can a computer. There are people who would invade our privacy, spread untruths, embezzle money, even spread chaos by hacking into air-traffic control and other safety systems. Giving individuals more power does no good if they don't know the proper way to use it. Here is where Zen Computer offers a framework for living with such power.

For as much as technology transforms our lives and society, Zen Computer says true transformation -- the kind that's authentic and profound -- will not come through technology alone, but through people's souls. It says salvation arises from self-awareness, not better tools and faster communications; that world peace stems from inner peace; that freedom for all people first demands the self-discipline of each individual. To cultivate self-awareness through the use of tools and communications -- this is the hard work Zen Computer seeks to support. Only then can we elevate our humanity.

Toward that end, the software in this package includes the following:

The Seven Rules of Zen Computer

A mindful way of looking at your machine

Tips on responding calmly to program bugs and system crashes

How to interface with people on the Internet and in the world at large

To install Zen Computer, read on.

Copyright © 1999 by Philip Toshio Sudo

Edition details

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0684854104
• ISBN 13: 9780684854106
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 224