Metanexus Views. 2003.08.26. 5313 Words.We continue with our fourth and final part of a series on "The Soul of
Computer Science" by Richard Epstein. This section is on "Computer
Technology as a Spiritual Language." Richard G. Epstein is a Professor of
Computer Science at West Chester University of Pennsylvania. For more
information, go to: http://www.cs.wcupa.edu/~epstein.
-- Editor
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THE SOUL OF COMPUTER SCIENCE: Part Four of Four
Computer Technology as a Spiritual Language
By Richard G. Epstein
<epstein@wcupa.edu>
Computer Technology as a Spiritual Language
In this final section of this essay I would like to touch upon the
spirituality implicit in computer science and technology. This is an
important aspect of the soul of computer science. Although some readers may
be predisposed to believe that technology has nothing to do with
spirituality, indeed, the opposite is the case. Not only is computer
science deeply spiritual, it bears the potential to provide the human race
with a new and powerful spiritual vocabulary. This vocabulary has the
potential to enrich the language that we use to discuss spirituality and
theology. We should not underestimate the power of language and symbolism.
After all, it was precisely by means of language and symbolism that we were
able to create the modern world, with the wonders of science, medicine,
engineering, and technology. When we find an appropriate language to
discuss a domain, we gain some degree of control over that domain.
In this section I would like to explain why I see computer technology as
being deeply spiritual. Then, I will briefly touch upon the dark side of
this technology. Finally, I will explain the possibility that the language
of computer technology can be used to reveal spiritual truths and to enrich
traditional spiritual teachings.
Let us return to Moore briefly for some inspiration. In his chapter on the
soul and work Moore states, "Several years ago I gave a lecture on the
medieval idea that the world is a book to be read. Monks used the phrase
liber mundi, the 'book of the world,' to describe a spiritual kind of
literacy." (Page 178) Reading the 'book of the world' is certainly not a
Christian idea limited to the Middle Ages. I have encountered this concept
in every spiritual tradition that I have studied, including Judaism,
Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism. This is a fundamental
assumption of the spiritual life. The world is a book that needs
interpretation. That interpretation is poetry and myth, but myth in the
most truthful sense. We read the world as a book partly for the sheer joy
of reading, because reading is a creative art. Reading involves the
imagination, and as Einstein observed, "imagination is greater than
knowledge." We also read the world as a book in order to learn and to grow.
Living in this way is truly beautiful, because it means that life is a
continuous unfolding of meaning, mystery, profound teachings, and awesome
beauty.
The Universe is an awesome work of art. When we admire a work of art, we
see the soul in that work of art. The art is more than just globs of paint
on a canvas. We see the truth in it. Maybe it is just the naked truth of
raw energy, or perhaps it is a more subtle, symbolic truth. Or, maybe the
painting is just a subtle joke about blatant commercialism. Different
people see different truths in the same work of art. Furthermore, someone
who is trained as an artist, will see more in a work of art than a totally
naive person, who is nonetheless stirred by the beauty of it. The same
thing applies to music or photography or literature. Beauty and truth touch
us deeply and the way in which we react to beauty and truth is a mixture of
the universal and the personal.
When Hans Moravec dismisses religion as a bunch of stories, he is perhaps
telling us that he does not view the world in these poetic terms. Although
we learned these stories as children, their purpose is to teach us how to
read the world as a holy scripture when we become adults. We also pick up
the peculiar "read on things" that is carried by a particular tradition or
culture. An observant Jewish boy with side curls who lives in Jerusalem
will read the world differently from a young man in Kenya who is being
initiated as a Warrior according to the traditions of his Samburu tribe.
Contact with these stories allows us to interpret our adult lives in poetic
and mythical terms as they unfold. First, we learn how to read and enjoy
the stories, whether they came from the Bible or the Qu'ran or the Gita or
the oral tradition of our tribe. Then, we learn how to interpret and
wrestle with them. Finally, we learn to see that our life has all of the
depth, mystery, and beauty of sacred scripture.
I feel sorry for someone who cannot touch life in these terms. If computer
technology is controlled solely by people who cannot think in poetic and
mythical terms, then the result will be truly horrendous for the human race.
However, I am somewhat optimistic that history will not unfold in that
manner. We are learning, as Moore documents, that human beings need art,
spirituality, beauty, community, and myth. Several years ago there was a
report in the media to the effect that researchers have found that no
anti-depressant drug has been proven to be as effective for treating
depression as spirituality, the kind of soulful life that Moore describes.
Here are some comments from Moore on the soul's need for spirituality:
"In the modern world we tend to separate psychology from religion. We like
to think that emotional problems have to do with the family, childhood, and
trauma - with personal life but not with spirituality. We don't diagnose
an emotional seizure as 'loss of religious sensibility' or 'lack of
spiritual awareness.' Yet it is obvious that the soul, seat of the deepest
emotions, can benefit greatly from the gifts of a vivid spiritual life and
can suffer when it is deprived of them. The soul, for example, needs an
articulated worldview, a carefully worked out scheme of values, and a sense
of relatedness to the whole. It needs a myth of immortality and an attitude
towards death. ...
"Spirituality doesn't arrive fully formed without effort. Religions around
the world demonstrate that spiritual life requires constant attention and a
subtle, often beautiful technology by which spiritual principles and
understandings are kept alive." (Pages 203-4)
Moore then goes on to discuss the ailment that he calls "psychological
modernism". He would like to include this ailment in his own personal list
of modern ailments:
"For example, I would want to include the diagnosis 'psychological
modernism,' an uncritical acceptance of the values of the modern world. It
includes a blind faith in technology, inordinate attachment to material
gadgets and conveniences, uncritical acceptance of the march of scientific
progress, devotion to the electronic media, and a life-style dictated by
advertising. This orientation toward life also tends toward a mechanistic
and rationalistic understanding of matters of the heart." (Page 206)
Let us now attempt to present a spiritual interpretation of the 'book of the
modern world,' which contains many chapters on computers and their
implications. First, we will give an optimistic reading of the 'book' and
then a less optimistic reading. I am less interested in presenting a
dogmatic position. I am more interested in stimulating the reader's own
attempts to read the 'book of the technological world' in his or her own
way. From this collective effort, perhaps we will arrive at a truthful
understanding of what computer technology means in the realm of the spirit.
The meaning of technology, or more precisely, the spiritual meaning of
technology, is the soul work that computer technology represents in the
collective, on a planetary scale. This leads to an optimistic
interpretation of computer technology, the interpretation that I find most
compelling. If there is a cure for Moore's ailment, "psychological
modernism," it does not lie in abandoning technology. It lies in a soulful
understanding of that technology, and the use of that technology to serve
soulful purposes.
In the previous section we discussed the symbolic meaning of work in
computer science as soul work. Now, let us view this in the aggregate.
Instead of looking at one stereotypical software project, we consider all
software and hardware projects in their fantastic variety. We see people
working on data warehouses, on new technologies for connectivity. We see
people working on web sites, on developing new security measures, developing
new infrastructures and methodologies for global communications. We see
people working on standards, on templates, on new and powerful protocols for
representing and sharing data. We see millions of people involved in the
construction of the new infrastructure for storing and sharing information.
We know that this revolutionary development will have tremendous
implications for society, but how do we interpret this as soul work? Or,
stated differently, how does one read this contemporary chapter in the 'book
of the world'?
We are no longer discussing the soul work of an individual, but of the
collective. We are discussing the soul work of the human race as One Soul.
We are discussing the evolution of human culture and consciousness. Viewed
in this way, the development of computer technology seems exciting and
filled with spiritual possibilities. We are seeing the outer manifestation
of extraordinary developments in the human psyche at the planetary level.
Computer technology is an outward manifestation of a revolutionary change in
human consciousness, an indication of something that is going on behind the
scenes. The characteristics of this change are connectivity, unity,
explosive learning and curiosity, explosive creativity and joy. As we
create our web of global connectivity and interdependency, we are evolving
into a deeper understanding of the inner realities of unity, connectedness,
and interdependence. This is how I would read the book of the modern world.
Therefore, when we look upon the canvas of computer technology, we see
reflected back to us profound truths about the evolution of human culture
and the unfolding of human destiny. These profound truths include the unity
of being and the truth that all lives are intrinsically interwoven within
the fabric of life. These profound truths are a fundamental aspect of the
soul of computer science.
I assert that these profound truths are not incidental side effects of
computer technology. They are the primal cause of that technology. The
technology is an expression of fundamental truths, and thus reflects
fundamental truths back to us. The manifest world reflects the truth. It
does not create it. Computer technology reflects truth back to us, truth of
the very highest order. Not only does that technology reflect truth back to
us, it allows us to participate in that truth, to be truth workers.
I would like to expand upon the idea that primordial truth is the cause of
technology and that technology only reflects back to us what has always been
implicit in the very structure of reality. One implication of this
assertion is that we can use technology to reveal profound truths about
primordial reality, just as we can use art, literature, or poetry to reveal
fundamental truths. Technology is not just about itself. Technology is not
just an arbitrary human artifact. It is much deeper than artifact.
Technology has the potential to greatly alter human reality because
technology is a profound expression of the unlimited intelligence and
creative power that lies at the heart of human being.
There is a profound difference between the worldview of the materialist
fundamentalist and a person who is rooted in spiritual traditions. To the
materialist fundamentalist, intelligence first appeared on this planet in
the form of human beings. According to this scenario, human beings are now
creating new forms of intelligence, something we call artificial
intelligence.
The spiritual view of things is quite different. The spiritual view of
things is that unlimited intelligence is the very ground of being. Thus,
unlimited intelligence existed before human beings happened upon the scene.
Unlimited intelligence is not just intelligence in the usual human sense.
It goes far beyond thought and form. Unlimited intelligence is ultimately
the creative power that creates form, that is, creates the realms of space
and time. Human intelligence is a manifestation of that primordial
intelligence. The mystic would say that the primordial intelligence created
human intelligence in order to reveal itself to itself. This would seem to
be one of the primary passions of primordial intelligence, to express its
unlimited nature. Artificial intelligence, rather than being the creation
of human beings, is ultimately the creation of that primordial intelligence.
It just appears that artificial intelligence is emerging from us. Indeed,
we are the instruments of its emergence. It would be accurate to say that
artificial intelligence is using us to manifest itself, just as the Piano
Concerto Number 21, K. 467, used Mozart to manifest itself. From this
perspective, computer technology was implicit in the ground of being right
from the start.
Artificial intelligence is a misnomer. There is nothing artificial about
it. The exciting new technologies that will emerge in the twenty-first
century, such as virtual reality, artificial intelligence, nanotechnology,
quantum computing and a host of other technologies we cannot possibly
imagine at this stage, have always been potentialities within the original
ground of being. Consequently, we cannot predict limits on artificial
intelligence and computer technology, because the ultimate source of this
emerging intelligence has no limits. Likewise, we cannot presume to know
the limits of human intelligence, because the unlimited intelligence that is
expressing itself through us always has some new tricks up its sleeves.
This brings us to another aspect of the soul of computer science. This is
the idea that computer science fundamentally has to do with intelligence.
Just as a work of art may reveal something to us, and that is the soul of
that work of art, so computer science will teach us tremendous things about
the nature of intelligence, a fundamental dimension of the ground of being.
Sometimes the spiritual literature criticizes intelligence, but they are
talking about a limited form of intelligence, the rational and logical mind.
When I speak about intelligence, perhaps I should use a capital "I". To me
intelligence represents the fundamental creative power, the power to create
an orderly universe, the power to create a universe with profound and
beautiful physical and spiritual laws (like the Dharma in Buddhism).
Furthermore, that intelligence arises from Love and is inseparable from
Love. For example, the Prophet Mohammed spoke the following hadith qudsi,
which means, a saying of the Prophet in which God is speaking through the
Prophet in the first person: "I was a hidden treasure, and I loved to be
known, so I created the universe." The intelligence of which I speak is the
primordial reality that creates, creates because of its need to celebrate
itself, to love itself.
Since unlimited intelligence (and creative power) is the very ground of
being, this means that computer science will teach us things about the
nature of reality that other sciences will not be able to approximate. Or,
perhaps, some of the other sciences will have to use the language of
computer sciences to explain the nature of physical reality. Artificial
intelligence will open the door to a profound understanding of unlimited
intelligence, which it turns out, is the root nature of human being.
All forms of intelligence that we create and all forms of intelligence that
our creations create (Moravec calls these our "mind children") will be
expressions of the unlimited intelligence that has been the ground of being
right from the start. Nothing new has been created, because all
manifestations of intelligence are merely expressions of unlimited
intelligence. What has changed is that something that was hidden has been
made manifest. This is the essence of all spiritual work and creativity.
Unlimited intelligence is concretizing itself so that it can study itself
and delight in itself. ("I was a hidden treasure and I loved to be known,
so I created the universe.")
Work in artificial intelligence has its own soulfulness. Let us explore
that briefly. Imagine someone who is working in the AI lab trying to create
a new form of intelligence. What is the soul work that this research
represents? What is this researcher reflecting back to us? Actually,
there are quite a few possibilities here. One interpretation might be that
each of us should be working on developing new forms of intelligence,
transcending the limitations of our own consciousness. Our consciousness,
after all, is the result of many influences, including family, culture, and
history. We need to work on developing new forms of intelligence within
ourselves. This is not just a matter of developing new knowledge and new
skills. It implies new modes of being that are potentialities within the
human being, but which take discipline and effort to develop, the kind of
discipline and effort that one might find in an earnest researcher in an AI
lab. So, the symbolic meaning of artificial intelligence might involve the
soul work of breaking out of what some spiritual traditions call the
"cocoon", which is the self-created prison that we spin with our habitual
thoughts and destructive beliefs.
I would like to say a few things about the dark side of computer technology,
a topic which I touched upon only briefly earlier in this essay. When we
see work in computer technology as soul work, it is difficult to see the
dark side. The soul work view of things is decidedly optimistic in tone.
However, there are practical concerns in computer technology that need to be
addressed. These concerns are the subject matter of what we call the social
implications of computing. These concerns relate to issues such as privacy,
intellectual property, hacking, viruses, computer crime, computer terrorism,
and the effect of computer use on the individual person. These issues are
all important.
If we as a culture deny the imperatives of the soul, then we will pay the
price. The repressed forces will surface as dark manifestations of
alienation, violence and hate. If we as a culture lose touch with the soul
and its imperatives, then we might end up as slaves to an impersonal
technology. I do not see that as the likely outcome. However, en route to
a positive outcome, we might experience some "shadow" effects, where the
repressed life force manifests in some horrific displays of violence and
anger. Whatever manifests, it will be a lesson for the soul to digest.
Almost any computer crime can be interpreted as a lesson for the soul, as
reflecting back some effect of the repression of the soul's quest for
happiness and fulfillment. For example, suppose we read in the newspaper
that a computer criminal is stealing identities over the Internet. We might
wonder what kind of sickness of soul might motivate someone to steal from
people in this manner - actually stealing their identities. We want to
throw this low life in prison, where he rightfully belongs. However, it is
also important to see the truth that the identity thief reflects back to us.
Has anyone or anything stolen our identity? Or, have we assumed the
identity of a persona that is not ours, but the artificial creation of our
family or of our culture? Have we taken on an identity that is not our own
because we are afraid to be our authentic selves? That common criminal, who
we might view with condescension and contempt, turns out to be an eloquent
and gifted teacher.
Finally, I would like to discuss what may be one of the greatest impacts of
computer technology upon human consciousness, and this has to do with
language. A book that has greatly influenced my thinking about the social
implications of technology is The Axemaker's Gift by Burke and Ornstein
[22]. This book describes the double-edged sword of technological
innovation, beginning with the axe. At several critical stages in human
history, new linguistic tools were unleashed, and these had a tremendous
impact upon the development of human consciousness. For example, the
development of the phonetic alphabet enabled the development of Greek
philosophy. The language and terminology of science allowed us to "cut and
control" our environment. Burke and Ornstein stress that this is usually a
double-edged sword, with both positive and negative consequences. Language
is a tool for the manipulation of reality. The reality being manipulated is
the reality that the language refers to.
Computer technology bears the potential to provide us with a powerful new
terminology for apprehending and manipulating the spiritual world. At one
level, we are talking about the kind of soul work that we discussed earlier
in this essay. We can use the language of software development, for
example, as a mirror of our own psychological processes. Just as we might
strive for process improvement in the physical plane, we might strive for
process improvement in the realm of the soul and the psyche. This is a
simple example of how the language of computer technology can yield greater
precision in our understanding of our inner worlds.
However, this is just the most obvious example. The developing language of
computer technology is pregnant with spiritual possibilities. Take virtual
reality, for example. For millennia spiritual teachers have been trying to
communicate the idea that this physical realm is somehow illusory and that
there is something called the Real, which is unchanging and in some sense
orthogonal to this world of impermanence and change. The concept of virtual
reality makes the distinction between the Real and the Illusory quite easy
to communicate. The idea of virtual reality helps us to ask questions about
and to discuss the very nature of reality.
Traditional spiritual teachings are many hundreds of years old, and
sometimes thousands of years old. These teachings are attempts to describe
the nature of reality and of the human being. In order to discuss these
subtle and ethereal realms, a special language was developed, the language
of angels and archangels, of demons and spirits, of devas, avatars, and
spiritual powers of various kinds. In fact, each culture and tradition
developed its own mythological language. This mythological language was not
developed to describe some fantastic and irrelevant realm beyond the human
reality, but to describe what it means to be a human being, what the actual
nature of the human being is and was. This mythological language was not
only devoted to describing the human reality. It was intended to provide a
technology (using the modern term) for perfecting the human being, for
becoming a Warrior or a Saint or a Perfect Human Being or a Buddha.
Let us consider the traditional concept of an angel. When I think of
angels, I think of a remarkable passage in Rodger Kamenetz's book Jew in the
Lotus [23]. This book describes a journey by a group of rabbis to
Dharmasala, India. The purpose of this journey is to meet with the Dalai
Lama. The rabbis are somewhat surprised that their own mystical language,
the language of the Kaballah, is quite isomorphic with the language of
Buddhism. After all, Judaism is usually thought of as a monotheistic
religion and Buddhism does not seem to be too interested in the Hebraic
notion of God. One particular rabbi (Zalman Shachter-Shalomi, who played an
important role in the development of the Jewish Renewal movement) and the
Dalai Lama have an interesting discussion about angels. They come to an
agreement concerning how this historic meeting of two ancient cultures came
about. The angel that oversees the Jewish people and the angel that
oversees the Tibetan people had obviously cooperated to bring about this
exchange of ideas, hopes, and dreams.
What is an angel? Rabbi Zalman Shachter-Shalomi and the Dalai Lama were
using the ancient language of their traditions to describe what we would
call an intelligence. Thus, according to this view of how the universe
operates, there is an intelligence that has guided the evolution of the
Jewish people and there is an intelligence that has guided the evolution of
the Tibetan people. These intelligences operate beyond the realm of space
and time and their activities manifest in space and time.
Many technological developments in the twenty-first century might allow us
to discuss these forms of intelligence, what ancient cultures called angels,
with more precision and in a manner that is more accessible to the modern
mind. Computer science may provide us with a new language for discussing
intelligence in the universe in all of its manifestations, always with the
understanding that the ultimate reality is unlimited intelligence. In some
sense, while thrilling, the concept of unlimited intelligence is somehow
uninformative beyond a certain point. Moore might say that it is too
monotheistic a concept. We need to investigate the specific expressions of
unlimited intelligence, and this requires a specialized language, which
differentiates between one form of intelligence and another. We need a
language to describe the various forms of intelligence that are at play in
the universe. This is what a mystical system, like the Kaballah, does for a
monotheistic religion, like Judaism.
Computer science might eventually allow us to gain a more precise idea of
why things are the way they are, and why particular things happen, and how
we as sentient beings can control our own destinies with greater precision,
thus achieving greater happiness and joy. Computer science might provide us
with a language that will enable us to see things that we have never known.
If we develop an appropriate language, then we can gain much more control
over our inner world, and thus, over the evolution of human consciousness.
There are many interesting books available that speculate about the meaning
of artificial intelligence, mostly from a materialist fundamentalist point
of view. These include Moravec [6], Kurzweil [24], Kaku [25], and Dyson
[26]. These books make it seem quite plausible that it will be computer
science, and not necessarily physics, that will provide the language for
understanding intelligence in the universe and for understanding our own
human natures as expressions of unlimited intelligence. This liberating
potential of our discipline is an important aspect of the soul of computer
science. Realizing this can greatly enhance our appreciation for our
subject, and can inspire many truly creative individuals and students to
consider this work as an important part of their life's spiritual journey.
Conclusion
This essay has attempted to introduce the idea that computer science has
soul. The author believes that the soul-language that is employed in this
essay will become central to the understanding of computer science in our
culture in the twenty-first century. Even if some computer scientists do
not feel comfortable with the language of soul, it is the language of the
vast majority of people in our culture. Because the language of soul
creates a beautiful and meaningful life, it is far superior to the language
of materialist fundamentalism. If we insist that computer science is
inherently soulless and if we try to force a soulless computer technology
upon our culture, the consequences will not be good either for society or
for our discipline. Hopefully this essay has convinced most readers that
computer science has lots of soul, and because of this, much creative energy
and enthusiasm can be directed towards the development of new technologies
without those technologies harming or destroying the glory of being a human
being. Indeed, our work in computer science can help us to discover how
great we truly are.
References
1. Thomas Moore, Care of the Soul: A Guide for Cultivating Depth and
Sacredness in Everyday Life, Harper Collins Publishers, New York, 1992, 312
pp.
2. James Hillman, A Blue Fire, Harper Perennial, New York, 1989, 323 pp.
3. David Gelernter, Machine Beauty: Elegance and the Heart of Technology,
BasicBooks, New York, 1998, 166 pp.
4. Gary Chapman, "Tech Workers Are in Demand, but Field Has Dark Side", Los
Angeles Times, Business Section, May 10, 1999.
5. Computerworld's workplace surveys are kept in the following repository:
http://www.computerworld.com/res/careers/surv_index.html
6. Hans Moravec, Robot: Mere Machine to Transcendent Mind, Oxford University
Press, New York, 1999, 227 pp.
7. Mark Dery, Escape Velocity: Cyberculture at the End of the Century, Grove
Press, New York, 1996, 376 pp.
8. Christian Bobin, The Secret of Francis of Assissi, Shambala, Boston,
1999, 102 pp.
9. Patrick Glynn, God: The Evidence, Prima Publishing, Rocklin, CA, 1997,
216 pp.
10. Richard G. Epstein, "The Wheel", Computers and Society, p. 8-13, June
1997.
11. Rob Austin and Lee Devin, Artful Making: What Managers Need to Know
About How Artists Work, Financial-Times Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River,
NJ, 2003, 201 pp.
12. Sherry Turkle, Life on the Screen: Identity in the Age of the Internet,
Touchstone, New York, 1995, 347 pp.
13. John Brockman, Digerati: Encounters with the Cyber Elite, Hardwired, San
Francisco, 1996, 354 pp.
14. Richard Power, Tangled Web: Tales of Digital Crime from the Shadows of
Cyberspace, Que, Indianapolis, 2000, 431 pp.
15. Winn Schwartau, Cyberschock: Surviving Hackers, Phreakers, Identity
Thieves, Internet Terrorists and Weapons of Mass Destruction, Thunder's
Mouth Press, New York, 2000, 470 pp.
16. Steven Furnell, Cybercrime: Vandalizing the Information Society,
Addison-Wesley, Boston, 2002, 316 pp.
17. Marc (Mordechai) Gafni, Soul Prints: Your Path to Fulfillment, Pocket
Books, New York, 2001, 318 pp.
18. Lewis Richmond, Work as a Spiritual Practice: A Practical Buddhist
Approach to Inner Growth and Satisfaction on the Job, Broadway Books, New
York, 1999, 258 pp. (Also listed as F, below.)
19. Abraham Twerski, Lights Along the Way, Mesorah Publications, Ltd.,
Brooklyn, New York, 1995, 328 pp.
20. Watts Humphrey, Introduction to Personal Software Process,
Addison-Wesley, Reading, Massachusetts, 1996, 336 pp.
21. Kent Beck, eXtreme Programming eXplained, Addison-Wesley, Boston, 2000,
190 pp.
22. James Burke and Robert Ornstein, The Axemaker's Gift: Technology's
Capture and Control of Our Minds and Culture, Tarcher / Putnam Books, New
York, 1995, 348 pp.
23. Rodger Kamenetz, The Jew in the Lotus, Harper, San Francisco, 1995, 320
pp.
24. Ray Kurzweil, The Age of Spiritual Machines: When Computers Exceed
Human Intelligence, Viking Penguin, New York, 1999, 388 pp.
25. Michio Kaku, Visions: How Science Will Revolutionize the 21st Century,
Anchor Books, New York, 1997, 403 pp.
26. George B. Dyson, Darwin Among the Machines: The Evolution of Global
Intelligence, Addison-Wesley, Reading, Massachusetts, 1997, 286 pp.
Some Books that Discuss Soulful Approaches to Work
The following references discuss workplace issues in terms of their
soulfulness.
A. Mark Bryan, Julia Cameron, and Catherine Allen, The Artist's Way at Work:
Riding the Dragon, William Morrow and Company, New York, 1998, 280 pp.
B. Matthew Fox, The Reinvention of Work: A New Vision of Livelihood for Our
Time, Harper Collins, San Francisco, 1994, 342 pp.
C. Daniel Goleman, Emotional Intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ,
Bantam Books, New York, 1995, 352 pp.
D. Joseph Jaworski, Synchronicity: The Inner Path of Leadership,
Berrett-Koehler Publishers, San Francisco, 1996, 211 pp.
E. Joel Levey and Michelle Levey, Living in Balance: A Dynamic Approach for
Creating Harmony and Wholeness in a Chaotic World, Conari Press, Berkeley,
CA, 1998, 333 pp.
F. Lewis Richmond, Work as a Spiritual Practice: A Practical Buddhist
Approach to Inner Growth and Satisfaction on the Job, Broadway Books, New
York, 1999, 258 pp.
G. Jeffrey Salkin, Being God's Partner: How to Find the Hidden Link Between
Spirituality and Your Work, Jewish Lights Publishing, Woodstock, VT, 1994,
181 pp.
H. Work and the Life of the Spirit, Douglas Thorpe, editor, Mercury House,
San Francisco, 1998, 305 pp.
I. Justine Willis Toms and Michael Toms, True Work: The Sacred Dimension of
Earning a Living, Bell Tower, New York, 1998, 205 pp.
J. Tarthang Tulku, Skillful Means, Dharma Publishing, Berkeley, CA, 1978,
136 pp.
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