Computing: Yet Another Reality Construction

Abstract

For the past twenty-five years I have been working as a Computer Scientist, for the last fifteen I have put a considerable amount of effort into the study and practice of Buddhism, under the general direction of Trungpa Rinpoche, a Tibetan Buddhist teacher. These two points of view are not easy to reconcile, although both have the same basic attitude of “try it and see if it works”. But all of us have a work life and a personal life to live, sometimes separate, but sometimes mingling, with intrusions of kindness into the office or of electronics into the home. The boundary, like all frontiers has its pains, so it seemed worthwhile to try to dissolve it a little and accept an invitation to write something about all this. Perhaps the Buddhist point of view will seem foreign or unacceptable to you, but it may be worthwhile to remember that there is more than one way of looking at our computing world.