Better for Buddhists, better for business

•期刊原文

Better for Buddhists, better for business

by Dave Brousell

Client Server Computing

Vol. 3 No. 9 Sep.1996, P.14

Copyright by Client Server

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Ostensibly, the World Wide Web seems the embodiment of the Buddhist ideal of human interconnectivity. Net surfers participate in a virtually boundless exchange of information, ideas and abstractions. "For some, the Net embodies a way to physically wire together human consciousness into All-Embracing Mind," suggests Mitchell Kapor, founder of Lotus development Corp., in the Winter issue of TRICYCLE: The Buddhist Review.

According to Kapor's article, "Emotional Bandwidth," the wired mind is not synonymous with the enlightened mind. "The frequency of angry bursts of flame wars suggests failure to communicate rather than an ideal communications medium." Foul-mouthed and eloquent Netizens alike are deprived of the subtle, nonverbal cues that enable us to make meaning of each other's words. Emotions -- such as :-) -- fall far short of the
innumerable gestures and intonations unique to our face-to-face interactions: "the words of a conversation alone are subject to radical misintepretation." The convenience of E-mail is mitigated when we must constantly re-explain ourselves, correcting inevitable misreadings.

Despite all its promise, cyberspace is not where the Buddhist ideal of "converging Consciousness" is realized. "While [online] Buddhists may be excited by the technological capacity to wire human consciousness, this i s already reality -- whether or not we are aware of it," concludes apor. "Unless the awareness of interconnectedness can stir compassion, it is of little use His pronunciations may sound esoteric to some ears, but the limited "emotional bandwitdth" of the Internet is a universal source of frustration. We can all look forward to its imminent expansion. "As telephone systems are upgraded and cable television becomes an access path to the Internet, higher-speed connections capable of carrying voice and face will become much more common," writes Kapor. All relationships --professional and personal -- formed and maintained online will benefit from "the creation of new media that combine the precision and nuanced meaning of the carefully constructed text with the richness of face-to-face communication."

So, it's still best to conduct your most important conversations in the traditional manner -- whether you're pursuing the path of dharma or a more effective IT project team.