Spiritual Computing

Is Spiritual Computing The Next Level of Evolution
Is Spiritual Computing The Next Level of Evolution?This is a Google TechTalk, given by Craig Warren Smith, a former Harvard (Kennedy School) professor, a founder of the global movement to close the Digital Divide on the 28th of September 2006. In the mid-1990s as a consultant to Bill Gates, Craig led a strategic planning process that helped Microsoft and its founder find the distinct role of philanthropy in its corporate culture, the effect of which also shaped the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.In this talk at Google Craig brings up the question, "Can the next generation of technologies advance the spiritual development of individuals and communities?" Craig who is also the director of The Spiritual Computing Research Group, will argue that several trends – Web 2.0 innovations, neuroscience's interactions with the Dalai Lama, and West's new embrace of premodern wisdom traditions – all combine to bring spiritual principles at the doorstep of the world's technological laboratories.The upshot: today's system architects may be able to measure fuzzy notions like user empowerment. "Tech researchers will get algorithms that show if they are empowering users, addicting them or just delivering ease of use," he says.Spiritual technologies, he says, could release enormous pent up demand for web services in advanced markets (where 83% of users are "spiritual") and in emerging markets such as India where spirituality is fundamental for survival. Examples: versions of Wikipedia in which wisdom, not mere knowledge, rises to the surface; gaming as spiritual quest; online enhancement of Islamic rituals; locative technologies that use feng shui to create sacred spaces, biofeedback interfaces that bring mindfulness into cancerous organs; technological support for 12 step programs that transform addiction into empowerment.