While outlining the history of meditation, Pang mentions that ascending to a meditative state and other contemplative techniques, these all happened at the same time as the ascent of urbanisations, imperialism and international commerce. And one of the things he recommends is taking “digital Sabbaths” and, perhaps more interestingly, turning to digital meditation techniques.
“But being intertwined with a hammer or even a machine, like a car, is different to being intertwined with a social network”, says Pang. Pang refers to this as “intertwining.” To describe how intrinsic it is to human nature, he uses the example of soldiers who thought their swords were an extension of their arm. In a world where technology shapes the way we think, it is hard -if not impossible- to free ourselves from it. “’ Contemplative computing’ is something you do, not something you buy or download”, writes Alex Soojung-Kim Pang, who recently explored this interesting concept in his book. This is the purpose of “contemplative computing,” one of the greatest ideas to emerge from this period. This is the reason why we need new technologies within our technology that will enable us to take a break from the system even when we’re within it. Beyond this, our technologies are designed to maximise the shareholder’s profits, and if that implies distracting, confusing or gathering users –it’s completely acceptable.
A large part of the web-surfers are realising that technologies developed at a pace so quick that they never truly had time to cope and use them in a healthy manner.
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