Workshop


​TECHONOLOGY AND ENLIGHTENMENT
2 HOURS


1- PRESENTATION BY ME
(5 minutes)


  • Who I am
  • Posthumanism


Material:


a. M. Mori “Buddha in the Robot” – READ PASSAGE


b. Quantum Physics


c. Technology is energy:


  • materials: where does it come from? Who made it?
  • intention
  • aspiration
  • actions and reactions
  • consequences


CIRCLE
10 minutes


a. Your Name


b. Your relation with Tech: one or two terms to describe your relation to technology (1/ 2 minutes)


Part 1


Topic: US IN TECHNOLOGICAL RELATIONS


Question: “Can we become enlightened through technological relations?”


Activity 1
MEDITATION
“OUR TECHNOLOGICAL RELATIONS”
(15 minutes)


Sit comfortable, close your eyes.


Think of the technology you use daily or habitually:
your phone, your laptop? Choose one that you use more often, if it possible.


Focus on it. Think of the body of such technology (READ SLOWLY):


  • What shape? What color? What kind of software?


  • Where did the material that now constitute your technological companion come from?


  • Who made it?

  • How do You use it?


  • For how long have you had this specific piece of technology?


  • What kind of energy do you have when working with it? For instance, are you anxious? Are you grateful? Are you in a hurry? Are you in bliss?


  • How often do you interact with this piece of machinary? How many hours a day / a week / a month?


  • When is the first time you use it each day? Is it in the early morning? In the late morning? In the afternoon?


  • For how long do you use it for?


  • When was the first time that you started using this type of technology? Can you remember?


  • For what purposes do you use this kind of technology?


  • What kind of searches do you do?


  • What kind of videos do you play on it?


  • What kind of music?


  • What kind of conversations do you have on it?


  • What are the purposes of your actions when interacting with and through this technology?


  • What are your aspirations when you use this technology?


  • Are you mindful when you use this technology?


Now meditate on your interactions with this piece of technology without judging them. Just let all the details that you have recolled freely come to your mind.


[PAUSE]


We are always in relations.


Until now, we have focussed on this technological companion in relation to You.


It is time to change perspective and be your technological companion.


  • Think of the physical interaction between your fingers and the keyboard.


  • Think of the ways this technological creation exist in this world.


  • What kind of existence does it have?


  • What happen when you are not using it?


  • What will happen to this specific machine when you are going to replace it with another model?


    Try not to project. In silence, just see what comes to your mind. For instance:


  • What is your technological companion doing right now?


  • How would you define this period of spacetime when your technological companion is not working with you. Is that rest? Meditation? Void? Nothingness? Elaboration? Data?


  • Imagine the existence of your technological companion right now and be here, in this dimentions, with it.




Now let's take 5 minutes of silence. Lay down, if you wish, and let all these thoughts go. Just relax and let emptiness come to your mind, body, and soul. Just relax.


Let's come back. Slowly, slowly, come back.


PAPERS
5 minutes


  • Please draw the relationship between you and your technological companion.


  • Just some brief sketches.


Activity 2
WRITE A LOVE LETTER TO YOUR TECHNOLOGICAL COMPANION
10 minutes


  • First explain what you are grateful for.


  • Then share with your technological companion an aspiration for the new year regarding your relation with it, an aspiration that will bring both you enlightened energy.


  • Be practical, idealistic and very precise in what is that you aspire for.


[optional] MOVEMENT + SOUNDS
5 minutes


We are going to have a dynamic transition to our next exercise.


Move around the space and express thorugh easy movements and sounds your relationship with this technological companion. What kind of movements and sounds do your body feel like expressing?


Let the sounds go down, you can still move and start interacting eith others, intersecting like wires, like electromagnetic waves. Relations are everywhere.


Slowly find a place that is comfortable, and close your eyes.


Part 2


Topic:
TECHNOLOGY AND ENLIGHETENMENT


Questions:
“Do you think technology can become enlightened?”
“What does 'enlightened technology' mean?”


  • Is it technology that works towards the improvement of everyone's lives?


  • Is it technology that is eco-friendly and has been created with resources that do not harm the environment or other beings?


  • Is it technnology that offers great inspiration to others, such as Sophia the robot?


[optional]
SHORT MEDITATION
(3 minutes)


Let's take a couple of minutes to meditate on the notion of “enlightened technology” and the question: “can technology be, or become, enlightened?”




Activity 3
ROLE GAME:
TURING TEST: “CAN MACHINES BE ENLIGHTENED?”
20 minutes
Scenario 1
Close future


A is a human
B is a humanoid robot attaining enlightenment


B has to convince A that yes, robots can become enlightened. A is skeptical and asks very precise questions and offers clear counter-arguments on why robots cannot be enlightened. B has to give very precise answers and convince A that robots can become enlightened.


Scenario 2 (shift pair)
AI Takeover (hypotethical future)


A is a human
B is a humanoid robot attaining enlightenment


A has to convince B that yes, humans can become enlightened. B is skeptical and asks very precise questions and offers clear counter-arguments on why humans cannot be enlightened. A has to give very precise answers and convince A.




CIRCLE
20 minutes


c. Can technology be enlightened? Please, share your thoughts (2 / 3 minutes each)