hodges@VIOLET.BERKELEY.EDU (06/14/88)
Date: Fri, 10 Jun 88 17:59 EDT
From: hodges@violet.Berkeley.EDU
To: ailist@ai.ai.mit.edu
Subject: Proposed seminar - "The Computer Experience and the Human Spirit"
Proposal for a Seminar:
The Computer Experience and the Human Spirit
I am planning a seminar-workshop with a a working title of "The
Computer Experience and the Human Spirit". Jacob Needleman, Professor
of Philosophy at San Francisco State University, who is well known for
his books and seminars on the inner quest, has expressed interest in
this subject and suggested that he and I might offer such a program if
there is sufficient response.
It would be held in San Francisco and would consist of one or two
whole days' work together on a weekend, with presentations, exercises,
and exchanges among the participants. There would be a fee.
We would like to invite all who share an interest and concern about
the growing influence of computers on our inner as well as outer life
to participate. This would include those who work with computers
professionally, philosophers and spiritual explorers who wish to
understand how to approach the computer, and those for whom the
computer has become an inescapable fact of their daily lives.
Questions which we would like to explore include:
Do computers liberate or enslave us?
The computer as a creative medium.
What does the experience of working with computers help us
to understand about ourselves and our place in the world
order?
What new insights, metaphors, and values can be developed
from the computer experience? What are their potential
benefits and pitfalls?
How can we improve the quality of our relationships with
computers?
I am sending this out to invite commentary, suggestions, and
expressions of interest in participation. Please respond by e-mail or
telephone, or letter.
Also, if you are in touch with any other individuals, groups, or
mailing lists of people who might be interested, please forward this
message (and let me know).
Richard Hodges
hodges@violet.berkeley.edu
(415)268-3656
650 Calmar
Oakland CA, 94610