Presence of mind

“A sign of the end of time is when people can no longer tell the difference between the work of man and the work of nature ..” Hopi prophecy

I’ve never met anyone with a healthy mental outlook who didn’t also have great presence of mind. They can be totally immersed in virtual space then quickly disconnect and be completely present for you. They skillfully navigate technical networks as well as the ‘here and now’. Don’t get me wrong, I am also enamored with technology. Social networks enable people to expand their outlook, collaborate and see things from totally different perspectives. That’s what the designers of the Internet originally had in mind. There’s a recent example I like to share. Scientists at the University of Washington were trying to figure out the way enzymes act to allow AIDS to reproduce ..and they couldn’t solve it. So, they put it on the Internet and made it into a game and these gamers from all over the world solved it in three weeks. The brainpower of the world is at our disposal. That’s a good thing. However, with any technology ..I can tell you some really good things about it as well as some not-so-good things about it. People get so engaged in the technological world that they often don’t seem to be present in the real one. I’m not sure mental health is possible without being able to refresh the mind periodically and be completely present with people. I recently spent two weeks at Esalen in Big Sur where I was totally immersed with people in the moment. It was a technology break for me. I’m not so sure about my mental health, but I did return feeling a renewed appreciation for technology as well as a greater sense of what is going on here in the present.