In this discussion, Peter D. Hershock, a Professor at the East-West Center, shares insights from his book which fuses Buddhist philosophy with modern understandings of consciousness. He argues that consciousness is a relational phenomenon shaped by our environments and cultures. Topics covered include the ethics of machine morality, the implications of AI on human behavior, and the transformative effects of meditation. Hershock emphasizes the intertwining of consciousness with both matter and relationships, urging us to engage compassionately with our evolving understanding.
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question_answer ANECDOTE
Time Dilation
At age nine, Peter Hershock experienced time dilation during a bicycle collision.
This sparked his interest in consciousness and how time can stretch.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Ego and Performance
During a concussion while playing football, Hershock lost his sense of self yet performed exceptionally well.
This highlighted the impact of ego on responsiveness and awareness.
insights INSIGHT
Consciousness in Action
Theorizing consciousness should focus on what it does rather than what it is.
This shift allows for a more practical and impactful understanding.
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In "Buddhism and Intelligent Technology: Toward a More Humane Future," Peter Hershock explores the intersection of Buddhist philosophy and the rapid advancements in artificial intelligence. He challenges readers to reconsider our relationship with technology, urging a shift from control-biased approaches to a more ethical and humane engagement. Hershock draws upon classical Confucian and Socratic philosophies to illuminate the impact of technology on human experience. The book emphasizes the importance of cultivating attention and resisting the colonization of consciousness by AI. Ultimately, Hershock proposes a constructive path forward, blending ancient wisdom with contemporary insights to navigate the unprecedented opportunities and perils of intelligent technology.
Genesis
Artificial Intelligence, Hope, and the Human Spirit
Craig Mundie
Eric Schmidt
Henry A. Kissinger
In this book, Henry A. Kissinger, Eric Schmidt, and Craig Mundie explore the epochal challenges and opportunities presented by the revolution in Artificial Intelligence. AI is seen as a force that can address enormous crises such as climate change, geopolitical conflicts, and income inequality, while also posing significant challenges to human judgment, divine relationships, and potentially spurring a new phase in human evolution. The authors chart a course between blind faith and unjustified fear, offering an accessible guide to how AI will shape civilization in the modern era.
Children of time
Henry Maxwell
Children of Time is a book by Henry Maxwell, published in 1967. Due to limited information, specific details about the book's content or themes are not available.
Consciousness Mattering(Bloombury, 2023) presents a contemporary Buddhist theory in which brains, bodies, environments, and cultures are relational infrastructures for human consciousness. Drawing on insights from meditation, neuroscience, physics, and evolutionary theory, it demonstrates that human consciousness is not something that occurs only in our heads and consists in the creative elaboration of relations among sensed and sensing presences, and more fundamentally between matter and what matters. Peter Hershock argues that without consciousness there would only be either unordered sameness or nothing at all. Evolution is consciousness mattering.
Shedding new light on the co-emergence of subjective awareness and culture, the possibility of machine consciousness, the risks of algorithmic consciousness hacking, and the potentials of intentionally altered states of consciousness, Hershock invites us to consider how freely, wisely, and compassionately consciousness matters.
New Books in Psychology 
