Monday 16 January 2012

Geek week - nurturing your inner nerd.



Can computer analogies help with
understanding Buddhist Philosophy?


Rational Buddhism is celebrating Geek Week, with three articles dedicated to all dharma dweebs, nerds, techies and code-freaks.   The common theme is how computer analogies can be used to illustrate the more obscure aspects of Buddhist philosophy.

Celebrating Geek Week


'Algorithmic compression and the three modes of existential dependence in Buddhism' (how's that for a catchy title!)  looks at how the way things exist can,  up to a point, be modelled by algorithms and datastructures.  But the model breaks down when it comes to understanding the meaning of computer variables, and we are left to contemplate that ultimate Geek Goddess, the mysterious Mother of all Algorithms...

Homage to the Mother of All Algorithms



'Mereology and Buddhism: Mereological Dependence in Buddhist Philosophy ' 
This article introduces the word 'Mereology', which every dweeb should use frequently to maximize geek-cred.  As well as that, the article looks at how relational database concepts can more accurately reflect the 'basis of designation'  than traditional western philosophical terminology.    Bonus topics include isomers, enantiomers, engineering subcomponents and hierarchical bills of materials.

This guy's got Geek-cred



'The dumbing down of computer literacy and decline of programming in educationexamines how the removal of programming from the school curriculum in favor of the Micro Soft-option is making the traditional code-freak into an endangered geek subspecies. 


Endangered species


The replacement of coding skills by 'applications' such as MS Word and Excel has the knock-on effects of general dumbing down, and in particular in reducing the relevance of computer illustrations of dharma topics for the generation currently passing through college.



However the situation may change thanks to a $25 raspberry pi.


Contemplating interconnectedness


Finally, The Metameme  - could the principles of antivirus software be used to destroy terrorist memes within the minds of Jihadists? 









- Sean Robsville



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