Discussion paper for upcoming dialogues

Hear the announcement of Spiritual Computing by Craig Warren Smith at Nokia House, Helsinki, June 1, 2006.

Thanks to exponential rises in computing power, technologists are able to deliver "immersive experiences." But for what purpose? Proceeding without guiding principles, designers could unwittingly foster addiction, information overload and compulsive materialism. But could the opposite occur?

SpiritualComputing.com is building a community that draws wisdom from the world's spiritual traditions. Our aim: new applications that enhance human happiness and wellbeing.

SPIRITUAL COMPUTING
By Craig Warren Smith, PhD
Senior Advisor, Human Interface Technology Laboratory, University of Washington  

Introduction
Spiritual Computing (Spiricomp) combines recent innovations in neuroscience, catalyzed by HH Dalai Lama, with trends in technology such as social computing and affective computing. The term does not yet refer to specific applications, but more broadly to the new potential of computing to gain access to – and act upon --“spiritual” substrata of one’s mind. This pattern of brain functioning corresponds to experiences long cultivated by pre-modern spiritual traditions, including sustained attention, presence, compassion, perceptual clarity, mind/body alignment, openness and happiness. Spiritual Computing, once formulated, would meet needs of a growing body of consumers: 83% of US adults now consider themselves “spiritual” and a growing proportion of these are not happy with organized religion. Spiritual Computing may also serve health care and educational institutions that increasingly incorporate spiritual methods. Another byproduct of Spiritual Computing may well be the creation of new online communities. Just as Jimbo Wales created Wikipedia, a site that pools the knowledge of millions of users, tomorrow’s online communities may self-organize to allow wisdom, not mere knowledge, to rise to the surface. Similarly, the next generation of computer games may draw upon spiritual archetypes to provide interactive experiences that simulate spiritual journeys.

The Spiricomp concept is still in formation.  The framework and research agenda for a Spiritual Computing Research Group (SCRG) is emerging through informal meetings that tap expertise of some of the most brilliant minds shaping digital culture. The process began with a May 19, 2006 colloquium at University of Washington, followed by lectures at Nokia, Microsoft, Yahoo! and Google, along with smaller companies that are considered innovators in a field called Web 2.0.  These events are establishing hypotheses and research agenda for this effort and already the first gaming and social computing applications are emerging from these dialogues.  Though some of these applications may serve markets that are explicitly spiritual, most will be implicitly spiritual and integrated within supply chains serving other markets.

Though the initiative draws insights from adepts from spiritual traditions, it does not imply any metaphysical or theological assumptions nor does it support the objectives of any spiritual organizations. Rather, it relates directly to experience.  Spiricomp focuses on methods for accessing spiritual experience as well as to decision-making processes in which individuals make choices informed by spiritual experience.

Four Trends
Until now, business leaders who shape Silicon Valley’s digital culture felt no need to reach an accord with spiritual traditions nor to bring spiritual experts into the formulation of research designs. This may be changing.  Spiritual computing has become inevitable through the convergence of four new trends, each influencing the next generation of technologies.

The first of these is technological innovation. Spiritual computing links three interdisciplinary fields represented in corporate and academic technology laboratories.  One is social computing, referring to online social interactions. Spiritual principles may hold the key to creating self-organized communities that win the loyalty and trust of users. Some social computing sites such as Flickr and Digg demonstrate how knowledge or even wisdom could rise to the surface as millions of users interact.  Another key arena is affective computing, referring to ways in which computers can convey or respond to human emotion.  A third area is neuroscience. Using meditation adepts as research subjects, neuroscientists are examining decision-making processes associated with meditation. A subfield called “neuroeconomics” adds an important new dimension to contemplative neuroscience. It involves the study of how the brain enables users to make choices that maximize their happiness. By aligning these three fields -- social computing, affective computing, and neuroscience – researchers can create architectures for self-organized online communities in which users receive emotionally resonant experiences that lead them into a spiritual domain.

A second trend is marketing. Though technologists may be able to spawn spirituality within online communities, one might question whether anyone would be willing to pay for that service. Clearly there are no well-defined spiritual markets that currently draw the attention of technology corporations towards spirituality.  But demographic trends point to an unmet demand for educational and health care services informed by spirituality. This demand exists both among affluent consumers in advanced countries as well as low-income consumers in emerging markets who are just being to gain access to cell phones and computers.  In the United States, 83 percent of adults now consider themselves “spiritual.” This figure is rising in tandem with a steady increase in the percentage of Americans who are dissatisfied with organized religion. Other data show that spirituality increases with maturity, suggesting that as advanced societies age, this proportion will grow even higher. This shift is reflected in the transformation of the health care industry. Wellness, incorporating alternative/complementary health, mental health and mind/body therapies, add up to a $270 billion a year activity in the US alone, steadily rising 10 percent per year. In some health sub-fields such as end-of-life care, “mindfulness” practices have spread like wildfire, aiding both professionals and patients.

Of particular interest to technology corporations is that education markets draw increasingly from spiritual methods. Two huge new themes in education technology, “emotional intelligence” and “learning organizations” are influence by pre-modern spiritual traditions. Spirituality also factors into technology strategies in emerging markets. Consider India: As rural populations go online, Ayurveda and other deeply embedded forms of Indian spirituality have become the basis for a thriving menu of technological products and services.

A third trend is management. Flattening of management structures leads directly to the growth of spiritual inputs in management systems. Following outsourcing, supply chains have become “ecosystems” and “business webs.” A company’s stakeholders now include both nonprofit as well as for-profit stakeholders, forcing managers to shape commercial strategies in ways that are consistent with the public interest. To innovate effectively amid constant flux, managers must have the mind-training needed to act creatively within a field of chaos.  Many companies no longer identify with technology itself but with abstract principles of innovation and empowerment. The upshot:  technology companies may now be in the spiritual business, whether they know it or not.

A forth trend is ethics.  Ethical considerations tied to technology are of increasing importance to governments, consumers and to other stakeholders. In an effort to get “ahead of the debate” with society, some companies see the need for an explicit methodology that would allow them to anticipate the social impacts of their technologies. This circumstance forces technology system architects to pose fundamental questions about the nature of reality and the human condition. These questions lie far outside the expertise of electrical engineers who still dominate decision-making. The core question is ”How can technology bring out the best in users and avoid the worst?” This is a question may be best illuminated through interaction with spiritual leaders. As technologists seek methods to make beneficial outcomes possible, spiritual traditions may offer helpful clues.

Towards a Suite of Products and Services
The four trends mentioned above – encompassing research, marketing, management, and ethics – suggest that spiritual considerations are no longer marginal to digital culture. Understanding these trends and seeing how they intersect are the first steps towards the formation of a suite of technological products and services informed by spirituality.

Currently, spiritual computing is an open space, an opportunity, and a challenge for creative thinkers. The upside of spiritual computing is great:  It would lead to lead to a dramatic expansion in the number of individuals who gain the confidence to access the depth of their own experiences. It could have a salutary impact on practices in digital industries themselves. It could help educational and health care fields incorporate spiritual practices into their systems. And it could also bring technological sophistication to individuals and organizations that promulgate spirituality.