"The person who can split an atom but has no love in his heart is a monster." - J Krishnamurti
There is a story that I have heard in a number of versions. The one for the Internet age goes like this:
A young woman once walked into an Internet cafe and saw a man with gray hair and a wrinkled face sitting hunched over at a table, actively engaged with his computer. He was typing fast and moving his mouse around with great speed.
Wow, she thought, that old man seems quite skilled at computers. Sitting at a table behind him, she noticed he was playing World of Warcraft and doing very well. A few minutes later, the man took off his headset and went to pick up a cup of coffee. On his return, the woman said, "I was watching you, and I noticed you're quite skilled with computers. What's your secret?"
"Ah," said the man, as he slowly lowered himself into his chair, his bones creaking as he did, "I play twelve hours a day, almost never go outside, survive on Doritos and Twinkies, and down a cup of coffee every hour."
"Impressive," said the woman. "And you have managed to live to a ripe old age while being so tech savvy. If you don't mind my asking, just how old are you?"
"I'm twenty-eight," the man replied.
Funny, but true.
I hear a lot today about using social media to grow your business -- how to get more fans on Facebook, followers on Twitter, or people to join your e-newsletter. In fact, over 15,700 people now claim to be social media experts of one kind or another, offering advice on how to engage social media.
But how to best use the technologies of our age is always a secondary question ... the primary question, which was as true in the days of Lao-Tzu and Buddha as it is today, even with all our gadgets, is "What is most aligned with what matters to me? What is the deeper purpose that life wants to express through me?"
Now, if a part of living that vision involves engaging on Twitter or Facebook ... beautiful. But if we do not who we are and what truly matters to us, then no amount of fans will ever satisfy us. We will live increasingly "disconnectedly connected" -- connected to others via technology but largely disconnected from ourselves ... disconnected from a deeper purpose.
There is a world of difference in gathering a following naturally because you are driven by a sense of purpose and focus around a subject, and living disconnected from what matters to you, and getting lost in accumulation ... whether this accumulation is more cars, more promotions, or more friends or followers.
Knowing what the primary and what the secondary question is will largely determine where our culture goes from here. The potential of our age, not yet fully realized, is that we can be connected both to what matters to us inwardly, and at the same time engage externally and use and benefit from the great technologies of our age.
It helps, however, to know what the primary question is and what is secondary. We will then have a greater chance of living not just connected via technology, but meaningfully and purposefully connected.
Soren Gordhamer is organizing the Wisdom 2.0 Conference, which brings staff from technology companies such as Twitter and Google, with Zen teachers, neuroscientists, and others to explore this living with deeper mindfulness and wisdom in the modern age. More info at: http://www.wisdom2conference.com/