Customer Reviews

Reinventing the Wheel: A Buddhist Response to the Information Age (Suny Series in Philosophy and Biology) (Suny Series, Philosophy & Biology)

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Telephones, TVs, jet planes, automobiles, computers, drugs, plastics... technology has become ever more deeply embedded in our lives. Technology is not just a bunch of tools piling up around us, but a pattern of activity that includes us too. Buddhism teaches us that we are actually cross-sections of such patterns of world activity. As technology radically restructures those patterns, it profoundly restructures the deep layers of our being. Many discussions of technology start from the same control-oriented dualistic perspective that gave rise to technology, and are therefore limited to superficiality. Hershock clearly points out how we are caught in a vicious circle, where our efforts to control our experience cut out the very meaningfulness we are searching for. A milestone contribution, demonstrating the vital relevance of Buddhist thought and practice to crucial issues of today.

This book is not an incredibly new critique of western culture, but does have a new take on the root of our problems and a solution: He presents the major problem of modern society as that of a need for control represented by and as technology. His explanation of colonialism is a bit nostalgic but he does make a lot of valid points. I highly recommend this book to anyone, but it does take a little effort to sift through. It helps to read a few times to get his arguments clear in your head, but a lot of it is just examples of control in society and the problems that creates, which is ultimately a neverending cycle (buddhists will recognize this as samsara). I especially recommend chapters 5, 7, and the last one

Part of Hershock's skill in explaining a very alien and unfamiliar tradition of Buddhism, lies in his ability to abstract from the above important points, and to relate them to the daily life of a modern Western audience.
Hershock can relate to us, and can bring us to relate to Buddhism, however, he markedly disapproves of our modern daily life. He believes that the Western tradition has diverged from human practices and beliefs, particularly in the modern era of the Information Age.

For a full review see Interface, Volume 7, Issue 5.