November 4, 2022
In this episode, Wendy speaks with Randima (Randy) Fernando, co-founder of the Center for Humane Technology. Over several decades, Randy has worked to integrate technology, mindfulness, and social impact, trying to find ethical solutions to some of our most challenging issues. This conversation covers many topics, including:
- how the strands of Buddhism and technology have woven together throughout his life;
- the challenges we face with tech today;
- parallels between mindfulness and humane technology;
- understanding the “race to the bottom”;
- breaking the myth that technology is neutral;
- looking at technology through the Buddhist lens of dependent co-arising;
- problematic incentives in the tech space (e.g., advertising as a business model);
- the attention economy;
- how technology trains our attention, emotions, and even our values;
- technology’s impact on the way we view our “self”;
- customized realities, echo chambers, and polarization;
- how to avoid tech traps;
- the core principles of humane technology;
- building values/ethics into AI;
- understanding dukkha;
- the pros and cons of using technology to teach mindfulness;
- and the latest resources from the Center for Humane Technology.
Randima Fernando works at the intersection of technology, mindfulness, and social impact, helping to find ethical solutions to hard problems. He is a co-founder of Center for Humane Technology (CHT), a nonprofit whose mission is to align technology with humanity’s best interests. CHT was featured in the Emmy-winning film “The Social Dilemma,” which has been seen by over 100 million people globally. Randy previously served for seven years as founding Executive Director at Mindful Schools, a nonprofit that has taught mindfulness to millions of kids and over 40,000 educators worldwide. Before that, Randy led many award-winning projects and authored 3 bestselling books on 3D graphics over seven years at NVIDIA, where he was an inaugural board member of the NVIDIA Foundation. Randy also serves on the board of Spirit Rock Meditation Center, and was born in Sri Lanka.
Resources
Personal website
Center for Humane Technology
Mindful Schools
- Movie: The Social Dilemma, 2020
- Free Course: Foundations of Humane Technology
- Podcast: Your Undivided Attention
- Youth Toolkit