From Counterculture to ValleyZen

03.05.08 | Category: Valley History, Video

Check out today’s satori-inducing video with Fred Turner – Stanford Professor, acclaimed author, and expert in Silicon Valley counterculture. He says, “The distance between the Grateful Dead and Google, between Ken Kesey and the computer is not as great as we might think.” Zen takes center stage as Turner shows its powerful influence from early cyberculture to today’s Valley. Watch Turner trace the Valley’s direct lineage from the cyber-pioneers who were also think partners with Zen.
From Counterculture to Cyberculture

Highlights from the video. Prof. Turner on:

  • Why Zen resonates with Valley minds
  • Zen roots of the Internet
  • Ken Kesey — Valley Zen forefather?
  • Stewart Brand on Experience

    • “Because of [the Valley’s] exposure to Zen, Eastern philosophy, beat and hippie culture, this area values experience and values machines that make experiences very differently than other areas might. You can be an intellectual out here and make technology—that’s a neat thing!”

    I highly recommend Prof. Turner’s book:

    From Counterculture to Cyberculture: Stewart Brand, the Whole Earth Network, and the Rise of Digital Utopianism

    Direct link to the Video is here

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10 Comments so far

  1. BJ Fogg 03.05.08 at 7:14 am

    “ValleyZen has found the sweet spot,” Turner says.

  2. charlie 03.05.08 at 5:36 pm

    Illuminating interview! Becoming a young adult at the time of the counterculture movement in California–I was fascinated by Prof. Turner’s insights on how Zen shaped the Valley and by his stories about Ken Kesey.

    This is a satori-inducing video! After watching it I had a flash of enlightenment!

    I was reminded of one of my favorite all-time movie scenes from Kesey’s “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.” As punishment, the patients are prevented from watching the World Series. (I could imagine no worse fate being a sports fan!) Jack Nicholson stands before an empty white screen – a Zen void? -and creates his own World Series with his imagination and presence alone. What a Zen moment!

  3. Susie 03.05.08 at 10:17 pm

    Wow! A really zen-lightening interview with Fred Turner who shared his insights on Zen, counter-culture, and technology, and how they have been embraced by Silicon Valley as we know it today. His conversation was scholarly as one would expect, yet refreshingly accessible: by invoking the names and styles of such classic American icons such as Kesey, he helped define Zen in a somewhat more tangible way for me. As for Drue’s droll quip as Dr. Turner takes a moment to select the key to open the Center’s library, and she remarks that he is “unlocking knowledge”…fabulous! So simple, but so absolutely right on, in the moment, ZEN! It’s these interview ad lib nuggets that make her videos so watchable.

  4. Bill Fenwick 03.06.08 at 4:49 pm

    Professor Turner’s interview ignited a number of insights. He alluded to the Valley making things and speeding events as a significant Valley differentiator. I was eating lunch and glancing through the Palo Alto Daily Times newspaper when it occurred to me that collaboration through blogging, except for its speed and scope, is the grandchild of “Dear Abby” on anabolic steroids.

  5. Costa Casasbuenas 03.16.08 at 6:30 am

    It’s great! I loved the way how your interview highlights the importance of experience (generating new experiences!) and about creating possibilities for practitioners to collaborate in a non-hierarchical way via systems approach. Your site is a real discovery for me. Thanks.

  6. Drue Kataoka 03.21.08 at 3:15 pm

    BJ- Thanks for highlighting this countercultural soundbite:)

    Charlie – A Zen Kesey moment indeed.

    Susie – The videos interviews that I do are unscripted and spontaneous so I hope a realness and immediacy is delivered to the viewer. If ad lib nuggets result, I’m delighted!

    Bill- This observation about blogging as the grandchild of Dear Abby is spot on.

    Costa – I’m happy that you “discovered” ValleyZen and would like to welcome you to our community. I agree, the experiential and non-hierachical nature of Zen has deeply influenced the Valley.

  7. Smart Mobs » Blog Archive » ValleyZen interviews Fred Turner about counterculture roots of cyberculture 04.03.08 at 9:44 am

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