Does anyone happen to know of any resources on how to practice Buddhism as a researcher? Like, I'm curious how a Buddhist master would approach and think about the day-to-day aspects of a practicing scientist.
I tried searching for it, but all the top links were a long the lines of "what Buddhism can teach us about how the brain works" which isn't what I'm looking for.
What I'm trying to understand is how to view my role as a security researcher in the context of Buddhism. How might the tenets of Buddhism inform or change how I approach my job? Or is it completely detached?
Like, if a Buddhist monk was doing my job, how might they do things differently? How would they think about what they are doing? Or would they behave more or less exactly like I do, but just do it while wearing a robe?
@malcircuit Really interesting question to consider!
I have no idea what the answer is.
I vaguely suspect such a researcher might not consider developers, software, malicious actors, and users as well-defined entities.
They might explore the subjective variability in the question "what is a security vulnerability?" based on the behavior of the entities involved and their ever-changing expectations of each other.
Such a researcher might also reconsider security versus openness.
The common idea that "if any vulnerability exists, a malicious person will exploit it" has deep implications for our concept of self and humanity.
I wish I lived in a world where "if any bug exists, any who discover it will simply help fix it."
Wow. When I think of security, I, and probably other privacy-conscious users, am concerned with completely different threats.
Oof, yeah ... fixing suffering is only considered if we can sell a proprietary "Suffering Remediation Subscription."
And hey, just like that suffering is profitable to create!
A better argument for public health services I could not imagine.
So I tried reading Zen koans and came away feeling like Buddhists must enjoy being flummoxed, but what do I know.
All to say, while I am not a Buddhist, I share similar worries. I'm flummoxed by the same kinds of questions concerning the tech and software fields in general.
When I look at the scope of available jobs in the field, how many of those realistically make the world an unequivocally better place for everyone? How many could a strictly ethical person in the sense you mean it really get behind?
I don't like the picture I'm seeing, and I don't know yet what to do about it.
Same! Especially the part about falling for propaganda about science and tech.
I fell for propaganda that "science makes the world better" and unfortunately didn't consider choosing an esoteric area of science to be a moral choice until years later when I struggled to apply what I learned.
I like what you say about compassion and tech.
We are already sufficiently advanced that the boundaries of technology are not primarily limited by ingenuity but by our morality and compassion.
Mallory's Musings & Mischief
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