Lesson 24 · Original 2024 edition
Objects and Tools
Original book · printed p. 52 onward ↗About this edition
The teaching below preserves the original book’s wording, with page footers and layout whitespace removed. The AI practice and reflection are new adaptations.
The tool analogies reflect the author’s perspective. Tool design and limitations also affect outcomes; the adaptation does not assume that training alone removes every risk.
Historical and scientific claims in the source have not yet undergone a complete evidence review.
Source teaching · Alex Julian, 2024
The original lesson
A lot of yoga is how to best utilize various objects in reality. Remember (from Lesson 10), it is never the object that is the problem. Rather, it is the relationship with the object that is the problem. We already went over the cigarette example. The object of cigarettes affects people totally differently — depending on the relationship each individual has with the object. Another word for object is tool. Let’s go through two more quick, but slightly more nuanced, examples.
Consider the object, or tool, of a chainsaw. A person trained as a lumberjack would be able to safely use this object to do an important job, even though I love trees. On the other hand, think about an innocent child with no training trying to use the chainsaw. It is terrifying to even think about. However, it has nothing to do with the intelligence of the child. The child may be brilliant. It is also important to note that even though the child is innocent and morally sound, using the tool of a chainsaw could still cause tremendous harm and damage. Even if you are smart and moral, if you don’t have the right training, a tool can still be dangerous.
Let’s now imagine the object, or tool, of a paintbrush with a blank canvas to work with. A person with training as an artist would be able to use the paintbrush to create a beautiful picture. However, someone who was never used a paintbrush would struggle to use the same tool to make something beautiful. What matters most in these examples is not the overall intelligence or even morality, but it is the training. A person trained to use a specific tool or object typically uses the object optimally, or at least better.
This sounds crazy at first, but AI has a lot in common with a chainsaw and a paintbrush. It can be used to create some beautiful works of art — on a scale infinitely bigger than what a paintbrush can do. However, at the same time, it can be infinitely more dangerous than a child with a chainsaw. It all comes down to our relationship with AI. Everything is still so new, so a lot of that relationship will come down to how people are trained to use AI. This program is an initial prototype for an example training system.
© 2024 Alex Julian Yoga. All rights reserved.
New contemporary AI application
Try it in your next AI session.
Choose one AI tool and one small task. Identify what the tool can help with and what you still need to judge or verify yourself. Try the task, then note one skill you want to practice next.
Reflect afterward
What did this experiment teach you about using the tool deliberately?
Bring this teaching to the Practice Studio →Developed with AI assistance for this digital edition. Reflect privately; nothing needs to be submitted or shared.
Music and teaching
The original song and video
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