Vincent Horns new course Mindfulness++ is open and starting soon

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Rainbow, modified 7 Years ago at 2/1/17 1:17 PM
Created 7 Years ago at 2/1/17 1:16 PM

Vincent Horns new course Mindfulness++ is open and starting soon

Posts: 41 Join Date: 6/29/16 Recent Posts
I'm a little surprised no one has posted this yet.

The course is here: http://www.meditate.io/

It starts in a week and  bit. I'm doing it mostly for the social noting and concentration practices which sound fun, but the rest of the content looks good to. It's aimed at intermediate to beginners.

There's other free courses on the site available now as well - I liked the concentration one.
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CJMacie, modified 7 Years ago at 2/1/17 4:01 PM
Created 7 Years ago at 2/1/17 4:01 PM

RE: Vincent Horns new course Mindfulness++ is open and starting soon

Posts: 856 Join Date: 8/17/14 Recent Posts
Pretty slick marketing. If they'd just leave the Buddha out of the spiel...
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bernd the broter, modified 7 Years ago at 2/2/17 9:06 AM
Created 7 Years ago at 2/2/17 9:06 AM

RE: Vincent Horns new course Mindfulness++ is open and starting soon

Posts: 376 Join Date: 6/13/12 Recent Posts
Awesome. The marketing cracks me up.
Nerds used to be losers, but now that your favourite hospital next door gets ransomwared and everyone realizes how much technology does and will rule your life, the culture suddenly seems to sell quite well.
u_U


My favourite parts: (emphases not mine)

"reprogram reality now"
"a method of training designed for the digital age"
"mindfulness++"
"bringing the body online in the sitting posture"
"It’s only when we bring all of ourselves online that we awaken to the full potential of our connected humanity."
"They’re asking big questions, such as ‘How can design thinking change the way ancient wisdom is taught and pass on?"
"let us seek to reprogram reality from the inside out"
Honestly though, mindfulness++ seems somewhat outdated, and I'm a bit scared about the security aspects.
I guess, I'll better wait for the release of their next product mind#, which comes delivered with an integrated garbage collector that takes care of the hindrances.
Or maybe Smallmind, where it's profound freedom that is grounded in the body all the way down o_O
(And don't even get me started on Objective mind, MindScript
, VisualMind, MindShell, TurboMind--, Common Mind, Mindless Mithon, HyperMind, MetaMind.NET-3, Mindspeak, Not Quite Mind, OpenMind, MindQuery, MindFuck...)

The section on the concentration course is great, too:
"Concentration is a Super Power"
"When we lose control of the ability to direct our attention, we become programmed by the world instead of programmers of it."
"This potential can take form as a
number of different super powers. From expanding space & time, to
tapping into natural joy, the concentrated mind is reality-bending.
"
Anyone else notice how the image for the concentration meditation course looks very similar to the death star?
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Rainbow, modified 7 Years ago at 2/3/17 11:03 AM
Created 7 Years ago at 2/3/17 11:03 AM

RE: Vincent Horns new course Mindfulness++ is open and starting soon

Posts: 41 Join Date: 6/29/16 Recent Posts
CJMacie:
Pretty slick marketing. If they'd just leave the Buddha out of the spiel...
I'm not sure what you mean, what are you objecting to here CJMacie? That they're charging for the course?

bernd the broter.
Awesome. The marketing cracks me up.
Nerds used to be losers, but now that your favourite hospital next door gets ransomwared and everyone realizes how much technology does and will rule your life, the culture suddenly seems to sell quite well.
u_U

Are you saying it's a schtick? I mean... isn't Vince the original Buddhist Geek?

Marketing is wrapping paper. What's inside is what will actually make a difference (or not) in people's lives.

bernd the broter.
Anyone else notice how the image for the concentration meditation course looks very similar to the death star?
Yes. I noticed this too and had a chuckle. emoticon Nothing says laser powered focus like the Death Star ray lol.
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bernd the broter, modified 7 Years ago at 2/4/17 3:05 AM
Created 7 Years ago at 2/4/17 3:05 AM

RE: Vincent Horns new course Mindfulness++ is open and starting soon

Posts: 376 Join Date: 6/13/12 Recent Posts
Rainbow:

bernd the broter.
Awesome. The marketing cracks me up.
Nerds used to be losers, but now that your favourite hospital next door gets ransomwared and everyone realizes how much technology does and will rule your life, the culture suddenly seems to sell quite well.
u_U

Are you saying it's a schtick? I mean... isn't Vince the original Buddhist Geek?

Marketing is wrapping paper. What's inside is what will actually make a difference (or not) in people's lives.
I haven't done the course, so I'm not saying it's not good.
Not sure what a schtick is - But did you notice that on the one hand there's lots of talk about 'digital age', 'programming reality', 'design', but then there's little to nothing on what that means for your practice? If you look at what they write about practice, it's all very traditional, though the words tend to be a bit new-agey at times.

Vince noticed that knowledge of assembler and denotational semantics won't get you enlightened, and won't get you customers.
So he doesn't even try to get any more 'digital' stuff into his projects than is absolutely necessary for marketing.
The same strategy was obviously used for Buddhist Geeks already.
But now its intensity approaches over 9000...

Look at this quote from his profile on linkedin:
Vincent Horn is part of a new generation of meditation teachers translating age-old wisdom into 21st century code. A computer engineering dropout turned modern monk,
He wants to translate age-old wisdom into 21st century code. Seems like a heavy project. Are you sure you want to trust that to someone who is actually a computer science dropout?
Well, unless there is no code. There's just a bunch of online videos and Web 2.0 stuff. Apparently this qualifies for 'reprogramming reality' or something (:
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Rainbow, modified 7 Years ago at 2/4/17 9:12 AM
Created 7 Years ago at 2/4/17 9:12 AM

RE: Vincent Horns new course Mindfulness++ is open and starting soon

Posts: 41 Join Date: 6/29/16 Recent Posts
Schtick is another word for gimmick. Meaning all the tech speak doesn't provide any value, it's just used to increase sales. Now explain what 'assembler and denotational' mean. emoticon

I see your point. My first thought when I saw Buddist Geeks was of tDCS and neurofeedback. Stuff like that feels more geeky to me, so it was not what I expected. Meh. I think the tech link is that some of the guided meditations are digital age-ish (Mindfulness of Email), technology like google hangouts is used to bring people together for social noting practice and the internet itself provides a forum for open discourse between different lineages and teachers at a level not previously possible. So I don't see it as baseless, though you can make the case it's over the top. Maybe that's necessary in marketing though. It's certainly common.
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Chris O, modified 7 Years ago at 2/4/17 2:31 PM
Created 7 Years ago at 2/4/17 2:29 PM

RE: Vincent Horns new course Mindfulness++ is open and starting soon

Posts: 54 Join Date: 10/8/16 Recent Posts
bernd the broter:
Rainbow:

bernd the broter.
Awesome. The marketing cracks me up.
Nerds used to be losers, but now that your favourite hospital next door gets ransomwared and everyone realizes how much technology does and will rule your life, the culture suddenly seems to sell quite well.
u_U

Are you saying it's a schtick? I mean... isn't Vince the original Buddhist Geek?

Marketing is wrapping paper. What's inside is what will actually make a difference (or not) in people's lives.
I haven't done the course, so I'm not saying it's not good.
Not sure what a schtick is - But did you notice that on the one hand there's lots of talk about 'digital age', 'programming reality', 'design', but then there's little to nothing on what that means for your practice? If you look at what they write about practice, it's all very traditional, though the words tend to be a bit new-agey at times.

Vince noticed that knowledge of assembler and denotational semantics won't get you enlightened, and won't get you customers.
So he doesn't even try to get any more 'digital' stuff into his projects than is absolutely necessary for marketing.
The same strategy was obviously used for Buddhist Geeks already.
But now its intensity approaches over 9000...

Look at this quote from his profile on linkedin:
Vincent Horn is part of a new generation of meditation teachers translating age-old wisdom into 21st century code. A computer engineering dropout turned modern monk,
He wants to translate age-old wisdom into 21st century code. Seems like a heavy project. Are you sure you want to trust that to someone who is actually a computer science dropout?
Well, unless there is no code. There's just a bunch of online videos and Web 2.0 stuff. Apparently this qualifies for 'reprogramming reality' or something (:

So what? Like, what do I care if about their marketing shtick? I myself am a career software engineer, see the obvious "digital-age" branding, and am not irked in any way. It kind of comes across like you’re showing off, or because you're "in the know" or have special knowledge of software development, you feel entitled or privileged to look down on both Vince and his work.

Reading your response is like watching Star Trek with a science geek that’s always saying things like "Pffft, that's ridiculous! Clear violation of the laws of physics! Doesn't make sense!" Seems like you’re highly identified with your software development background and that’s creating a a lot of aversion or even a superiority complex. Sounds harsh, and I do apologize if this comes across as unskillful speech on my part, but you might want to reflect on why all this derision.
Warrior Monk, modified 7 Years ago at 2/6/17 5:33 AM
Created 7 Years ago at 2/6/17 5:33 AM

RE: Vincent Horns new course Mindfulness++ is open and starting soon

Posts: 28 Join Date: 12/22/16 Recent Posts
I really like what Vince and Emily are doing. They're two of the few people I've seen that are actually trying to bridge the gap between the mainstream and 'deep end' practice. Kenneth's Contemplative Fitness looked fantastically poised to do the job, but it remains sadly unfinished. I think that the approch of Vince and Emily are taking is likely to bring this stuff to people who may not find it otherwise. I love this board and the people I've found here, but I can see it not being easily accessible aside from a miniority of people with a particular mindset. Their synthesis of different traditions intrigues me, too. 

There also needs to be more avenues for refugees of secular mindfulness who got too deep - in over their heads - for no fault of their own. Where else are the MBCT/MBSR casualities meant to go, aside from here on the DhO, a religious tradition or paying big $$$ to work with a teacher? Vince and Emily are taking a step in the right direction, imo. 
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bernd the broter, modified 7 Years ago at 3/9/17 8:13 AM
Created 7 Years ago at 2/7/17 2:54 AM

RE: Vincent Horns new course Mindfulness++ is open and starting soon

Posts: 376 Join Date: 6/13/12 Recent Posts
Chris O.:

So what? Like, what do I care if about their marketing shtick? I myself am a career software engineer, see the obvious "digital-age" branding, and am not irked in any way. It kind of comes across like [...] you feel entitled or privileged to look down on both Vince and his work.
Nowhere did I look down on either Vince or his work.
I made fun of the marketing, that's all.
If you try to sell your meditation approach as mindfulness++  ... Come on, I fail to see how that's not hilarious. (And also misleading. From what I can see, their approach is rather traditional. They're selling the same mindfulness as everyone else, though possibly on a quite high standard. I guess, if your competition works largely on donation basis, you may want to make the impression that you're selling something significantly better.)

[...] Seems like you’re highly identified with your software development background and that’s creating a a lot of aversion or even a superiority complex.[...] you might want to reflect on why all this derision.
I would suggest that you may be making things more complicated than necessary.
It's simply that some people are allergic to marketing of their favourite, 'pure' hobby, and still hope for the no-marketing, honest, traditional donation-based approach to work out.
OTOH, some aren't.
(But still, mindfulness++ is really funny... And yes, some more knowledge about the increment operator and its typical uses makes this even more funny.)
Now explain what 'assembler and denotational' mean.
Trust me, you probably don't really want to know.
It's the kind of stuff that makes many people want to drop out of computer science college (:
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Lewis James, modified 7 Years ago at 2/7/17 6:18 AM
Created 7 Years ago at 2/7/17 6:18 AM

RE: Vincent Horns new course Mindfulness++ is open and starting soon

Posts: 155 Join Date: 5/13/15 Recent Posts
I agree. I've signed up to the course. For what it's worth in this discussion, people who were signed up to the newsletter were offered a more 'dana' based payment system - a very low initial payment with opportunities during the course to pay more if it's deemed worthwhile. Don't know if that's available elsewhere but it seemed very fair.

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