James Rosenfield, Author at The Sociable

James Rosenfield

James Rosenfield is a traveler, writer, and history buff. After obtaining a degree in International Affairs from the University of Colorado in Boulder, he decided to high-tail it from the USA to Colombia in search of adventure. He has a passion for skiing, live music, and speaking Argentinian "castellano" with bemused Colombians.

Business

#DontForgetPuertoRico project founder talks rebuilding after Hurricane Maria

James Rosenfield4 years ago

9.7K

As you may remember, Puerto Rico was hit by a category 4 hurricane six months ago, Hurricane Maria. Or you...

Technology

AI for governments monitoring citizen happiness

James Rosenfield4 years ago

9.72K

Governments may use information gleaned from AI in a beneficial way in monitoring citizen happiness, but this type of data...

Technology

The AI revolution in defense technology is happening faster than we think

James Rosenfield4 years ago

9.58K

As the legendary Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw mused in his "Maxims for Revolutionists" (1948), "If history repeats itself, and...

Technology

Artificial vs Emotional Intelligence in Machine Learning

James Rosenfield4 years ago

11.8K

MIT has launched a new project, the MIT Intelligence Quest, whose aim is to “advance the science and engineering of...

Technology

Avoiding toxins around your home

James Rosenfield4 years ago

11.1K

There are a slew of every day household items we use that we might not even realize are harming us...

Technology

AI at the forefront of diagnoses and the transformation of the healthcare industry

James Rosenfield4 years ago

9.71K

From collecting data to analyzing samples to operating on actual patients, Artificial Intelligence is rapidly shifting the efficiency and capabilities...

Brains Byte Back

We explore how our brains, psychology, and society are impacted by the ever-evolving technology that surrounds us. If you want to be better prepared for the new information age, have a healthier relationship with technology, and get more out of life using top technology and psychology hacks, this is the podcast for you! Every other Friday we bring you interviews with leading experts in the fields of technology and psychology combined, with past guest speakers such as New York Times journalists, MIT Professors, and C-suite executives of top tech companies.

You may have heard of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and his followers, commonly known as Rajneeshees or sannyasins, from the incredibly popular Netflix documentary “Wild, Wild Country.”

Well in today’s episode we speak with a former follower of the Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh cult to get a better understanding of how this society functioned, what it was like to live in normal society as a member of the cult, and what it was like on the famous Oregon ranch.

With our guest, Annie (who has asked to remain anonymous but showed her mala that she wore during her time as a Rajneshee to prove her affiliation with the cult), we find out how she first find out about Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and the Rajneeshees, and what inspired her to join their cult, where she goes into great detail about how she found them when she was 16 at an Alcoholics Anonymous event.

She also shares why life as a Rajneeshee was difficult off the ranch in normal society, as society often treated them with a mixture of suspicion, curiosity, and fear. In fact, she was fired from all of her jobs due to her membership in the cult, but she also explains how she saw this as a positive, “a trial by fire” as she claims.

Annie also goes into detail about what it was like visiting the ranch in 1983, when, she believes, much of the footage used in the documentary was filmed. She talks about the important role meditation played in being a Rajneeshee and what a normal day was like on the ranch.

She also shares her thoughts on how accurate the documentary was, how close she came to meeting Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, and finally, how she left the cult in the end.

Overall, Annie explains why she doesn’t see the following as a religion or cult, but instead as a community and how this community had such an overall, lasting positive experience in her life.