biometrics Archives - The Sociable

Fitbit unveils new stress detecting features as Google awaits acquisition

4.9K

If successful in acquiring Fitbit, Google may soon know even more intimate details about your emotional states as Fitbit today...

Carnival celebrations in Rio de Janeiro.

Technology

Will this be the last time Brazil uses facial recognition technology at Carnival?

Sophie Foggin2 years ago

4.44K

Carnival, for most Brazilians, is synonymous with samba, sweat, and caipirinhas. Some of the best parties of the year take...

Technology

As big tech moves to ‘disrupt’ healthcare, biometric data is still key to hacking humanity

Tim Hinchliffe2 years ago

7.89K

Big tech is looking to disrupt the healthcare industry, but having access to biometric data is still key to hacking...

Technology

Human rights groups ask House not to fund invasive tech for border security

Tim Hinchliffe3 years ago

1.99K

Over 25 human rights and tech groups petition the US House of Representatives to not fund "various invasive surveillance technologies...

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.