Divine Inspiration From the Masses
Open-source programming's organizing principle has been embraced in medical research, engineering -- even religion
By Charles Piller, Times Staff WriterJuly 23, 2006

Behold, brethren. The "open source" movement, long championed by computer whizzes as a way to solve problems using the input of all, is increasingly being applied to other disciplines including literature, scientific research and religion.Yes, religion.

Yoism — a faith invented by a Massachusetts psychologist — shuns godly wisdom passed down by high priests. Instead, its holy text evolves online, written by the multitude of followers — much the same way volunteer programmers create open-source computer software by each contributing lines of code.

Adherents of Yoism — who count Bob Dylan, Albert Einstein and Sigmund Freud among their saints — occupy the radical fringe of the open-source movement, which is quickly establishing itself as a new organizing principle for the 21st century.Although an extreme example, Yoism shows how far beyond computer programming the open-source method has progressed. At its core, the process presumes the intelligence of crowds, and Yoans build their faith around the notion that, together, they take the place of divine inspiration. the rest


Website: Yoism-Welcome to the Way of Yo
A community of individuals unitedby a shared vision of human possibility.
Together, we can create Heaven on Earth.

"Yo" is the Infinite Unknowable Essence from which all that we experience manifests. The existence of Yo can be proven. For some Yoans, awareness of the existence of Yo is of central importance. To others, Yo is irrelevant!

You may be like many Yoans who became uncomfortable when they first heard such words. If so, this type of "religious talk" may make you feel that we are trying to recruit you for some kind of "cult." Indeed, we believe it is approriate to be highly skeptical when a new world view is presented, with the implication that you should consider it for yourself.