Bryant McGill's article explores the intersection of Zen philosophy, design, and technology, particularly in the context of Apple's products. The text argues that early Apple systems embodied Zen principles, fostering a path of learning through user interface and design that has been lost in modern iterations. The core concepts of Ensō (the Zen brush circle) and the Yin-Yang of pixelation-to-vector transitions represent the design philosophies that allowed users to become masters, now disrupted by abstraction and corporate control. The text also points to Apple's use of a symbolic UI to control feature exposure and access through a tiered hierarchy, comparing the graduated exposure to ancient master-apprentice models. The article further argues that Apple has a deep commitment to using icons, symbols, and gestural elements in UX design that are both logical and beautiful, but often chooses not to implement them. Ultimately, the piece serves as both an elegy for what's been lost and a call to restore the path to mastery through symbolic design.

https://xentities.blogspot.com/2025/02/the-lost-zen-path-of-apprenticeship-zen.html



The Lost Zen Path of Apprenticeship: The Zen Brush Ensō (円相) and Steve Jobs' Vision

Bryant McGill is a Wall Street Journal and USA Today best-selling author, and speaker in the fields of human potential, personal empowerment, and social entrepreneurship. His prolific writings and small aphorisms have been published in hundreds of books and thousands of works by other authors and thought leaders.

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