4.4.1 Francisco Varela, whose thoughts are also influenced by Eastern philosophies, states that he has had only one question all of his life: "Why emergent selves, virtual identities, pop up all over the place creating worlds, whether at the mind/body level, cellular level, or the transorganism level? This phenomenon is so productive that it doesn't cease creating entirely new realms: life, mind, and societies." (Varela, 1995, pg. 209) Even though he speaks of identities in terms of cellular, immune, and biological systems, this train of thought could easily be transposed to on-line environments where the population of emergent selves is growing faster than anyone could have ever imagined.

4.4.2 Fuller was very much influenced by cybernetic theories. But at the same time he was aware of and indeed studied Indian Vedanta philosophies. [1] Indian religion is pantheistic-gods assume many forms, and complexity is naturally embraced. Hierarchies are extremely intricate, and to current Western thought, highly problematic. Yet much of the initial coding and defining of computer-based worlds has been established by hippies from San Francisco, who used Indian mythological names or terms to define these newly emergent worlds and selves. The result of this odd combination of the machine and Indian or New philosophy are emergent selves in multiuser environments-"Avatars," a word that has assumed a much narrower meaning than its original theological referent. For most who are familiar with multi-user environments, the word simply means "an assumed identity in cyberspace."

4.4.3 At the Buckminster Fuller Institute I was assisted in my question of how important Indian spiritualism was to Fuller. Gary Millikan, the head archivist at the Institute, directed me to a book by Sri Aurobindo, which, judging from the earmarks and underlined passages, had been very well studied. On the cover, Fuller hand wrote "Avatar." Aurobindo felt India had a mission to perform in the community of nations and wrote, "A divine power is behind the movement . The Zeit-Geist, the Time-Spirit, is at work to bring about a mighty movement of which the world at the present juncture has need. That movement is the resurgence of Asia and the resurgence of India is not only a necessary part of the larger movement but its central need. India is the key-stone of the arch, the chief inheritress of the common Asiatic destiny." (Navajata, 1971, pg. 26)

4.4.4 The numbering system we use was first developed in India in the seventh century. From there it travelled to the near east and from there, with Islamic expansion, to Spain, where it was finally adopted by European culture. It is these numbers that are used by calculating machines propelling cyberspace into which we project ourselves.