A shift from Catholicism to Asian philosophy.

Patrick Byrne: It’s hard to outgrow a heavy Catholic upbringing. I certainly had that. I was an altar boy and left when I was about 13 or 14 and became interested in Asian philosophy. My sense of how the world works is very Daoist, which is to say Daoism . . . Daoism became ..., which in Japan is pronounced “...”. So it’s my, I guess, a Zen sense of how the world works. My sense of my obligations in the world probably come from that . . . that Catholic upbringing. So I’d say if I had a personal philosophy, it would be those . . . those two. I have no disrespect for organized religion, but to me it’s a handrail. And it’s a handrail to help you get somewhere. I mean the idea is . . . The goal is getting . . . Well it’s not even a goal; but there’s that place and those handrails, and it’s easy to confuse the two. I’d say only in the sense of . . . I’m not sure that anything has any meaning. I’m not sure that 50 million years from now, anything we’ve done means anything more than what some ants are crawling around on a rock mean anything more than they have. But if there is meaning, that meaning is to be found in service. It’s in the way you live your life and the . . . and the real service you provided other people. But I’m not even sure that . . . I’m not sure that makes the grade. We may all just end up ...some ants crawling around on a rock in space.

Recorded on: 10/29/07