Uncle Albert — Einstein, that is — once pointed to the invisible bridge between science and the sacred when he said, "I didn’t arrive at my understanding of the fundamental laws of the universe through my rational mind."

For a season in my life not long ago, it felt like all I did was listen to Ram Dass and experiment with new models of intelligence. By then, I had spent a decade at Apple and Google, my soul caught in an undertow of conflicting feelings about my role in the leviathans of technology. I had been lucky — part of the global launches of the iPhone and iPad, fueled by a true believer’s zeal — only to later confront their unintended consequences: the ways they reshaped our minds, emotions, and relationships, both with others and ourselves.