In
our class, we have thought about the way Apple, Google, Facebook interact and
influence the Self. Just like social media platforms and search engines have
different manifestos on how it should interact with the users’ Self, Robert
Bellah asserts that the “first language” all religions share is fulfillment
of the Self.
Currently, we are reading You are not a Gadget by the computer scientist and virtual reality pioneer, Jaron Lanier. Lanier looks at how the internet as causing us to lose our sense of individuality and thus lose our entire Self in the process. This loss of Self will force the “first language” of religion to change completely. Lanier says on page 29 of You are Not a Gadget “But if you want to make the transition from old religion, where you hope God will give you an afterlife, to the new religion, where you hope to become immortal by getting uploaded into a computer”... “you demand that the rest of us lie in your new conception of a state religion”... “you need us to deify information to reinforce your faith.”
Lanier proposes that our entire idea of religion is changing. Humankind is shifting from a Self that shapes its beliefs, morals, and actions around what will lead them to a heavenly afterlife, but a humankind that relies on a belief of technology. We no longer need God or religion to guide us and help us shape our own values and Selves. All we need to do is “believe information is real and alive.” This focus on information being real and alive, leaves a void for the Self. The Self has no mission and no place because there is no goal to work towards or values to format around because we are now relying on the immanence of immortality through technology. The “first language” of religion is the singularity.
This means then that technology is becoming a new religion or even taking the place of religion because we deifying technology. Belief in God only promised an unverifiable afterlife, but belief in technology (and the singularity) can promise IMMORTALITY. So you might be asking, what is the problem with a new religion based on technology? I agree with Lanier to say that the old religion was a religion founded on the principles of Self, and when we transition to the new religion, our individuality and identities will be lost, leading to a future with a collection of apathetic, confused, and unmotivated people.
Currently, we are reading You are not a Gadget by the computer scientist and virtual reality pioneer, Jaron Lanier. Lanier looks at how the internet as causing us to lose our sense of individuality and thus lose our entire Self in the process. This loss of Self will force the “first language” of religion to change completely. Lanier says on page 29 of You are Not a Gadget “But if you want to make the transition from old religion, where you hope God will give you an afterlife, to the new religion, where you hope to become immortal by getting uploaded into a computer”... “you demand that the rest of us lie in your new conception of a state religion”... “you need us to deify information to reinforce your faith.”
Lanier proposes that our entire idea of religion is changing. Humankind is shifting from a Self that shapes its beliefs, morals, and actions around what will lead them to a heavenly afterlife, but a humankind that relies on a belief of technology. We no longer need God or religion to guide us and help us shape our own values and Selves. All we need to do is “believe information is real and alive.” This focus on information being real and alive, leaves a void for the Self. The Self has no mission and no place because there is no goal to work towards or values to format around because we are now relying on the immanence of immortality through technology. The “first language” of religion is the singularity.
This means then that technology is becoming a new religion or even taking the place of religion because we deifying technology. Belief in God only promised an unverifiable afterlife, but belief in technology (and the singularity) can promise IMMORTALITY. So you might be asking, what is the problem with a new religion based on technology? I agree with Lanier to say that the old religion was a religion founded on the principles of Self, and when we transition to the new religion, our individuality and identities will be lost, leading to a future with a collection of apathetic, confused, and unmotivated people.
No comments:
Post a Comment