Dangerous Vision

Can religion be divorced from technology? If we take religion to mean certain beliefs that are centered around a historical phenomena of certain group of people than the answer would be yes. That is obvious from the fact of the development of certain religions. The development of the Christian faith is one such example. The Roman Empire was able to change, virtually eliminate, the beliefs of the inhabitants of Europe to Christianity.

If we take Religion to mean the sum of the deeply held beliefs to which a person believes in with no necessary rational then the answer is no. This is the main argument of this brief analysis.

David Noble in his book Religion of Technology presents the historical development of the religion of technology in the west for the past 1000 years. He presents a rather surprising argument that the development of technology in the west has been based on religion. He succeeds rather well in presenting fact after fact from each era to support his claim that religion has been the motivator behind every major technological advance in the last millennium.

At the outset of the book he states that as we approach the new millennium "…much as we began it, in devout anticipation of doom and deliverance, only now our medieval expectations assume a more modern, technological expression." (p. 3) He also maintains that those who "…seem to set the standard for rationality…" are "…driven …by distant dreams, spiritual yearnings for supernatural redemption." (p.3)

Religion of technology is dangerous because of its beliefs. Nobel mentions that the technological pursuit of salvation has become a threat to its survival.(p. 208) The danger lies in the belief and not in having a belief. For I argue that scientist must have some sort of ‘religion’ in order for them to function. Perhaps the spark of genius is located at the edge of sanity.

The beliefs are the driving force behind the accomplishments of scientist. The beliefs can be religiously based, i.e. based on revelation, or they could be based on convictions that a person gains in their lifetime. True ‘Value-free’ scientific research is not possible, because the scientist always has values. The so called ‘lack of value’ is a value not have a value. When looking at the driving force behind the scientific research it always seems ‘religious’ for why would someone engage in such an enterprise.

We can not realistically expect that scientist will not have a belief or be free from religion. They as part of their training may undergo a ‘change of faith.’ As in the case of Werner von Buren. (p. 124) These scientist are generally very intelligent people who have very strong beliefs, that are not at in vogue with the times. These could be religious beliefs or finding one’s mission in life. An example of this is "…the mathematician George Boole had what he described as a "mystical" experience. "The thought flashed upon him suddenly one afternoon as he was walking across a filed that his ambition in life was to explain the logic of human thought and to delve analytically into the spiritual aspects of man’s nature[through] the expression of logical relations in symbolic or algebraic form." (p. 145)

Such a deep seated belief would carry Boole on a lifelong "mission" that would advance mathematical logic knowledge greatly. Noble quotes his biographer as saying: "It is impossible to separate Boole’s religious beliefs from his mathematics. Similarly such ‘deep seated beliefs’ would carry Columbus through great hardships to reach the new world. Columbus saw himself as "divinely inspired fulfiller of prophecy." (p.33)

Secular humanism is itself an ideology that has adherents in the scientific community. It is their belief that they are doing a community service, a benefit to the global family of humanity. It is nothing more than another universal ‘ideology’ that is decidedly divorced from western religious values and is pro human in outlook.

Many religions are based on such humble premises. Religion does not have to be based on a belief in God. Many religions do not. Atheism for one, is considered by many as religion, does not subscribe to the belief in what many religions call ‘God.’

Noble himself quotes Mumford who does not want to eliminate religion but a particular faith, namely transcendence, "alter the ideological basis of the whole system." "…to embrace anew our one and only earthly existence." (p. 208)

Essay by: Muhammad Hozien

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