On the Religiosity of Technium

This post is in response to the introduction and conclusion of Kevin Kelly's "What Technology Wants," and in particular the capacity of technium, "the greater, global, massively interconnected system of technology vibrating around us", to hold religious properties.

The idea of technium as religion is fascinating. At its core are two things: what technium is, and what faith is.

Technium’s definition is mesmerizing and perhaps one of the most cutting terms available for contemporary society’s engagement with stereotypical forms of “technology” - televisions, computers, Facebook, driverless cars. Kelly is right, though - these advances have given birth to a culture of advancement, of obsession with the present day, and the future looks like stars - coming into our field of view from myriad directions.

The culture self-produces, and we are imbued in it, hyper-aware of its benefits and disadvantages. It is larger than us.

So, too, is the idea of God. God is everywhere, and God perpetuates us. God, to those who believe in intelligent design, created us, and we are largely identical now to the first human God created thousands of years ago - in God’s image. Those who subscribe to a mix of divine creation and scientific evolution, God has intended our biological state to be fluid, and we are evolving in response to the world around us, but all of it was created and is controlled by God.

And so there is religion, a space for the study of this concept which cannot be understood, but let’s try anyway, right? Here is something which has given me reason to be here, has said that I, personally, am fundamentally good, and I have something to contribute to the world - all by simply allowing me to exist. To pay respects and figure out what that contribution may be, meditation and reflection

But what about technium?

To believe in technium and treat it like religion accepts that there is a new form of existence that is defined by and exists within the perimeter of contemporary technology. This perimeter is hard to define, because at once there is the technology that exists and is available to the consumer, there is the technology that is in beta. Finally, there is the technology that is available to a group of people, limited by their race, class, gender, sexuality, etc. For example, if we look at the overwhelming whiteness of Silicon Valley, we can assume that the technium-religiosity of SV is for white people.

In response, should the religion of technium give rise to a theology of liberation? What does technium offer to the oppressed within its jurisdiction (which is the global population)? Can the oppressed utilize technium to subvert oppressive hegemonies? Is the technology designed in Silicon Valley really of any use to the indentured servant, to the underclass, to the prisoner, to the victim of police brutality? Or do these oppressed people require a different form of technology, not offered by the oppressor? What does that look like?

Is there a technium for the oppressed? Is there a trans-technium? A technium for people of color?