Advertisement
Would it be fair to say that technology is to knowledge as religion is to spirituality? The applied practice of...
The economy of religion is in proselytizing about the unknown. I could share the same spiritual beliefs with many people while the specifics remain undefined and grey. We may agree there is an unknown force adding energy and with that perhaps direction to our universe, we can call that god for lack of better word and so far most spiritual people would agree. Then with unprovable specifics and in the disagreement of these, it becomes fractured into different religions. Religion, I would have to think, is the faith based concept of the unknown and unfortunately, the convincing of others in your concept of what it is.
Technology is by definition well defined and reproducible. A technology is a specific knowledge of how to do things.
So far neither directly contrast but technology and it's un-applied root, knowledge, does begin to eat away at the other. God no longer holds you to the earth, gravity does, god doesn't cure cancer, a medical technique does (or might).
This defining of the world and de-powering of religion can have the effect of decreasing the number of believers in both religion and spirituality. If more questions are answered, there is less to believe comes from the mystical. And as more questions are answered we are more likely to think more and more answers will continue to come from knowledge, also weakening even the unexplained base that is spirituality.
We may at some point reach a place where the exploration for knowledge ceases to yield as many results per day. Where once again the unknown becomes the spiritual. So interestingly enough, technology and knowledge may someday deconstruct religion back into spirituality, but today it seems to erode both.
The economy of religion is in proselytizing about the unknown. I could share the same spiritual beliefs with many people while the specifics remain undefined and grey. We may agree there is an unknown force adding energy and with that perhaps direction to our universe, we can call that god for lack of better word and so far most spiritual people would agree. Then with unprovable specifics and in the disagreement of these, it becomes fractured into different religions. Religion, I would have to think, is the faith based concept of the unknown and unfortunately, the convincing of others in your concept of what it is.
Technology is by definition well defined and reproducible. A technology is a specific knowledge of how to do things.
So far neither directly contrast but technology and it's un-applied root, knowledge, does begin to eat away at the other. God no longer holds you to the earth, gravity does, god doesn't cure cancer, a medical technique does (or might).
This defining of the world and de-powering of religion can have the effect of decreasing the number of believers in both religion and spirituality. If more questions are answered, there is less to believe comes from the mystical. And as more questions are answered we are more likely to think more and more answers will continue to come from knowledge, also weakening even the unexplained base that is spirituality.
We may at some point reach a place where the exploration for knowledge ceases to yield as many results per day. Where once again the unknown becomes the spiritual. So interestingly enough, technology and knowledge may someday deconstruct religion back into spirituality, but today it seems to erode both.
posted by:
|
SF Bay Area
|
Advertisement
Advertisement
-
Re: Does technology devolve spirituality or religion?
Tue, August 10, 2004 - 8:07 PMThe way I see it, finding answers creates even more questions. I think science and spirituality are evolving together. Science can teach us much about spirituality, spirituality can teach us much about science. They are two different perspectives or methods that when brought together give us a more complete view of existance. The only reason there appears to be a gap between the two is because we can't see the bigger picture.
I see the core of most spirituality as the practice of seeing existance truthfully and directly. Come to think of it that sounds fitting for science as well. Unfortunatly I think much of religion (but not all) is very confused and misses the point.
In religion people develop myths to explain the world. With science people develop theorys. In my opinion myths attempt to communicate the subconsious, they are metaphorical. Science trys to explain the consicous. One part of our existance is conscious one part is subconsicous and a whole bunch I think is unconsious. I think if we put science and spirituality together we can work with the conscious and the subconscious to uncover more of the unconscious. Or something like that.
Knowledge is as much a part of spirituality as it is science.
Anyway thats what I think at the moment.
-
Re: Does technology devolve spirituality or religion?
Wed, August 11, 2004 - 12:46 AMyes. but the only DEVOLUTION involved is when we are not men, are we not? the fact of religion losing ground is no new discovery. compare the tale of king arthur; even thousands of years ago when the oral tradition was started there was a sense of the mystical giving way to the science of men. one can only conclude it is, for better or for worse, a natural process, like the de-hairing of apes to men.
it seems to me like people worry too much about being people. it seems clear to me if this is what we are, if this is the natural expression of our human-ness, then we deserve our fate much more directly than any other previous attempt at large systems of beings, like the dinosaurs or the atlanteans. i, for one, am excited to have a seat on the roller coaster, whether or not it ends in rubble is irrelevant -- look at all the neat crap we've got! three cheers for TV! three cheers for internet porn! three cheers for fancy useless self-absorbed art and pretentious intellectual films! guns! ballpoint pens! condoms! whiskey! music! newspapers! wooo!!
ben, have fun contemplating erosion and pardon me if i don't join you, i've got a crazy beeping flashing neon life to live.
