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TechGnosis: Myth, Magic & Mysticism in the Age of Information
By Erik Davis
Erik Davis explores the intersection of technology and spirituality, revealing how religious and esoteric ideas influence technological communication. He connects topics like electricity and alchemy, online gaming and occult practices, and virtual reality with gnostic mythology. The work also discusses apocalyptic visions related to technology, offering historical context and insights into a future where mind and machine intertwine.
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How does our fascination with technology intersect with the religious imagination? In TechGnosis - a cult classic now updated and reissued with a new afterword - Erik Davis argues that while the realms of the digital and the spiritual may seem worlds apart, esoteric and religious impulses have in fact always permeated (and sometimes inspired) technological communication. Davis uncovers startling connections between such seemingly disparate topics as electricity and alchemy; online role-playing games and religious and occult practices; virtual reality and gnostic mythology; programming languages and Kabbalah. The final chapters address the apocalyptic dreams that haunt technology, providing vital historical context as well as new ways to think about a future defined by the mutant intermingling of mind and machine, nightmare and fantasy.
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