Re:Technical Debt of the West
by dangus on Sunday February 20, 2022 @11:23AM
(#30406854)
I think this kind of idea is misdirecting the real impact of technology on religion.
I think that the rise of secularism has more to do with the way religion has traditionally been entangled with families and communities. E.g., if I was working on my family farm, my dissenting views on religion probably wouldn't be welcome. I probably wouldn't have access to alternative religious books or any material that's not approved by the local community. I would have to attend church whether I enjoyed it or not.
Technology changing things is less about technology acting as a replacement cult or Zuck trying to make one [1] and more about how the industrial revolution has untied our method of sustenance from our family and community groups that used to act as a great source of peer pressure.
If I don't like what my family thinks about religion or anything else like that, I'm free to do my own thing because they have no financial or community leverage over me.
[1] I can't stress enough how much I think the idea of the Metaverse will be bungled by Facebook. They are selling their investors on a hope and a prayer that they can make up for lost revenue from Apple and Google's privacy policy changes, and have literally not even shown a new product yet. They're just selling the same VR headset with an app store and some games. It's not a Metaverse. It's Facebook's crappy attempt at making something better than "hanging out with your friends on Discord while playing Deep Rock Galactic."
I think that the rise of secularism has more to do with the way religion has traditionally been entangled with families and communities. E.g., if I was working on my family farm, my dissenting views on religion probably wouldn't be welcome. I probably wouldn't have access to alternative religious books or any material that's not approved by the local community. I would have to attend church whether I enjoyed it or not.
Technology changing things is less about technology acting as a replacement cult or Zuck trying to make one [1] and more about how the industrial revolution has untied our method of sustenance from our family and community groups that used to act as a great source of peer pressure.
If I don't like what my family thinks about religion or anything else like that, I'm free to do my own thing because they have no financial or community leverage over me.
[1] I can't stress enough how much I think the idea of the Metaverse will be bungled by Facebook. They are selling their investors on a hope and a prayer that they can make up for lost revenue from Apple and Google's privacy policy changes, and have literally not even shown a new product yet. They're just selling the same VR headset with an app store and some games. It's not a Metaverse. It's Facebook's crappy attempt at making something better than "hanging out with your friends on Discord while playing Deep Rock Galactic."