Technology as the New Religion

Jonathan Taplin states in his book Move Fast and Break Things, that the love of technology has become a new religion.  This is not the time to try to explain the details, but it seems clear that certain persons such as Parker, Thiel, and Zuckerberg have expressed something akin to religious devotion and have attached to it a zeal bordering on the fanatical.  Certainly, such persons have expressed a kind of hubris surrounding the ability of technology to astonishing things, even create immortality, that indicates a fervor even beyond the normal religions of our time.    





If we accept that the devotion to technology is deeply held by outfits such as Twitter, it would seem to follow that no amount of arm-twisting would persuade Twitter to abandon the President of the United States or ban him simply on the basis of what other people might do in response to his words.  The problem becomes, then, meeting the cult-like mind-set gripping the oligarchs of social and other media.  If this seems harsh, let it be shown that the opposite is true:  that is, that a nearly fanatical devotion is not being shown toward social media by its creators and others.  It is my belief this in fact cannot be done.


Image credit: The Best Schools.org