This year at Harvard University’s graduation event, humanist chaplain Greg Epstein provided a blessing devoid of religious connotation.
“Inhale deeply, but not as if it’s something you’ve earned,” Epstein remarked. “Breath is not something to be earned; it’s something you deserve for simply being human.”
Epstein’s upcoming book, Tech Agnostic: How Technology Became the World’s Most Powerful Religion, and Why It Desperately Needs a Reformation (MIT Press, October 2024), presents a compelling case regarding our shared fixation on this ideology.
The (civil) religion of technology
Technology is not the first non-religious entity to be framed as incorporating religious elements, complete with its own rituals and customs. In 1967, scholar Robert N. Bellah introduced the concept of “American civil religion” in an article, stating that “an elaborate and distinctly separate civil religion exists in America alongside traditional churches.”
While attending graduate school, I aimed to present the idea of a “Civil Religion of Silicon Valley” and sought a resource like Epstein’s to support my arguments. Unfortunately, his work was still in progress and was published two years after my submission. Epstein’s book has been in development for several years, with his exploration spanning two decades and involving over 100 interviews on the subject.
“My journey began the year I started at Harvard as a budding humanist chaplain and a graduate student at Harvard Divinity School,” Epstein remarks. “It’s also the year Mark Zuckerberg left Harvard behind to establish Facebook in Silicon Valley, turning it into the giant it is now.”
During this period, Epstein understood that technology had transcended into a global belief system, coinciding with his own reflections on forging a secular worldwide community.
“I thought, wow, someone has already paved that path,” Epstein shares. “I began reflecting on the mission and vision of entities such as Facebook, currently known as Meta, and realized this phenomenon had not only overshadowed my congregational efforts but had also outstripped religion in general.”
The inverse of religious practice by robots
Dr. Anna Puzio teaches in the departments of Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences and Philosophy at the University of Twente. Her research zeroes in on the anthropology and ethics of technology, with a particular interest in religious behaviors exhibited by robots.
Puzio notes that there are approximately 20 religious robots globally, with their practices being more common in non-monotheistic faiths. These differ from social robots, designed chiefly for social engagement (though certain social robots, like the Pepper robot, can be programmed for religious functions, such as assisting in Buddhist funerals in Japan). However, there are few academics dedicated to the study of how robots participate in religious practices.
Most existing literature on religious robots remains speculative, often theorizing about the concept of robot souls,” Puzio explains. “I wanted to engage with individuals to ascertain their perspectives on the desire for religious robots. First, I explained what they are, followed by whether they would like them and what ethical guidelines should exist.”
Puzio recollects the response when she introduced a robot to her research participants, noting the delight and playfulness they exhibited.
“A child present at this session found the idea of a robot participating in their religious education very appealing,” Puzio continues. “The child imagined that a robot could teach them how to kneel or pray, seeing that a robot could also add humor and entertainment to the experience.”
The religious practices of tech workers
This is a subject open to interpretation, yet it’s evident that certain elements of our technology use reflect religious rituals and customs. A 2023 study by Reviews.org indicated that Americans check their phones a staggering 144 times daily.
In her 2022 publication, Work Pray Code: When Work Becomes Religion in Silicon Valley, Carolyn Chen, Ph.D., a sociologist at UC Berkeley, posits that the act of working itself has evolved into a religion within Silicon Valley.
There’s undoubtedly a culture among tech workers that promotes relentless dedication to convey creativity and commitment to product development. Elon Musk has famously declared his habit of sleeping on the floor at Tesla and has instructed Twitter employees to stay overnight at the office, even going as far as to construct bedrooms in the company’s San Francisco base.
It’s frequently said that Google’s workspaces foster creativity by blending work and play, but there could be deeper implications. When my father was employed at Google, my mother would quip, “They make the office a fun place to be so you end up spending more time there.”
Google itself has established various rituals and principles, ranging from their motto of “don’t be evil” to the Noogler hats gifted to new employees, serving as a form of initiation or perhaps ordination.
The chosen people of technology
When reflecting on the traditions and rituals of tech employees, it is also crucial to consider the support ecosystem, which includes food delivery personnel and the unseen “ghost workers” who program the generative AI we adore. Religion often implies a sense of “chosenness,” a concept that can also pertain to major tech companies.
Epstein, a rabbi, often surprises people because he identifies as an atheist or an agnostic.
“I’m ordained as a rabbi in a branch of Judaism called humanistic Judaism, which asserts from the outset that the concept of chosenness is a human construct,” Epstein explains. “In my role as a chaplain at Harvard and MIT, I have observed not only numerous students but also an entire academic environment built around the notion that there exists a kind of chosenness among the gifted individuals who attend prestigious institutions like Harvard or MIT.”
Bellah, who characterized America as a “city on a hill,” might argue that today, Silicon Valley embodies that city. And even while we praise the meritocratic stories of college dropouts like Mark Zuckerberg establishing platforms such as Facebook, it’s vital to acknowledge that despite his departure from Harvard, Zuckerberg still benefitted from the privileges associated with having attended, albeit briefly.
Reforming the religion of technology
Epstein envisions a reformation of the technology-centered belief system aimed at fostering a form of tech agnosticism, aligning with the title of his book. Integrating humanistic principles into our technology interactions can steer us away from idolizing technology and towards authentic innovations that enhance human well-being. He highlighted the contributions of scholars like Meredith Broussard and Ruha Benjamin, who strive to both critique technology and promote fairness.
“Many individuals globally are engaging in some form of tech agnosticism and humanism in technology,” Epstein remarks. “The narrative is often centered around the experiences of individuals from marginalized backgrounds who are spearheading efforts towards what I hope will shape a more positive technological future.”
