The A-Spiritual Machine: Technology and the metaphysical

One thing my reflections on technology and the current state of things have made me realize is that we cannot separate technology from our basic inclination toward morals, values, and principles. Through these reflections, I began to approach technology from a perspective of whether it can complement or enrich my living experience. I also started trying to reconcile how, due to my work with technology—work being a large part of my life—I could align my way of looking at the world and my mode of living with this thing that has been a significant part of my life for over a decade.

A question that has bothered me for a while is the dominance of a non-spiritual worldview in digital technology. Historically, digital technologies have been driven by people with common traits and beliefs—primarily Western, and seemingly less sensitive to religious or spiritual themes. Either they avoid such topics as part of a strategy, or because these themes don’t have a place in their lives in any profound way. I believe this is reflected in their approach to technology.

By "they," I mean the big leaders of technology companies, CEOs, innovators—mostly in the U.S.—and a profile that typically consists of highly educated people from privileged backgrounds. This isn't a critique of their backgrounds, nor is it a political or economic discussion. I'm not talking about equality or disadvantages. I’m strictly exploring potential reasons for the overwhelming materialist worldview in technology.

I’ve developed a few ideas about it. I'm no philosopher, but I try to explain things through my lived experiences and by seeking knowledge that can enlighten my explorations of interesting themes.

Art by Arthur Hamdani

That said, if we look at the totality of things—what we can perceive as existing in the world as we know it—we can broadly divide it into two realms: the physical (nature, the natural order) and the spiritual (which leads us to the metaphysical).

My theory here, if I dare call it a theory, is that there’s no place for metaphysics in digital technology. We're dealing with physical things: bytes, bits, electrons, energy, signals, hardware, and software. The language of technology doesn’t seem to have a vocabulary that invites metaphysical elements. Technology inhabits a pragmatic, utilitarian, and self-sufficient land.

More recently, technology has ventured into themes like transhumanism, cosmicism, and other reductionist ideologies, which are shaping developments like AI, life extension, space colonization, superintelligence, and biotechnology. These advances don't seem to aim at bringing metaphysical or spiritual elements into technology. On the contrary, they appear to take us further from metaphysics and themes like ethics, consciousness, religion, morals, principles, values, and ultimately, the concept of God, existence, transcendence, and meaning. These are fundamental topics that have been studied for centuries, and for very important reasons.

Art by Nick Gentry
Left: “The Fool” (2023), used VHS cassette tapes, spray paint, and oil paint on wood. Right: “Populous” (2023), used computer disks and oil paint on wood.

I don’t claim to have reached the bottom of this issue, but it’s something I’m exploring, and I will certainly continue to investigate and connect the dots. I’ll share more as I uncover these connections. These themes are important to me, and I believe they’re critical for humanity as well. Technology, in its current state, seems divorced from some of the most fundamental and critical themes we should always keep in mind.

I think reconciling these ideas would be a beautiful way to move forward in the technological world. Failing to question or approach this reconciliation would be more than a missed opportunity—it would be wrong. As humans, we tend to bring our principles, values, morals, faith, and beliefs into everything we do. Even if these concepts are not evident in the realm of physics or the natural order of things as concretely as technology is, they are aspects we should never minimize. We should certainly explore this path and see where it could lead us.