Eschatological Technophobia: Cinematic Anticipations of the Singularity
My aim in this essay is to isolate and describe the eschatological technophobia that is expressed by many popular films in the genre of science fiction. What I have in mind by this designation is the (irrational) fear of advanced technologies with respect to the conjectured likelihood that autonomou...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2024-01-01
|
| Series: | Religions |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/15/2/172 |
| _version_ | 1797297140597260288 |
|---|---|
| author | Daniel Conway |
| author_facet | Daniel Conway |
| author_sort | Daniel Conway |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | My aim in this essay is to isolate and describe the eschatological technophobia that is expressed by many popular films in the genre of science fiction. What I have in mind by this designation is the (irrational) fear of advanced technologies with respect to the conjectured likelihood that autonomous systems and programs will inevitably deliver a negative judgment of humankind. In expressing and/or cultivating this fear, I offer, directors in the genre tend to help themselves to the language and imagery of the Biblical Day of Judgment, especially as it is prophesied and characterized in the Abrahamic religions of the global West. This fear, I maintain, is itself an expression of a deeper anxiety pertaining to the possibility (or likelihood) that the achievements of humankind matter very little, if at all, especially when evaluated on a cosmic scale. Following my critique of several films that rely, uncreatively, on the trope of eschatological technophobia, I turn to a consideration of two relatively recent films in the genre: Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar (2014) and Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival (2016). From these directors, I suggest, we receive subtler and more thoughtful treatments of the judgments of humankind that superior intelligences are likely to pronounce. What emerges in these two films is the exploratory expression of a religiosity or spirituality that I associate with an updated, epoch-appropriate version of humanism. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T22:16:00Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-72a2e52fa4a747598242abcd03fadc2e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2077-1444 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T22:16:00Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Religions |
| spelling | doaj.art-72a2e52fa4a747598242abcd03fadc2e2024-02-23T15:32:38ZengMDPI AGReligions2077-14442024-01-0115217210.3390/rel15020172Eschatological Technophobia: Cinematic Anticipations of the SingularityDaniel Conway0Department of Philosophy, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USAMy aim in this essay is to isolate and describe the eschatological technophobia that is expressed by many popular films in the genre of science fiction. What I have in mind by this designation is the (irrational) fear of advanced technologies with respect to the conjectured likelihood that autonomous systems and programs will inevitably deliver a negative judgment of humankind. In expressing and/or cultivating this fear, I offer, directors in the genre tend to help themselves to the language and imagery of the Biblical Day of Judgment, especially as it is prophesied and characterized in the Abrahamic religions of the global West. This fear, I maintain, is itself an expression of a deeper anxiety pertaining to the possibility (or likelihood) that the achievements of humankind matter very little, if at all, especially when evaluated on a cosmic scale. Following my critique of several films that rely, uncreatively, on the trope of eschatological technophobia, I turn to a consideration of two relatively recent films in the genre: Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar (2014) and Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival (2016). From these directors, I suggest, we receive subtler and more thoughtful treatments of the judgments of humankind that superior intelligences are likely to pronounce. What emerges in these two films is the exploratory expression of a religiosity or spirituality that I associate with an updated, epoch-appropriate version of humanism.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/15/2/172technologyeschatologycinemathe singularityhumankind |
| spellingShingle | Daniel Conway Eschatological Technophobia: Cinematic Anticipations of the Singularity Religions technology eschatology cinema the singularity humankind |
| title | Eschatological Technophobia: Cinematic Anticipations of the Singularity |
| title_full | Eschatological Technophobia: Cinematic Anticipations of the Singularity |
| title_fullStr | Eschatological Technophobia: Cinematic Anticipations of the Singularity |
| title_full_unstemmed | Eschatological Technophobia: Cinematic Anticipations of the Singularity |
| title_short | Eschatological Technophobia: Cinematic Anticipations of the Singularity |
| title_sort | eschatological technophobia cinematic anticipations of the singularity |
| topic | technology eschatology cinema the singularity humankind |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/15/2/172 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT danielconway eschatologicaltechnophobiacinematicanticipationsofthesingularity |