Technopaganism and the Newer Age

Ryan Tanaka is a resident blogger, visiting us from his home turf at http://ryan-writer.com.

Elon Musk, in response to the popularity of HBO’s hit comedy Silicon Valley, once remarked that Hollywood doesn’t “get” SV culture because it doesn’t understand what Burning Man is all about.

Most of us here have seen the pictures and heard something it, but what exactly is Burning Man, anyway?  Why are pictures of the event posted in the hallways and offices of the Googleplex, and why is it a topic of conversation that comes up over and over among those working in tech?

Beneath the confusion and craziness, Burning Man can be seen as a manifestation of the sentimentality and spirit of the Bay Area, compressed into an intense, week-long ordeal: techies, hippies, individualists, creatives/artists and progressives all living in close proximity, thrown together into an uncontrolled mix. A giant social experiment of sorts, organized into a ceremonial ritual, conducted year after year.

For this post, I’d like to use Burning Man as a starting point to look at broader cultural trends around the Bay Area, having just moved here recently after being in the Los Angeles area for a while.  Starting with a 2×2:

Technologism and Environmentalism exist on opposite ends of the spectrum, due to the fact that the former tends to focus largely on development (we even call software programmers “developers”), whereas the latter is mostly interested in maintaining natural and ecological balance through preservation and restoration efforts.  The Collectivism-Individualism split is also a pretty good representation of the liberal-libertarian divide that tends to characterize the politics of the region.

The Web, as a whole, has moved on from its anarchic heydey to a more collectivist (i.e. social) medium, so that progression is depicted at the top of the diagram from left to right.  The bottom-right corner include restoration and conservation efforts that involve environmental, historical, and artistic projects, which are often connected to the preservation of long-standing traditions, environments and geographic identities around the Bay.  The next big development in the top-left corner is probably Bitcoin, although even that medium is likely to follow a similar left-to-right progression as it becomes more mainstream.

Just because concepts exist on opposite sides of the spectrum though, doesn’t mean that they’re mutually exclusive — hybrid ideological concepts like Universal Basic Income (UBI) and Green Tech have managed to gain some traction, and have done fairly well for itself in recent years.  Generally speaking, concepts and movements that “scale” well all seem to involve some kind of hybridization of multiple ideologies, since it allows for its ideas to reach out to a wider audience base.

Compared to the rest of America, however, the things that Bay Area people are interested in tend to be far far away from what’s considered “normal” in everyday American life.  It’s largely why Burning Man — as famous and popular as it is — is still seen as the “gathering of weirdos” from all over the country.  As shown in the 2×2, the region itself runs on a slightly off-kilter axis, giving the city its particular political and cultural flavor.

Bay Area transplants, like those who migrate to Los Angeles, usually have a story to tell about why they chose to move there.  It is usually some combination of not fitting in socially with their hometown, political/cultural discord, personal/family hardship, and/or the search for economic opportunity and career paths for the future.  These stories come in various backgrounds, forms, ideologies and aspirations, but they all have one thing in common: a healthy skepticism of the status-quo.  Nobody goes to the Valley with the intent to settle down and live quietly — they’re there to make a difference, make a change, make a dent — in how the world works.

Much has been written about the various subcultures that exist in Silicon Valley already, so I won’t expound much on that topic.  I thought, however, that it might be interesting to look at Silicon Valley from a spiritual point of view, since that side of the story tends to be less talked about.  The collisions between technological and environmental spirituality in particular is an interesting topic to look at, due to the widespread influence of both in the Bay Area as a whole.

The Spirit of the Bay

The rejection of the status-quo, in a spiritual sense, is the rejection of modern institutional religions and the practices that they represent.  Depending on where you originally came from, this could be any of the major religious sects large enough to be considered “mainstream”.  The strongest objections to institutional religions are usually argued under the premise of being against religious fundamentalism, particularly against the idea of evangelizing one’s particular viewpoint onto others, against their will or consent.

When rejecting institutional religious norms, some people become pure atheists or agnostics, happy to have gotten rid of their affiliations with congregational practices altogether.  Most, however, end up joining alternative ritualistic traditions in order to satiate the desire for a shared common narrative.  Practices such as meditation and yoga have arguably become huge successes on the West Coast because they allow people to practice spirituality under the guise of fulfilling more “practical” needs, such as stress-relief, anxiety-reduction, mental health, and physical exercise.  These activities allows people get the experience of ritual without necessarily making their spirituality explicit or public — a necessary mask, perhaps, for those not wanting to attract unwanted attention.

Die-hard technologists might become singulartarians or transhumanists as a means of belonging to a spiritual community, adhering to the advancement of technology as a belief system in itself.

The greatest and most prevalent undercurrent by far, however, is neo-paganism, which encompasses the hodgepodge of beliefs that define the spiritual landscape of large Californian coastal cities in general, and the Bay Area in particular.

Paganism is a philosophically ambiguous term that encompasses a wide variety of belief systems — the particular brand of “open-mindedness” that West Coasters often identify with. In its contemporary forms, the spiritual practice generally contains aspects of nature worship/animism, references to indigenous/ancient/folk cultures, healing rituals, alternative medicines, polytheism, anthropomorphization, demi-gods, oriental/foreign mysticism, magic/spells, and more.

Paganism’s manifestations tend to be colored by the particularities of the local region, due to its emphasis on natural and provincial lifestyles.  If modern Christianity is about transcending one’s earthly self and prepare for heaven, contemporary paganism is about staying grounded and being “present” with yourself and your surroundings.  Pagans ally themselves with nature and the local gods and traditions of the land, finding inspiration and comfort in virtually everything they see.

Contemporary paganism is (some would say unfortunately) best represented by the recent manifestations and evolutions of the New Age movement and the various off-shoots that it has spawned since the new millennium.  In many ways, the New Age movement has had a long, remarkable, and unprecedented history: a holistic movement that encompassed multiple fields and practices simultaneously — music/art, spirituality, technology, politics, economics, and self-help/self-development — all organized under a unified identity system.

From New Age to Newer Age

The New Age movement first emerged in the 60s and 70s during the United States’ countercultural era, but actually hit its stride during the 80s and 90s as it began to grow into a formidable political and economic force.  As the Baby Boomers matured, the movement was able to influence mainstream audiences directly through the popularization of certain products and ideas, such as organic farming, green technology, and locally produced foods and products.  These developments, however, provoked the ire of incumbents, and the philosophy has been on the defensive ever since, despite its ascendancy.

Christians attacked New Age spirituality as being “dangerous” in its promotion of heathenism, polytheism, and witchcraft.  Rationalists and atheists were also quick to denounce the movement, saying that it was too nonsensical and unscientific to be taken seriously.  In the 80s-90s, the New Age movement lost popularity among traditional leftists as well, since it didn’t quite resonate with the socialist and progressive ideologies of its time.  As a result, the phrase “new agey” now automatically carries a negative connotation throughout America.

Contemporary paganism differs from the pre-millennial eras of the New Age movement (which encouraged positive thinking and self-esteem) in that it rejects the idea of transcendence entirely, focusing on the idea of “presence” as a core tenet and value.  For a lack of a better word, we might call this the “Newer Age” movement, explained by this video by JP Sears here.  The video is meant to be satire, but oddly enough, Sears is actually right on the mark in regards to some of the newer ideas that have been emerging in recent spiritual trends.

“Here in the Newer Age, trying to be spiritual is the most unspiritual thing you can do.” – JP Sears

Trying to “be spiritual” is trying too hard — why not just be yourself?  Why not embrace being in harmony with the disconnect and alienation inherent in modern societies rather than try to fight it Instead of “oneness” we have “noneness” — that our attachment to being “as one” with one another, is in itself, an illusion and a source of discontent.

From Transcendence to Presence

In the eyes of its detractors (including those from the “old” New Age), the ultimate sin of the Newer Age movement was its rejection of transcendence — in suggesting that there was value in respecting the world as it exists, the efforts put forth by evangelists to develop the world into “a better place” seemed foolish, misguided, unwarranted — perhaps even slightly evil — in an existential sense.  To outside observers, the Newer Age mentality might be seen as uncaring, apathetic, lazy and entitled. But it can also be seen as a legitimate response to the philosophies of what came before: an attempt by the next generation to find an “openness” appropriate for modern societies without losing their groundings in reality itself.  If you take away all of the slogans and symbolisms that ideologies themselves manifest, at the root of most political disagreements exist a simple spectrum that often goes unnoticed: transcendence vs. presence.  The right to change, the right to stay the same, and the right to define what change means.

Despite the constant barrage of onslaughts and mockery, however, neo-pagan, Newer Age movements continue to thrive, seemingly unfazed by the antagonism they face from detractors every day.  Figures are hard to come by and difficult to objectively assess, but the combined market for crystals/trinkets, self-help/spiritual books, psychic/tarot/palm readings, speakers/workshops, healing and alternative medicinal practices is likely many billions of dollars annually and growing, with no signs of slowing down any time soon. For something that isn’t supposed to be taken seriously, neo-pagan ideas do enjoy a market and cultural presence that’s both massive and very active.

I would even say that the Newer Age movement is growing stronger, day by day. The reason?  It has managed to adapt itself fairly well to the medium that has the most presence in our lives today: technology.

Technopaganism in Meatspace

The dual-worship of technology and nature — two things that Bay Area culture exhibits in abundance — could be easily explained by the term, “technopaganism” as an overarching concept. Being that the word “pagan” is still considered taboo in most circles, however, you’re not likely to find many who are willing to use the term in public, at least in reference to themselves.  (Perhaps, though, it simply does not have enough mindshare yet.)

People go to Burning Man to be a part of the “craziness”, for sure, but it’s a particular kind of “crazy” that embodies the contradictions that the Bay Area and tech industry deals with in its endeavors — hence the appeal for many who make the trip every year.  Take this sculpture/installation, for example:

An interactive artwork made out of money and modern materials using a natural object as a symbol — this is one of many examples where unexpected juxtapositions are used to represent the complexities that exist in contemporary, especially tech-heavy, environments.  Because of the ambiguity of its definition and its tendency to fuse with other forms of ideologies, it is difficult to point out what exactly is pagan and what isn’t.  But if you look closely, it becomes obvious that pagan influences are widespread in Burning Man and the Bay Area itself on multiple layers and fronts.

Burning Man is only a one week event out of the year, though, after which everyone just goes back to their normal, day-to-day lives.  What about the rest of world for the rest of the year?

Technopaganism Online

It turns out that the Newer Age is actually virtually everywhere. There are countless pagan allegories and references to neo-pagan ideals and values in the medium that best epitomizes the combination of technology and spiritualist narratives: video games. A few examples listed here:

Looking at it from the other point of view — it’s actually very difficult to find earnest references to Biblical teachings or monotheistic deities in video games due to the cultural dominance of certain types of narrative styles within these mediums. Extreme Violence Simulator 2015, Capitalist Money-Maker Tycoon, New Ager Saves the Day (Again), Administration and Resource Management Party, Outdoor Sports Simulator…video games come in a wide variety of titles but none of them will preach to you about the virtues of worshiping the one and only true God.  When narratives do happen to cross the line into the realms of the sacred, however, in the vast majority of cases, they tend to reference pagan or neo-pagan values and beliefs first before anything else.

When you look at the gaming industry through this lens, you realize these influences are practically everywhere, and that the next generation of kids is eating this stuff up.  If you’ve played any of the major games that came out in the last few decades, chances are good that you’ve been influenced by some of their ideas in some way as well, even if it doesn’t ever leave the realm of your subconscious.

Given the gradually increasing interest in narrative design by the tech community as of the late, it won’t be too long before many will be forced confront the awkward connections that have always been there, but never really been made explicit until now. As silly as the term “technopaganism” might sound on the surface, the goal of being at peace with the devices that we use on a day to day basis is something that everyone wants, and as long as that desire continues to exist, the general spirit of it will continue to be a source of inspiration and hope for many out there.  To find that perfect balance between stillness and development, individualism and collectivism, transcendence and presence, the sacred and profane.  Burning Man is intriguing to so many people precisely because it hints at answers to many of the unanswerable questions that we have about our existence in itself.

How these narratives will play out in mainstream culture, however, is yet to be seen.  Perhaps they will continue to be part of deeply personal and private practice, never to see the light of day in everyday conversations.  Or perhaps there will be a great awakening of sorts, tipping the balance of spiritual power in an unexpected direction.

Either way, the story of the technology sector’s spiritual development is going to be an interesting one.  Perhaps the next big disruption in the Valley will happen in the inner lives of ordinary people, leading to a profound change in the way we interact and interpret with the world as a whole. Will our technological devices pull us out of our reality, or deeper within?