Abstract
Digital technologies and artificial intelligence are changing what it means to be human. Given our increasing merger with machines, we have entered an era of unprecedented change. Theological reflection is needed, sooner rather than later, focusing on the potential existential risk and opportunity and what will constitute spiritual experience in an age of increasing technological enhancement. Preserving human spirituality, as we have known it, will require intentional focus on strengthening the neural circuitry associated with attentional control, mindful and compassionate awareness, and social and relational intelligence, even as we put to good use the emerging digital technologies.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bailey, K., West, R., & Anderson, C. A. (2010). A negative association between video game experience and proactive cognitive control. Psychophysiology, 47(1), 34–42. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8986.2009.00925.x.
Barfield, W. (2015). Cyber-humans: Our future with machines. Heidelberg: Springer (Copernicus).
Bermúdez, J. P. (2017). Social media and self-control: The vices and virtues of attention. In C. G. Prado (Ed.), Social media and your brain: Web-based communication is changing how we think and express ourselves (pp. 57–74). Santa Barbara: Praeger.
Bingaman, K. (2018). Pastoral and spiritual care in a digital age: The future is now. Lanham: Lexington Books.
Bostrom, N. (2016). Superintelligence: Paths, dangers, and strategies. Oxford: Oxford University.
Carr, N. (2010). The shallows: What the internet is doing to our brain. New York: W. W. Norton.
Ceballos, G., Ehrlich, P., & Dirzo, R. (2017). Biological annihilation via the ongoing sixth mass extinction signaled by vertebrate population losses and declines. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 114(30), E6089–E6096.
Cyberbullying Research Center. (2016). 2016 cyberbullying data. Orlando: Author.
Delio, I. (2008). Christ in evolution. Maryknoll: Orbis.
Delio, I. (2013). The unbearable wholeness of being. Maryknoll: Orbis.
Doehring, C. (2015). The practice of pastoral care: A postmodern approach. Louisville: Westminster John Knox.
Fisher, M. (2015). More than the human? Toward a “transhumanist” Christian theological anthropology. In C. Mercer & T. J. Trothen (Eds.), Religion and transhumanism: The unknown future of human enhancement (pp. 23–38). Santa Barbara: Praeger.
Greenfield, S. (2015). Mind change: How digital technologies are leaving their mark on our brains. New York: Random House.
Hamman, J. J. (2017). Growing down: Theology and human nature in the virtual age. Waco: Baylor University.
Harari, Y. N. (2017). Homo Deus: A brief history of tomorrow. New York: HarperCollins.
Harris, M. (2014). The end of absence: Reclaiming what we have lost in a world of constant connection. New York: Current.
Hendler, J., & Mulvehill, A. (2016). Social machines: The coming collision of artificial intelligence, social networking, and humanity. New York: Apress.
Immordino-Yang, M. H., McColl, A., Damasio, H., & Damasio, A. (2009). Neural correlates of admiration and compassion. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 106(19), 8021–8026.
Kendi, I. (2017). Racial progress is real. But so is racist progress. The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com.
Konrath, S. H., O’Brien, E. H., & Hsing, C. (2011). Changes in dispositional empathy in American college students over time: A meta-analysis. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 15(2), 180–198. https://doi.org/10.1177/1088868310377395.
Lee, K. F. (2018). AI superpowers: China, Silicon Valley, and the new world order. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Leiva, L., Böhmer, M., Gehring, S., & Krüger, A. (2012). Back to the app: The costs of Mobile application interruptions. Mobile HCI ‘12. In Proceedings of the International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction with Mobile Devices and Services, 12, 291–294. https://doi.org/10.1145/2371574.2371617.
Levy, D. M. (2016). Mindful tech: How to bring balance to our digital lives. New Haven: Yale University.
Peters, T. (2007). Are we playing god with nanoenhancement? In F. Allhoff, P. Lin, J. Moor, & J. Weckert (Eds.), Nanoethics: The ethical and social implications of nanotechnology (pp. 173–183). Hoboken: Wiley-Interscience.
Pew Research Center. (2014). Frequency of meditation among younger millennials. Washington: Author.
Pew Research Center. (2015). America’s changing religious landscape. Washington: Author.
Rahner, K. (1971). Christian living formerly and today. In Theological investigations (Vol. 7) (D. Bourke; trans.). London: Darton, Longman, & Todd.
Rahner, K. (1978). Foundations of Christian faith: An introduction to the idea of Christianity (W. Dych, Trans.). New York: Seabury.
Rahner, K. (1986). Karl Rahner at 75 years of age: Interview with Leo O’Donovan, S.J., for America magazine. In P. Imhof & H. Biallowons (Eds.), Karl Rahner in dialogue: Conversations and interviews, 1965–1982 (pp. 189–197). New York: Crossroad.
Rambo, L. R. (1995). Understanding religious conversion. New Haven: Yale University.
Sawhney, M. (2019). The real reasons Microsoft invested in OpenAI. Forbes. http://www.forbes.com.
Schweitzer, F. (2004). The postmodern life cycle: Challenges for church and theology. St. Louis: Chalice.
Shanahan, M. (2015). The technological singularity. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Small, G., & Vorgan, G. (2008). iBrain: Surviving the technological alteration of the modern mind. New York: Collins.
Smith, D. (2014). It’s the end of the world as we know it. The New York Times Magazine.
Steers, M. L., Wickham, R. E., & Acitelli, L. K. (2014). Seeing everyone’s highlight reels: How Facebook usage is linked to depressive symptoms. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 33(8), 701–731.
Turkle, S. (1995). Life on the screen: Identity in the age of the internet. New York: Touchstone.
Zuboff, S. (2019). Surveillance capitalism: The fight for a human future at the new frontier of power. New York: Public Affairs.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bingaman, K.A. Religious and Spiritual Experience in the Digital Age: Unprecedented Evolutionary Forces. Pastoral Psychol 69, 291–305 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11089-020-00895-5
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11089-020-00895-5