4/9 The Spiritual Cyborg

THE SPIRITUAL CYBORG by Erik Davis explores the spiritual synthesis of man and machine, and two spiritual approaches to looking at the human mind as if it were a computer. These two religious movements or ideologies are Gurdjieff’s Fourth Way and Hubbard’s Scientology.

Davis lays groundwork of the article by discussion the history of mechanization and the role it has played in religion, discussing specifically automata, mechanized gods of ancient and medieval times, to current neuro science and gene work. He summarizes that what we view as the world and our ideas of free will may be completely obliterated as man becomes more like machine.

The bulk of the article discusses two separate religious theologies surrounding the idea of man as a machine. The first analysis revolves around Gurdjieff’s Fourth Way; based around the axiom Man is a Machine. Gurdjieff incorporated modern psychology and synthesized Buddhist and other esoteric works to create this new way. He believed the human soul was detached from the mechanized human form and could be separated and fully enlightened, but feared that man has “lost their potential for recognizing and realizing the deeper levels of consciousness”. Davis explores the sense of no-self here within Gurdjieff’s writings, and it’s similar to the Buddhist belief of there being no atman, or self.

Davis then goes on to discus scientology, and the formation of the texts surrounding it. Scientology also looks at the human mind as a computer, which when running optimally thinks rationally and solves problems logically. The mind computer fails to function when clogged with memories and thus needs to be auditing, coming to a state of “clear”.

Reaction:

Discussing the symbiotic relationship between man and machine brings up many spiritually driven ideas. The section of the article which I though worked towards this greater discussion was when Davis toted neuro-scientists as the trailblazers in a new way of looking at the body. The thought that the entire human body could be reduced to a procedural simplicity could indeed change the way one views the concepts of life death and free will. Davis notes Nietzsche’s meaningless void created by modern society.

I have much more to say but NO TIME to say it!