Context determines content. So too with sacred space.

Id�es Fortes

Digital Revelation

By Richard Thieme

“Context determines content. So too with sacred space.
Whether or not God exists, the mental artifacts we relate to transcendence do – call these symbols “gods.” Though we can’t say how the digital revolution will affect God, we can say how it might impact our gods.

Look at previous shifts in communications technology. The gods worshiped in ancient oral communities vanished when their names were no longer invoked. It is no coincidence that the persons at the center of major contemporary religions – Moses, Jesus, Lao-tzu, Buddha – arose along with the emergence of writing. The invention of the printing press further extended the reach of these new, textual gods. Print enlarged the vocabulary of the community, and people could see themselves with greater subtlety. The gods, consequently, grew more subtle as well.

Now digital media are generating digital gods.
Digital gods are distributed deities, verbs and modifiers rather than nouns. ”

Id�es Fortes were the best thing about WiReD in the old days.

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