Techgnosis: Myth, Magic and Mysticism in the Age of Information (Paperback)

Davis compares and contrasts the scientific attitude that we can know reality through technology with the Gnostic philosophy of developing ultimate understanding. The book comes in reasonably organised chapters but there's also a strong stream-of-consciousness component to Davis's writing as it moves back and forth across time and space to make connections. For example, one argument may run from information theory to the nebulous nature of Gnosticism to the philosophical problem of evil--all in just a few pages. But rather than being chaotic the result is a lively interplay of wide-ranging ideas. The style is equally lively and generally engaging even if it sometimes strays into the hip. Davis succeeds in revealing the spiritual side of what some may regard as cold technological thought. --Elizabeth Lewis

Synopsis
This work presents a perspective on technoculture by exploring the mystical impulses behind our obsession with information. In an age where it feels that technology has replaced imagination and that the rational outmodes the spiritual, Erik Davis unveils the hidden history behind each leap in technology. From the printing press to the telegraph, from the radio to the Internet, Davis takes us behind each communications breakthrough to reveal the mystical fervour that inspired it: utopian dreams, apocalyptic visions, digital phantasms and even alien obsessions. Leaping into the virtual future, Davis shows how the religious imagination will continue to shape the technology of the next millennium.