ABSTRACT
There are trends at the contemporary interface between technology and religion that tend to radicalize the factual or aspired merger between the two. Among them are new techno-metaphysics and the “transhumanist” endeavour of “human enhancement” dedicated to technologically “upgrading” the human body and mind to the point of human immortality, an endeavour which according to its proponents is fighting against an alleged “deathiest culture” established by world religions over the course of human history. The goal of “transhumanism” is to replace traditional religion with a techno-anthropological human being which is conceived as its own god, making the human being a “homo deus”. On the other hand, a variety of new techno-metaphysics see technology itself evolving to god-like stature, such as for example by the means of an expected “singularity”, i.e., a first technological AI-based self-consciousness which some foresee may become reality around the middle of the century. This chapter discusses some aspects of these trends and their implications for the future of “digitized religion”.
