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23508 |
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Date: February 11, 2022 at 10:51:26
From: shatterbrain, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Godless Silicon Valley |
URL: Silicon Valley’s Secret Christians |
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Silicon Valley’s Secret Christians
– WSJ
HBO’s “Silicon Valley” has won accolades in its six-
season run for accurately satirizing Northern
California’s tech startup culture. A classic episode
depicts a meeting in which one of the main characters
accidentally “pulls out” a co-worker, leaving the
assembled tech leads feeling uneasy. But they are not
angry that their potential partner is gay, they are
rather shocked to learn that he goes to church. Another
character later admits that Christianity “freaks people
out in the valley”.
There is some truth in the series’ satire. Having held
tech jobs in Silicon Valley and Seattle, I experienced
a combination of hesitation and hostility toward my
Catholic faith. Eastern Orthodox, Mormon, and
Protestant co-workers at my company have had similar
experiences, leading them to worry about being open to
their religious beliefs. Fear is valid. For all its
talk of diversity, the tech industry has little room
for strong believers. This discomfort with faith cuts
off much of the technology from the moral foundation it
needs.
By avoiding religious believers, the tech industry
fails to reflect America’s religious diversity. About
half of tech workers identify as atheists or agnostics,
according to a 2018 Lincoln Network survey. That number
stands out even in an increasingly secular United
States, but the gap is not surprising given where tech
recruits workers. Seattle and the Bay Area are among
the US metropolitan areas with the highest percentages
of residents with no religious affiliation. The
University of California, Berkeley, perhaps the best
school for tech talent, ended its religious studies
program in 2017.
The shortage of faith-driven technology workers and
leaders leads many in the industry to view believers
with suspicion. When Google employees discovered that
some of their fellow Christians were hosting a weekly
prayer group, some responded by asking “we employ
people who pray?” and “Is it really appropriate to do
this at work?” But people of faith can be considered
much worse than eccentrics.
“Silicon Valley” hit the nail on the head. In another
episode, a character states that “Christianity is
borderline illegal in Northern California”. Less of a
laughing matter is Mozilla’s treatment of Catholic CEO
Brendan Eich, who resigned under pressure in 2014 after
opposing gay marriage. Others reported similar
treatment, while countless people of faith hid their
beliefs, fearing retaliation or a blacklist. I’ve
interviewed candidates who omitted attending religious
colleges on their resumes and, in one case,
deliberately misspelled the name of the pro-life group
where she worked. She didn’t want technical HR to find
out what it was.
The hostility extends to how the technology works. A
recent report by the Napa Legal Institute found that
social media platforms are increasingly censoring
religious believers who oppose abortion, assisted
suicide, and transgender ideology. And lack of faith
drives technological innovation. Some of the stars of
the industry — from Facebookit is
Mark Zuckerberg to Sergey Brin and Google’s Larry Page
— pursue “transhumanism,” that is, immortality through
technological improvements. In the absence of an
orthodox belief in God, tech leaders strive to become
gods themselves.
Worse still, lack of faith fosters a moral vacuum in
which technology itself is seen as a god. In the
absence of the guardrails of religious tradition, is it
any wonder that technology is used to censor and
repress? Is it any wonder that so many tech companies
are responsible for violating privacy, extracting
value, and promoting vice?
The approach adopted with the “metaverse” is an example
of this. Rather than using technology to empower people
to live better, fuller lives in the real world, the
biggest names in the industry are obsessed with
creating an alternate reality. Technology should solve
society’s biggest problems – something that religious
belief tends to demand and drive – not avoid them or
create new ones.
Technology needs an infusion of faith. It could make
the industry more humane, enlightened, and morally
grounded, helping to uplift those it is currently
bringing down. That transformation may already be
underway, thanks to the swarm of tech companies moving
from the West Coast to Texas, Florida, Tennessee and
other states where religious beliefs are still high.
Yet with most technology still centered in Silicon
Valley and Seattle, this trend needs to accelerate.
Technology is not a god, nor are tech leaders, but they
need God.
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Responses:
[23510] [23511] [23512] [23517] [23519] [23521] [23522] [23515] [23514] [23513] |
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23510 |
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Date: February 11, 2022 at 19:21:45
From: Johnl, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: Godless Silicon Valley |
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from the article about godless silicon valley--
excerpts:
The hostility extends to how the technology works. A
recent report by the Napa Legal Institute found that
social media platforms are increasingly censoring
religious believers who oppose abortion, assisted
suicide, and transgender ideology. And lack of
faith
drives technological innovation. Some of the stars of
the industry … pursue “transhumanism,” that is,
immortality through
technological improvements. In the absence of an
orthodox belief in God, tech leaders strive to become
gods themselves.
Worse still, lack of faith fosters a moral vacuum in
which technology itself is seen as a god. In the
absence of the guardrails of religious tradition, is it
any wonder that technology is used to censor and
repress? Is it any wonder that so many tech companies
are responsible for violating privacy, extracting
value, and promoting vice?
…. Rather than using technology to empower people
to live better, fuller lives in the real world, the
biggest names in the industry are obsessed with
creating an alternate reality.
-----------------------
I worked as a minor programmer in Alameda, CA. San
Jose, CA and Portland, OR for about 30 years. Although
my job was mainly isolated from the rest of the
company, I got the impression that most employees are
regular workers who wanted to live a normal life.
The few head programmers I worked with did seem to be
somewhat possessed by a superiority of programming
technology. I imagine that a dense population of
programmers and engineers working in Silicon Valley
would gravitate toward technocratic power over orthodox
religion.
With bitcoin and blockchain computerization of a
worldwide financial system, and computer systems taking
over all facets of life, technocratic power would
probably become dominant over orthodox religion. But
the bible predicted this, and that G-d would prevail
over technocracy.
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Responses:
[23511] [23512] [23517] [23519] [23521] [23522] [23515] [23514] [23513] |
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23511 |
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Date: February 12, 2022 at 06:17:40
From: shatterbrain, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: Godless Silicon Valley |
URL: Jacques Ellul Quotes and Sayings |
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“No technique is possible when men are free....
Technique requires predictability and, no less,
exactness of prediction. It is necessary, then, that
technique prevail over the human being.” --Jacques
Ellul
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Responses:
[23512] [23517] [23519] [23521] [23522] [23515] [23514] [23513] |
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23512 |
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Date: February 13, 2022 at 10:28:34
From: georg, [DNS_Address]
Subject: "Jacques Ellul" very interesting name to me and his words ring true (NT) |
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Responses:
[23517] [23519] [23521] [23522] [23515] [23514] [23513] |
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23517 |
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Date: February 16, 2022 at 13:22:12
From: shatterbrain, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Check this video out |
URL: The Betrayal by Technology |
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The only video Ellul ever made. Very interesting.
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Responses:
[23519] [23521] [23522] |
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23519 |
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Date: February 16, 2022 at 17:56:02
From: georg, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: Check this video out (the tyranny of the machine world) (NT) |
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Responses:
[23521] [23522] |
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23521 |
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Date: February 17, 2022 at 12:23:00
From: shatterbrain, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: Check this video out (the tyranny of the machine world) (NT) |
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The barbarism of the damn thing....as Elul likes to
say.
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Responses:
[23522] |
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23522 |
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Date: February 17, 2022 at 16:18:03
From: georg, [DNS_Address]
Subject: i have had sympathy for the Luddites ever since i read of them (NT) |
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Responses:
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23515 |
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Date: February 13, 2022 at 10:39:30
From: georg, [DNS_Address]
Subject: "righteous among the nations" |
URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Righteous_Among_the_Nations |
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Responses:
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23514 |
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Date: February 13, 2022 at 10:37:14
From: georg, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: "Jacques Ellul" very interesting name to me and his... |
URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yad_Vashem |
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and he was recognized by Yad Vashem for his efforts to
save Jewish people
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Responses:
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23513 |
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Date: February 13, 2022 at 10:34:58
From: georg, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: "Jacques Ellul" very interesting name to me and his... |
URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Ellul |
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his last name suggests two Hebrew words
eluwl; thing of nought; H434
eluwl; nothingness; H435
both written the same and having nearly the same
meanings
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Responses:
None |
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