Believing in Bits: Digital Media and the Supernatural
Believing in Bits: Digital Media and the Supernatural
Cite
Abstract
Situated at the theoretical interface between the fields of media studies and religious studies, Believing in Bits advances the idea that religious beliefs and practices are inextricably linked to the functioning of digital media. Digital media—conceived as technologies and artifacts, as well as the systems of knowledge and values shaping our interaction with them—cannot be analyzed outside the system of beliefs and performative rituals that inform and prepare their use. How did we come to associate things such as mind reading and spirit communications with the functioning of digital technologies? Does the dignity accorded to the human and natural worlds within traditional religions translate to gadgets, avatars, or robots? How does the internet’s capacity to facilitate the proliferation of beliefs help blur the boundaries between what is considered fictional and factual? The chapters in this volume address these and similar questions, challenging and redefining established understandings of digital media and culture by employing the notions of belief, religion, and the supernatural. From a theoretical standpoint, this book relies on two different approaches that complement each other: a media archaeological approach that looks at the continuities and at the subtle relationships between earlier media histories and the contemporary landscape, and a perspective informed by digital media studies that takes into account the technical and social specificities of digital technologies.
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Front Matter
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Introduction
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I Archaeologies of the Digital Supernatural
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1
Amazon Can Read Your Mind: A Media Archaeology of the Algorithmic Imaginary
Simone Natale
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2
Information Theory of the Soul: Spiritualism, Technology, and Science Fiction
Anthony Enns
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3
The Mediumship of the Digital: Sound Recording, Supernatural Inquiry, and the Digital Afterlife of Phonography
Simone Dotto
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1
Amazon Can Read Your Mind: A Media Archaeology of the Algorithmic Imaginary
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II Believing in Digital Worlds
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4
I Play, Therefore I Believe: Religio and Faith in Digital Games
Vincenzo Idone Cassone andMattia Thibault
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5
Repost or Die: Ritual Magic and User-Generated Deities on Instagram
Rose Rowson
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6
Instant Karma and Internet Karma: Karmic Memes and Morality on Social Media
Beverley McGuire
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7
Disciples of the New Digital Religions: Or, How to Make Your “Fake” Religion Real
Ken Chitwood
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4
I Play, Therefore I Believe: Religio and Faith in Digital Games
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III Entre Nous: Spiritual Relationships Between Technology and Humans
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8
Where Soul Meets Technology: Catholic Visionaries and the Stanford Research Institute as Precedents for Human–Machine Interfaces and Social Telepathy Apps
D. W. Pasulka andDavid Metcalfe
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9
Plurality Through Imagination: The Emergence of Online Tulpa Communities in the Making of New Identities
Christopher Laursen
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10
UFOs, Ufologists, and Digital Media in Brazil
Rafael Antunes Almeida
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11
Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, and Religion: Recent Developments and Their Significance
Joshua L. Mann
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12
Algorithm Magic: Gilbert Simondon and Techno-Animism
Betti Marenko
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Afterword: Religious and Digital Imaginaries in Parallel Lines
Carole M. Cusack and others
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8
Where Soul Meets Technology: Catholic Visionaries and the Stanford Research Institute as Precedents for Human–Machine Interfaces and Social Telepathy Apps
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End Matter
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