In April, I did an online talk for Harvard Divinity School‘s “Transcendence and Transformation” series, part of the school’s Center for the Study of World Religions. This was followed up by a wonderful conversation led by Giovanna Parmigiani, a terrific ethnographer of contemporary Paganisms who also wrote a very important (and free) JAAR essay on Covid and conspirituality. It was a delight to think about the book again, and to reflect on why it remains in print and relevant to younger readers. From the HDS website:
“Erik Davis’ first book, the celebrated Techgnosis: Myth, Magic, and Mysticism in the Age of Information, was published almost twenty-five years ago. Still in print, this cult classic of media studies continues to inform conversations about technology, consciousness, and new digital expressions of religion and esotericism. In this Gnoseologies event, we will discuss Davis’ intellectual trajectory, the relevant lessons of 1990s “cyberdelia,” and how techgnostic themes continue to inform our era of AI, post-truth polarization, the simulation hypothesis, and the explosion of digital occultism, from Insta-witches to TikTok “reality shifters.””
