Is Cyberspace a Spiritual Space?
Is Cyberspace a Spiritual Space?
Many cyber-enthiusiasts have techno-religious yearnings and are convinced that cyberspace is a new kind a spiritual space. In her book, “The Pearly Gates of Cyberspace: A History of Space from Dante to the Internet”, Margaret Wertheim traces the history of western notions of space and how these have been informed by cultural, and particularly religious, concerns. From Dante’s Inferno to today’s Internet, there’s a connection in the dualistic Western conception where body and soul are seen as two distinct spheres. Within this tradition, the immaterial has always been equated with with the spiritual. Such a confusion is not without dangers, Wertheim argues. The essay published here is a shortened and excerpted version of chapter seven of her book.