And then, it dawned on you. It may have happened when you forgot your smartphone at home, and felt restless and unmoored without it. It may have happened when you noticed the news was no longer just telling you about the world, but shaping your worldview. It may have happened when you realized every connected device you own could be used to monitor and analyze your words, your purchases, your movements.
Whatever it was, it dawned on you that technology had ceased to be a mere tool, taken out of the toolbox when needed to perform a task, and then put back into the box when the task was finished. You realized that the technology had grown up around you, marvelous and terrible as a cathedral of steel, enclosing you in its own box. You were inside the Machine. You were becoming a tool for its own tasks and purposes.
And yet, you knew you were more. You have a spirit or consciousness inside you, a life with its own wellspring, deeper than anything human beings can build—and you have a journey, a tangible pull toward some end, even if the road ahead is unclear, even if the horizon lies in mist and shadow.
If any of this speaks to you, we have something in common: We are pilgrims inside the Machine. Our journey doesn’t end because we’re inside it, but it does become more complicated. Advances in science and technology are transforming what it means to be human. How do we respond? Do we say yes to some advances, as surely we already have, but no to others? Where do we draw “the line”—or should we be drawing lines at all? What does it mean to be human?
I see these issues through my own lenses: as a brain detective, a hunter of untamed ideas, a hermit-hearted follower of the Christian faith, analytically minded yet a connoisseur of the speculative, and (when I have time) a writer. I can’t tell you how to walk your pilgrimage, but I might be able to point out key landmarks and anticipate future trajectories, and stimulate conversations about these issues in your everyday life. Expect these kinds of articles:
Reports on devices, drugs, and other tech that interface with the mind, brain, or body.
Analysis of how the above could affect us psychologically, physically, or spiritually.
Methods and musings on eluding the negative influences of the Machine.
Pilgrims in the Machine is an infrequent missive, but I hope the articles that reach you will be useful on your journey.