TransVision 2010 Presentation by Remi Sussan
Hacking religion
If we are to believe many cognitive scientists, religion, like rock n’roll, is here to stay. Far indeed from being a simple “belief” waiting to be superseded by more enlightened philosophies, religious thought may be ingrained in the working of our brain.
But, even if we admit that religion is a feature of the human mind and not a bug, history shows us that religion evolves, not only in its contents, but also in its internal structure, that’s why it is so hard to define. So, how would the religions of the future be like ? Is it possible to imagine religions compatible with the basic demands for rationality, liberty and open-mindedness of contemporary people ? Is it possible to “hack” religion in order to serve our goals, using its formidable potential for mobilizing mental energy and motivation without becoming a prey of its various pathologies ?
By using the workings of various evolutionary psychologists and of the pioneers of the new “neurotheology” field, and by taking examples from both classical history of religion and modern counter-culture, I’ll try to revisit the definitions of concepts like “god”, “ritual”, ” the Sacred”, and propose various ways to consciously design the religions of tomorrow.
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Rémi Sussan is a journalist and a writer, (“Les Utopies posthumaines” Omniscience ed. , “Optimiser son cerveau”, “Demain les mondes virtuels”, Fyp Ed.) writing especially on NBIC technologies and on the relationships existing between science and technology on one side and cultural (and counter-cultural) movements on the other. These days he is especially interested in future forms of religion and in the similarities between religions and games.
TransVision 2010 is a global transhumanist conference and community convention, organized by several transhumanist activists, groups and organizations, under the executive leadership of the Italian Transhumanist Association (AIT) and with the collaboration of an Advisory Board. The event will take place on October 22, 23 and 24, 2010 in Milan, Italy with many options for remote online access