"Takes a huge effort to stay out of it, and society makes it very difficult for you. Your work makes it very difficult for you. There is a system that is surrounding us that is almost closing around us like a net. If we actually step out of it for a minute and look at it from the outside, we have become utterly dependent on this web of technology that's around us."
"Well, I have bad news. My guest this week says you're not nearly worried enough. This is the war against human nature. I think the internet is a giant Ouija board. We're creating God, we're building God, we're replacing God. He's so worried that he retreated to the West of Ireland with his family to escape what he calls the machine. But now he's returned to civilization, bearing a prophecy of doom."
"Well, I live on a few acres of land in a little house in County Galway in Ireland. You can probably tell from my accent that I don't come from Ireland. I come from England. I grew up in urban England. I worked there for a long time. I lived there for a long time, but both my wife and I."
A pervasive technological system is enclosing human life like a net, producing deep dependence and making meaningful withdrawal increasingly difficult. Social structures and work obligations intensify pressure to remain inside technological networks. The internet functions as a cultural and metaphysical force, comparable to a Ouija board, advancing creations that substitute for traditional spiritual frameworks. Some individuals withdraw to rural life seeking autonomy, yet many return convinced of an urgent crisis and determined to warn others. The struggle frames a broader conflict between technological imperatives and enduring aspects of human nature, with risks to autonomy, community, and ecological connection.
Read at www.nytimes.com
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