Technology may seem like two separate worlds, but the line between the two is becoming increasingly blurred. The digital world is becoming the spiritual world, and we are projecting our spirits onto the digital realm.
The concept of the “ghost in the machine” has been around for centuries, and it refers to a mechanical object that is operated or inspired to motion by consciousness. Our bodies have become machines, and our spirits are now projections into the digital ether.
In today’s world, media and technology are the primary ways we communicate, experience, and educate. The internet has become a place where people exercise their hunger for spirituality, leaving their bodies to operate merely as mechanisms of their spiritual inclinations.
But this intersection of spirituality and technology has also led to a commodification of our emotions and experiences. The internet is an ecosystem of objects communicating with one another, and every day a new meme or viral video becomes a temporary idol before quickly fading away.
When we release our content into the digital world, it becomes our ghost. It is our spirit that is supposed to represent what once was considered the emotional substance of the physical being. But as our subjectivities become increasingly fragmented and decentered, our spirits are left searching and feeding.
The digital world has become a place of almost supernatural simulations, and stable human consciousness has been replaced by ghosts of ourselves. Our bodies may be the machines that power these ghosts, but it is the digital realm that is becoming our new spiritual home.
As technology continues to advance and become more integrated into our daily lives, the line between the spiritual and the digital will continue to blur. It is up to us to navigate this new reality and find ways to ensure that our spirits are not lost in the machine.