The Mystical Conception of Personhood

In this episode, I speak with James Poulos about his book, Human, Forever: The Digital Politics of Spiritual War. We discuss a wide variety of themes including technology, human memory, what it means to be an embodied person. James argues that instead of worrying about an impending crisis, we need to realize that it has already happened — Digital entities have taken over. We need to recognize this, figure out what has happened, and orient our senses and sensibilities around what technology does, how it changes us, and how we can work with and use technology to affirm our humanity.  Part of this includes using technology better which is one of the reasons he argues for the importance of Bitcoin.

Poulos argues that we are at Generation Zero— the first generation of the digital age. This brings with it a heightened responsibility for fatherhood, memory, ancestry, knowing who we are and where we come from. Understanding our humanity, our embodiment, the value of suffering, and that human memory is distinct and essential to our human identity can help us become resistant and not succumb to digital devices, but put technology at the service of our humanity.  

We discuss a number of themes and thinkers including

• Tele-visual technology and the culture of the imagination and the shift to the digital medium and machine memory   

• Social Credit system in China— and the rising social credit system in the West 

• Human faculty of memory 

• The return of analogy as a mode of thinking through human problems 

• Political Theology in China, Russia, Europe, and the US 

• Continuing Gnostic movements in the West

• The Medium is the Message

• Human Consciousness  

• Mind and Brain 

• Post-Humanism - Trans-humanism - Transgenderism  

• Digital Cyborgs

• Human Identity

• Artificial Intelligence

• Embodiment and the Christian Dogma of Resurrection of the Body 

• Marshall MacLuhan 

• Romano Guardini 

• Marianna Mazucatto

• Karl Stern