Meaning, religion, technophilia

I am a sociologist of culture, affiliated to the faculty of theology at Leiden University (NL) as a PhD student. My area of research is concerned with the (quasi)religious dimensions of techno-utopias. I focus on crazes and other forms of collective enthusiasm related to consumer technologies. The popularisation of the Internet in the mid-nineties presents a particularly interesting case study of the (mostly unintentional) use of religious notions and imagery in a part of our culture that may well be described as the epitome of the rational-scientific mindset. In my work I try to account for the sort of religious language and the hopes of salvation and transcendence that are often projected on new technologies.