Leiden University Scholarly Publications

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Zandbergen, A.D. (2011)

New edge : technology and spirituality in the San Francisco Bay Area

Doctoral Thesis
New Edge. Technology and Spirituality in the San Francisco Bay Area is a study of the way that technologists, artists, writers and entrepreneurs in the San Francisco Bay Area negotiate the events that have characterized this region since World War II: the rise of the computer industry and of New Age spirituality. The book argues that some of these negotiations have led to a New Edge culture, consisting of high-tech New Agers seeking to produce ways of being, acting and thinking that transcend the modernist assumption that technoscience and spirituality exclude each other. As the chapters progress it becomes clear that the assumed tension between technology and spirituality does not New Edge life sufficiently. New Edge has grown in relation to several other paradoxes that inform everyday life in one of the most high-technological regions in the world. Tracing New Edge back to the 1960s counterculture, this dissertation explores how New Edgers negotiate life in a society that calls...Show moreNew Edge. Technology and Spirituality in the San Francisco Bay Area is a study of the way that technologists, artists, writers and entrepreneurs in the San Francisco Bay Area negotiate the events that have characterized this region since World War II: the rise of the computer industry and of New Age spirituality. The book argues that some of these negotiations have led to a New Edge culture, consisting of high-tech New Agers seeking to produce ways of being, acting and thinking that transcend the modernist assumption that technoscience and spirituality exclude each other. As the chapters progress it becomes clear that the assumed tension between technology and spirituality does not New Edge life sufficiently. New Edge has grown in relation to several other paradoxes that inform everyday life in one of the most high-technological regions in the world. Tracing New Edge back to the 1960s counterculture, this dissertation explores how New Edgers negotiate life in a society that calls itself secular but also believes in ultimate truth, that is both in and out of control, that invites passive consumption as well as active engagement, and that celebrates communal living as much as an individualistic ‘Do It Yourself’ ethic.Show less
New Edge
New Age
Gnosis
Raves
Counterculture
Silicon Valley
Information technology
Epistemology
Anthropology
Spirituality
Transhumanism
All authors
Zandbergen, A.D.
Supervisor
Pels, P.J.
Co-supervisor
Stengs, I.L.; Aupers, S.
Committee
-
Qualification
Doctor (dr.)
Awarding Institution
Institute of Cultural Anthropology and Developmental Sociology, Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Leiden University
Date
2011-05-25

Juridical information

Court
LEI Universiteit Leiden