Sightings Articles

Jagged rows of blue and black TV noise dots form a dizzying pattern

distraction | Technology | secularism

Attention, Please

A culture of distraction may detract from religiosity and lead to lazy secularism....

September 22, 2022
Nixon Kennedy debate

political religion | Community | Technology

Common Sense and the 2020 Election

How do screens change our sense of national community?...

October 12, 2020
TikTok

religio-secular culture | Technology | public conversation

TikTok and Cultural Criticism

The democratization of social commentary...

October 1, 2020
iPhone eucharist

Coronavirus | Technology

Tools for Studying Pandemic Religion

What can we learn from the field of human-computer interaction (HCI) about sighting and understanding religion during and after the pandemic? ...

July 13, 2020
Kanye

hip-hop | Augustine of Hippo | Kanye West | pop culture | Media | Technology

Hip Hop and Christian Conversion Narratives

What do Kanye and Hip Hop have to do with Augustine of Hippo?...

January 30, 2020
Dopamine

Technology | Social Media

Dopamine Fasting: Silicon Valley’s Not-So-New Trend

Does the new practice of dopamine fasting have religious roots?...

December 11, 2019

Technology | Spirituality | Rituals

Theologizing Virtual Reality

Dead chickens should not garner the attention of the United States Supreme Court. You would think not, but you'd be wrong. In 1946, United States v. Causby went before the Supreme Court. Dead chickens—and modern technology—were at the center of t...

July 25, 2019

Technology | Martin Luther | Social Media

Mr. Zuckerberg, Meet Martin Luther

“Move fast and break things.” Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook, used to rally his developers with these words.  Not so much anymore.  In recent years, Facebook has more than proven its ability to wreak havoc at a rapid pace. Increas...

February 4, 2019

Augustine of Hippo | Martin Luther | sin | Technology

Social Media and Sin

Facebook has come under fire of late for its actions (or inaction) surrounding Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. But the problems with the social media network, and other platforms like it, run much deeper. Indeed, Sean ...

April 5, 2018

artificial intelligence | Confucianism | Neo-Confucianism | Dao | Neo-Dao | Silk Road | East Asia | China | Japan | South Korea | Karl Barth | humanity | Technology

AlphaGo's Victory Over Korean Go-Master Showcases Western vs. Neo-Confucian Values

In a historical milestone for Artificial Intelligence (AI), AlphaGo, an updated (General) AI developed by Google’s DeepMind unit, challenged Korean Go grandmaster Lee Sedol, and handily won, 4 to 1. Go is a game with a nearly infinite number of possi...

June 23, 2016