SHAMANISM AND DIGITALISATION Editor
ROLAND URBAN
T he Foundation For Sha m a nic Studies
CONTENT INTRODUCTION 6 ROLAND URBAN Introduction
ON THE BASIC QUESTIONS 1 1 HORST HÖRTNER - IN AN INTERVIEW WITH ROLAND URBAN The State of the Art in Digitalisation 1 7 ROLAND URBAN Shamanism and Digitalisation 29 YVONNE FÖRSTER The Spirit of the Machine: Machine Intelligence and the Principle of the Living 35 SUSAN MOKELKE Shamanic Training in Digital Space
PERSPECTIVES 43 JAKUB FIALA, KARIN VELISOVA Connecting the Dots: Towards a Network Communion 49 LUIS GONÇALVES LOURO Seekers of Balance 55 SARAH ELIZABETH MARTINUS In Search of the Invisible: Dreaming of Embodied Computation
FROM THE ARTS 65 ERWAN FROTIN Visual Representations of the Invisible 69 MINKA VON KRIES BlessU-2 – Notes from the Field Diary
FINAL NOTES 75 KAI GOERLICH Envisioning a Digital and Conscious Life 79 ELISABETH VERA RATHENBÖCK 21 Grams & The Digital Twin. How Artificial Intelligence will wound us
APPENDIX 85 Glossary 88 On Core Shamanism and the Foundation for Shamanic Studies
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INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION “Where the sea meets the land, life has blossomed into a myriad of unique forms in the turbulence of water, sand, and the wind. At another seashore between the land of atoms and the sea of bits, we are now facing the challenge of reconciling our dual citizenships in the physical and digital world.”1 The face of ordinary reality has changed dramatically in the first half of 2020. We have experienced a public lockdown, with all the political, economic, social, cultural and spiritual consequences, challenging as well successful ones. Our view of life has changed, has undergone a transformation. The presence and significance of the digital world have changed too. Data, information, cultural and scientific works or formats that were previously only physically available are becoming increasingly accessible as open access material via online video or live streaming. “Zooming” is the new “googling.” Complex mathematical simulation models are experiencing a veritable boom as a basis for political decision-making. Just as our perspective on ordinary reality shifts, so too does our perspective on non-ordinary reality. As digital realities become progressively more important in our everyday lives, questions about the presence of spirits in these digital realities grow increasingly obvious and urgent. What qualities do such spirits possess? And how can we interact with them for a mutually fruitful coexistence? This interplay is desirable not only because it promises a gain in knowledge, but also because one of the essential tasks of our time is to activate all available powers to ensure a sustainable survival of our own species as well as of all lifeforms on this planet. Shamans are called upon for precisely these tasks. The shaman’s expertise has always been to journey in non-material dimensions, to consult the beings who reside there, and to draw power for ordinary reality from co-operating with them.
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Ishii, Hiroshi (2009): Intellectual Inter-Tidal Zone to Shape the Future. In: Leopoldseder, Hannes, Schöpf, Christine, Stocker, Gerfried (eds.): The Network for Art, Technology and Society – The First 30 Years of Ars Electronica, 1979-2009. Ostfildern: Hatje Cantz. p. 258.
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Shamanism is an ancient information technology, tested over time and space, through its application in countless cultures. The phenomenon of Digitalisation, the use of modern and digital technologies, represents the predominant information technology of our time. The contributions in this publication from science and technology, the arts as well as shamanism reveal interconnections between digital and spiritual realms, address questions hitherto unasked, and lead to the conclusion that, at the end of the day, it will be as important to develop even smarter machines as to carve out a new ethics. Both shamanism and digitalisation will be crucial technologies for successfully managing the challenges ahead, to ensure the survival of the human species as well as of all lifeforms involved. Community, so it seems, is the bottomline.
ISBN 978-3-9519917-2-6
T he Foundation For Sha m a nic Studies www.shamanicstudies.net