Believing in Bits: Digital Media and the Supernatural

As technologies that work by computing numbers, digital media apparently epitomize what is considered scientific and rational. Yet people experience the effects of digital devices and algorithms in their everyday lives also through the lenses of magic and the supernatural. Algorithms, for instance, are discussed for their capacity to "read minds" and predict the future; Artificial Intelligence is seen as an opportunity to overcome death and achieve immortality through singularity; and avatars and robots are accorded a dignity that traditional religions restrict to humans. The essays collected in this volume challenge and redefine established understandings of digital media and culture by employing the notions of belief, religion, and the supernatural.