Disclosing the sacred in technological practices for sustainability

ABSTRACT

Owing to the claimed loss of meaning in modern societies, this article investigates how the experience of the sacred is disclosed in technological practices. The experience of the sacred is studied through four framings that approach the sacred as (i) extreme im/purity or sublimity, (ii) a religious framework, (iii) a sense of connection, and (iv) a cognitive experience related to skills. Sacred experiences may emerge in all technological practices, but their meaning is implied to be of a particularly fleeting kind in highly technological practices – measured by their increase in matter-energy throughput – and prone to cause the experience of alienation. Sacred experience in less technological practices is consequently proposed to hold the potential to offer a more sustained experience of meaning. However, the proper kinds of skills are essential to reach experiences of the sacred that may serve to restore life and its purpose.

KEYWORDS:

• meaning
• modernity
• practice
• sacred
• sustainability
• technology

Acknowledgments

We owe a great debt of gratitude to Professor Pasi Heikkurinen for outlining the original idea of the article, for his theoretical elaborations especially on the degrees of technological practices, and for his support during the writing process. We are also grateful to the two reviewers whose insightful and constructive comments and feedback helped us to improve the quality of the article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Research Council of Finland [grant no 343277] (Skills of Self-provisioning in Rural Communities), the Research Council of Finland [grant no 356460] (Entanglements of Multilocality and Energy Demand), and the Kone Foundation [grant no 202302807] (Underdogs of the Just Transition: Multivoiced Study of Silent Sustainability Agents).