Input regarding source material for my Master's thesis

[Sonicron]

Hey, folks! I'd like to ask you for input on the question of what material to use for my Master's thesis. I want to write about the relationship between technology and religion/faith (I know the two are not synonymous, but both are valid and relevant) in science-fiction; in broad strokes it's supposed to be about the balance of power between the two (religion technology, religion = technology, and anything inbetween).
Since I opted for a synchronic rather than diachronic viewpoint, the material probably shouldn't be older than 1940s or 50s. I have part of my case studies covered with stuff like Matrix and Warhammer 40k, but I'd be happy to widen the net.
Any type of medium is valid for my research purposes. Be it a book (scientific, novel or otherwise), comic book, movie, TV show, cartoon, video game, whatever - if you think you know a piece of sci-fi relevant to the topic, let me know! If you can, please tell me what it's about or how it relates to the topic in a sentence or two, but really any input on the matter is much appreciated!

 

[RJ 17]

The Covenant from the Halo series would fit into that category. They believed the builders of the Halo rings - giant ring-shaped space stations capable of firing a pulse that would extinguish all organic life in the galaxy - were their gods and that the rings were specifically left for them to find and use to dominate the galaxy...or something like that. I'd admit you'd have to look into it a bit more but I'm pretty sure that's the jist of their religion.

In the first Aliens vs Predator movie, it goes into the whole "ancient aliens" theory in that it suggests that the Predators came to earth when man was still young and the humans viewed the predators as gods. It suggests that the Predators taught humans how to build, hunt, and all that other fun stuff. As such a religion formed around the Predators in which humans would sacrifice themselves to face-huggers whenever their gods came back so the Predators could have something to hunt.

Mass Effect (the first game, at least) kinda-sorta touches on it with the relationship between Sovereign and the Geth. Sovereign, as a Reaper, had unfathomable levels of technology which caused the Geth - as Saren puts it - to see the Reaper as an equivalent to an AI god. There's even a bit in one of the missions where you come across some Geth kneeling down in front of what appears to be some sort of altar as though they were praying to it or worshipping it. In truth the Geth don't see the Reapers as god's - per say - in the terms that a human would think of a god, they just view the Reapers as the absolute apex of synthetic life, perfect in every way that the Geth strive to be themselves.

 

[Albino Boo]

The Dune series I would have thought would be a good example, well at the least the original Frank Herbert ones. The key points are that the Dune universe technological development is limited by religious injunction and replaced by expanding human potential. So no computers but humans trained to do complex predictive mathematics.

 

[Hero in a half shell]

The original Stargate movie (1994) deals with this, the main plot is about an alien from a technologically advanced race using the Egyptian religion to enslave followers (or inventing the Egyptian religion to enslave followers.)

Also it stars Kurt Russell and that one Middle Eastern actor who isn't Omid djalili http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0042805/?ref_=tt_cl_t11

 

[kurokotetsu]

The Fountains of Paradise by Arthur C. Clarke revolves in part in the conflcit between an engineer and a monastery, using a good ground of real science for the device, and there can be seen as a conflict between religion and science for their place in the world.

 

[Flutterguy]

If you have the time Brave New World would be worth a look. Humans are no longer born, they are raised in lab conditions which program them from fetus to excel at and enjoy their job. The religion is fundemenal to society it, worship of efficiency. They worship Henry Ford to be exact. Not as glamorous as having spacesuits or an eternal king, but the binding of technology and religion guides the society.

 

[Fox12]

Hmm, serial experiments lain, maybe? Basically it deals with someone trying to become omnipotent by accumulating all human knowledge through technology. It was created back when the Internet was first getting big, and it does focus heavily on technology being connected to religion. Think of it as a literal "god in the machine." Basically mankind trying to transcend through technology. It also questions what a "god" really is. It may be worth a look.

 

[Old Father Eternity]

The Foundation series by Asimov touches it somewhat. The inhabitants of the titular foundation to the rest/most of the galaxy (being tasked to keep technology going and being pretty much the only ones with enough technological knowhow and innovation after the galactic empire fell and things turned into sort of a dark age)

If games can apply, then Warhammer 40K with its Imperium of Man, specifically the Adeptus Mechanicus.

 

[Erana]

Warcraft actually has some interesting ideas with its lore- basically, the world of Azeroth existed in this primordial state, with raging elementals and Lovcraftian horrors going nuts on it, when the Titans, gods of all kinds of stuff, particularly creation and order, came to Azeroth and made the world as it is, with a semblance of order and normalcy. They also made a lot of sentient metal and/or stone golem like creatures and technological beings to maintain their creations as they go off through galaxy and dimensions to do more creator god-like stuff elsewhere.

Now, the Old Gods, as Cthulhu-like as they are, got pissed and though imprisoned by the Titans, screwed around with their creations, making the Curse of Flesh [http://wowpedia.org/Curse_of_Flesh]. This turned their automatons into the progenitors of many races, including gnomes, dwarves, and even humanity itself.

Humanity generally has little to do with their Titanic origin in Warcraft lore, though its pretty nifty to see humanity come from Vrykul.(Viking giants, basically) They're generally more of a pseudo-Christian sort, though some follow pagan practices they got from their ancestors. Dwarves are generally the poster child for getting magic powers from the Titans, whom they usually worship, but the gnomes are interesting in their own right, as they don't do so much worship as they just have a natural love for careful, crafty technology. In one quest, some gnomes are turned into mechanognomes by removing the Curse of Flesh, meaning that, deep down, almost half of the races in World of Warcraft are magic robots.

Not sure if its really what you're looking for, as its much more fantasy than sci-fi, but its still pretty nifty, and a MMO of that scale itself might have some useful clout.


Bastion also is an interesting and fantastical look at weapons of mass destruction, which frequently touches on themes of faith. Its worth playing whether or not it is of any use to you, honestly.

 

[LongAndShort]

I'd suggest Firefly, simply because of its inclusion of religion, particularly since that religion is a form of overarching Christianity.

A point I've made before (though not on these forums I think) is that according to Science Fiction the survival of the nation state or nation states as we know them seems wholly reliant on the discovery of other life in the universe. Science Fiction futures without aliens are typically run by enormous and all powerful corporations who've grown past the need for government (as economically unstable as that is).

Similarly Firefly is an apt example of the idea that the survival of any current world religions is reliant on us not discovering an alien civilisation that would prove them wrong.

I'm simplifying a much longer discussion of course, and there are always outliers and other examples (Firefly is the best known I could think of), but I think it'd be worth some consideration.

 

[YuberNeclord]

"Do androids dream of electric sheep?" has an interesting subplot involving religion. If you didn't know, it is the book that Blade Runner was adapted from, even though the book is pretty different.

Anyway;

"The main Earth religion is Mercerism, in which Empathy Boxes link simultaneous users into a collective consciousness based on the suffering of Wilbur Mercer, a man who takes an endless walk up a mountain while stones are thrown at him, the pain of which the users share. The television appearances of Buster Friendly and his Friendly Friends, broadcast twenty-three hours a day, represent a second religion, designed to undermine Mercerism and allow androids to partake in a kind of consumerist spirituality."(wikipedia)

 

[kurokotetsu]

Speaking of Dick, I think that the Valis trilogy is related to DIck' view in religion, especially I understand that the second novel The Divine Invasion.

 

[Gomithrus]

I cannot recall any specific titles or names but i believe there were some books or stories done by Robert Heinlien with religion and technology being big aspects of the story.

 

[Silver Patriot]

I would also vote for Halo.

The Covenant viewed Forerunner artifacts as divine relics and that by activating the rings the Covenant would have achieved "glorious salvation." It is this sole belief that held the Covenant together. In fact that was why the war against the Humans was started in the first place. When the Covenant first found Harvest there scanners showed a heavy concentration of Forerunner artifacts on the planet. However when the information was reviewed on High Charity the Forerunner A.I. they had in there possession at the time awoke and explained that they were misinterpreting the findings. It was actually viewing the Humans as forerunner artifacts. This was because Humans were chosen by the Forerunners to be there successors to the Mantle of Responsibility [http://halo.wikia.com/wiki/Mantle_of_Responsibility]. The Leadership of the Covenant knew that if this truth was ever discovered it would brake the Covenant and possibly cause the extinction of their species. This was why humanity was declared an affront to their gods and why they ordered their genocide.


In fact more or less all of the Covenants Technology is derived from Forerunner Technology. However only the Prophets are allowed to study Forerunner Technology in any way and since the objects are considered divine little effort is made to understand how it works. They just copy it to the best of there ability. So few have any real knowledge on how any of it works, it just does.

It is this reason that human research teams studying Covenant technology were able to eventually reverse engineer and improve captured Covenant Technology.

 

[MysticSlayer]

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption actually had a sub-plot devoted to the divide. Essentially, a group of rather primitive people were given incredible technology, but it eventually led to a war between those who wanted to hold to the old ways and those who wanted to embrace the technology. Essentially, it killed most of the people and turned the planet into a wasteland. The idea was to balance the two for the greatest potential, which plays decently well into Samus's new hypermode. Theoretically, the whole game could be interpreted as living a world with both technology and religion, but that's sort of reading into things. Regardless, the subplot that deals with the subject directly is there.

If you want to look into it more, I believe the planet's name that it takes place on was Bryyo. If you want to play the game, though, it takes a while to acquire all the upgrades necessary to unlock the full side story, and even then it is hidden throughout the world, so you might miss a thing or two.

 

[AD-Stu]

*walks in late*

Battlestar Galactica is sci-fi that's rife with religious themes, could be worth looking into.