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In the tech industry it doesn't feel to me like we're erring toward disenchantment. If anything, it feels like we're imbuing enormous numbers of mundane things

In the tech industry it doesn't feel to me like we're erring toward disenchantment. If anything, it feels like we're imbuing enormous numbers of mundane things with magical properties and cult-like followings to go along with them. There's a massive ecosystem of merkle trees which are purportedly going to completely transform humanity through how we transact payments. There are multiple glamorous conferences, dedicated to banal things like process schedulers, that an outsider could easily mistake for Sunday Mass at a megachurch. Furnished with altars reserved for an evangelizing priesthood sermonizing the congregation. We sometimes even live stream them too! Contrasted against being disenchanted, we're constantly generating enormous amounts of enthusiasm about what we do, why we do it, and even every nook & cranny of how we do it. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but it does stand in sharp contrast to the idea that we're wallowing in disenchantment.

bartcobain 7y ago
What a way to look at things. I agree with you. Also, that makes me think that there's even the term "evangelist" used in the tech talks...
- vinceguidry 7y ago
  The central definition of magic at use here is that an act is magical to the extent that control is removed from causation. Something went my way, but I didn't directly do anything in order to make it happen, and there's no rational way to ascertain how. It's as if I waved my hands and my will just manifested. The key is that behind every act of magic is a hidden jungle of complexity that the magical practitioner must master. A wizard masters arcane correspondences, which largely involve study of magical law, which is a rational domain divorced from human intention. If you mumble the words right and have just the right slice of frog lips, then your fireball goes boom. Or your code has to pass the syntax checker before it can get on with semantic evaluation. A priest masters the domain of human emotion and feeling, learning how to harness these things to earn mastery over divine power. If enough people believe a thing to be true, the truth manifests, called by a higher power into physical expression in the world. Or your startup manages to find funding because YC gave you their stamp of orthodox approval. You can't dispel magic because that means that there's no longer any complicated domain that we fail to understand but will pay dearly for a guide through it. Any time you have that, the emergent property of people willing to front-load time and effort for later riches and the dramatic flair for making it all look easy will manifest.
  - bartcobain 7y ago
    ... and there's also the Placebo Effect.
lioeters 7y ago
There are definitely elements of "magical properties and cult-like followings" in the tech/startup world. Apple products are a good example of theatrical presentation that imbues objects with style/status/charm. I'd say successful marketing/sales, even human resources and company culture, have an aspect of "corporate enchantment".

bartcobain 7y ago

What a way to look at things. I agree with you. Also, that makes me think that there's even the term "evangelist" used in the tech talks...

vinceguidry 7y ago
The central definition of magic at use here is that an act is magical to the extent that control is removed from causation. Something went my way, but I didn't directly do anything in order to make it happen, and there's no rational way to ascertain how. It's as if I waved my hands and my will just manifested. The key is that behind every act of magic is a hidden jungle of complexity that the magical practitioner must master. A wizard masters arcane correspondences, which largely involve study of magical law, which is a rational domain divorced from human intention. If you mumble the words right and have just the right slice of frog lips, then your fireball goes boom. Or your code has to pass the syntax checker before it can get on with semantic evaluation. A priest masters the domain of human emotion and feeling, learning how to harness these things to earn mastery over divine power. If enough people believe a thing to be true, the truth manifests, called by a higher power into physical expression in the world. Or your startup manages to find funding because YC gave you their stamp of orthodox approval. You can't dispel magic because that means that there's no longer any complicated domain that we fail to understand but will pay dearly for a guide through it. Any time you have that, the emergent property of people willing to front-load time and effort for later riches and the dramatic flair for making it all look easy will manifest.
- bartcobain 7y ago
  ... and there's also the Placebo Effect.

lioeters 7y ago

There are definitely elements of "magical properties and cult-like followings" in the tech/startup world. Apple products are a good example of theatrical presentation that imbues objects with style/status/charm. I'd say successful marketing/sales, even human resources and company culture, have an aspect of "corporate enchantment".