Believing in the Revolution

Abstract

Abstract The fourth and final chapter aims to understand why people believe in the digital revolution almost as if it were a contemporary religion. In fact, it is a quasi-religion because it is often described using sacred and religious metaphors: the protagonists of the digital revolution are gurus, messiahs, and tireless evangelists; the places where the revolution is happening are the meccas towards which we should turn; digital objects are sacred relics and transport us to transcendent realities. And then there are even heretics and infidels who have taken the liberty of opposing the positive effects of digitization, but who very rarely question the revolutionary nature of the process. The quasi-religious character of the digital revolution helps making it even more ideological and uncontestable.