Judaism in the
Information Age
I've always identified as a Jew. I'm an
active member of Temple Sinai in Oakland, California. I'm on its
Board of Trustees. Denise and I attend services somewhat regularly.
I've presented at several Union of Reform Judaism (URJ) conferences
and at its college in New York.
I'm Jewish primarily for 2 reasons.
First is to honor my parents who survived the Holocaust. Second is
that I greatly appreciate that it is a religion that values questions
more than answers. Judaism has been a moral compass for me. My
favorite part of services has always been sermons that brings wisdom
of the ages to help understand today's problems. I've always
appreciated that Judaism provided a framework to think about why we
are alive and what's important about being alive.
The last few years, I've been
increasingly disappointed that Judaism, or any religion I know, is
not helping us better prepare for tomorrow. Judaism and our mores are
not keeping up with the ever-increasing pace that our scientists and
technologists are moving.
We are rapidly moving out of the
Industrial Age and into the Information Age. In this new age,
artificial intelligence, (AI) will enable robots to perform tasks
much more effectively and efficiently than humans. Gene manipulation
will enable many diseases to be eliminated. We will be able to
prolong life, and perhaps eliminate death. We will undoubtedly be
able to create life – life that perhaps has thousands of times the
intelligence of any humans to date. Scientists predict this could all
happen within the next 50 years. Scientists also predict that as
these super human beings, aka homo deus, become omnipresent, our
species, homo sapiens, will go extinct.
While I have no reason to doubt that
super humans will soon be among us, I find it strange to think that
we might go extinct. When human beings evolved, plants and animals
did not go extinct. More importantly, Judaism and most religions have
always proposed that there is a super human known as God, or Higher
Power, or Nature, etc. If homo deus have some of the characteristics
we attribute to God, how might our relationship to God change? How
might prayers change? Would what we pray for change? Do we really
want to cure all diseases? Do we really want to live forever? Do we
want and can we still have free will? What implications do any of
these questions have on the way we live today? Are there regulations
and/or conversations we should be having that might better prepare us
for tomorrow? Can we affect how we evolve?
These are the types of questions
Judaism and other religions should be tackling. Scientific and
technological advances are inevitable. They will happen with
ever-increasing speed. They need a moral compass guiding them.
