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organizations and the son of the founder of the American Bible Society.
Orville and Wilbur Wright'S father was a bishop of the Church of the
United Brethren of Christ. David
F.
Noble pointed out in a recent book
that Freemasonry, with its combination of religious ritual and devotion
to craft, also became influential in spreading the technological faith. He
points out: "masons have been among the most prominent pioneers of
every American transportation revolution"-in the development of
canals, steamboats, railroads, the automobile, the airplane, and space
flight.
This religious belief is also connected with the notion Ray has out–
lined, the idea that technology has brought us to "a pivotal event in the
history of the planet." Technology has become (and not just for Ray, but
for all of us) an extension of evolution. This is, in fact, what technology
really implies. It's literally the mastery and making of things, but its
power comes from the effects it has on the world around them. The
word "technology" didn't come into great use until the last one hundred
years or so, and its main application is not just a description of the
"mechanic arts"; instead, the word links such arts to a notion of
progress and social transformation. The railroad's conquest of the
American continent, for example, depended on specialized technical
knowledge, a trained workforce (along with cheap manual labor), cen–
trally regulated time zones, and a modern system of industrial manage–
ment. The locomotive helped create new networks of ideas, people, and
procedures that spread along with the laying of track. This idea of social
transformation is one of the key themes in Ray's vision of spiritual
machines. It is what we mean by "technology."
Putting aside again the question of plausibility, it is no wonder that
we are drawn to such expectant visions. Some of them may really turn
out to be true (very few), but they are also tremendously reassuring. In
almost every other aspect of society and culture, we no longer believe in
anything like progress. For centuries there were beliefs that historical
laws, social laws, or spiritual laws would lead to more enlightened soci–
eties, more enlightened human beings. No longer. In the humanities, it
is often argued that we are no wiser than our predecessors and are just
replacing one era's illusions with another's. In culture, artists are no
longer thought of as building on the achievements of the past. And
despite the persistence of strains of political utopianism, few now
believe we can set out on a path of progress if only we could figure out
the right policies. But with technological change, things are different.
We can sense a direction, an unfolding. Successful inventions are
improvements. They create new possibilities. Technology's effects may
