An argument has been made, quite soundly, that an ethereal, gnostic impulse historically impels the development of groundbreaking information technologies. Two citations for this assertion spring immediately to mind: Erik Davis’ wonderful tome, Techgnosis [1] (see the earlier ‘seed-crystal’ essay [2]), and Avital Ronell’s The Telephone Book [3] which details Alexander Graham Bell’s desire to speak with the dead.

Divination is always highly dependent upon context and focus. Any well-seasoned diviner will concede that the treasured systems and tools deployed/employed as method—time honored systems like the Tarot, iChing, and Astrology—are secondary to the ability to accurately articulate the question and one’s openness to receive the answer. Folk wisdom dictates, and books like Dr. Robert E. Svoboda’s [4] Aghora trilogy agree, that once these prerequisites are met, one need only look—anywhere, at anything. The answer is right there. The real work is finding your way to that sweet spot.

To this end, a great deal of effort is often spent designing and creating the initial conditions, a conducive environment for divination and other magical work. This is standard fare: incense and altars and talismans and candles. They set the mood, if you will. But I posit that we can also back our way into this type of experience. I would cite the art installation, Haunt [5] (which we blogged about here [6]), although I doubt the firm would see this in the same light.

Another place which could inadvertently compel us towards a magical experience is known as the Uncanny Valley [7], a theory created by Japanese roboticist Masahiro Mori concerning the emotional response of humans to robots and other non-human entities wherein a creepiness is conveyed when something appears to be just a little bit too human. It’s usually negative, something computer animators take great pains to avoid. But the strangeness could be exploited, the uncanny valley as a gateway to the marvelous.

Several informative gems regarding this doorway (we could even dub it pathworking [8]) are discussed today in the Writer Response Theory [9] blog, like iGod [10], although I warn you, they are textbot gearheads, not fortune tellers. They look upon this zone as a fertile garden for their creative processes.

Just don’t forget, when your mind is focused and you are receptive, just gaze out your window and the answer is waiting for you. This is the essence of divination. With this knowledge, I think these “religious” chat bots could provide some interesting, and useful, context.

More details:

• This is currently the most popular chatbot on Earth: iGod [11].

• But there’s always the Buddha Bot [12].

• An excellent discussion on How a Bot-God is Made [13].

• The folks at Writers Response Theory [14] outdo themselves with this discussion of Socrates, the Oracle at Delphi [15], and the history of bots: The Divine and the Angelic History of Bots [16].

• This is today’s post that got me started: Contextual Feelings [17].

• If a robot converts or aids in the conversion of a human being from one religion, faith or belief system to another, it has passed the Pistos Test [18].

• Wikipedia’s entry on The Uncanny Valley [19].