Is God or Algorithm the Voice of Humanity--Role Shift of Religion and Science (2020s)

Is God or Algorithm the Voice of Humanity--Role Shift of Religion and Science (2020s)

In worldviews up to the Middle Ages, religion provided an integrated explanation of both the structure of the universe and the meaning of life. Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, and other religions linked the cause and effect of events and ethics through God's will and karma, giving meaning to human life. In other words, faith was the source of "meaning," and people's community and morality were built on it.

However, with the scientific revolution after the 17th century and the expansion of the Enlightenment in the 18th and 19th centuries, the world began to shift from the hand of God to the laws of physics and the theory of evolution. God gradually retreated from being the creator of the universe to a social symbol, and instead science began to dominate the world of facts. But science has no purpose; it merely pursues causality and reproducibility. The advent of nuclear weapons, AI, and biotechnology tell humanity "what is possible," but not "what to do.

Harari sharply points out this twist. Religion has given meaning but lacks means, and science amplifies the means infinitely but does not give meaning. In this disconnect, humanity is reaching for superhuman abilities with a void of ethics and purpose. In contemporary society, science has become institutionalized like a religion, and has even become an object of faith, but this faith is inclined toward "how to live efficiently" rather than "why to live.

The 2020s will also be a time of acute tension between science and social order, as AI automates decision-making and politics diverge from trust in scientific judgment during pandemics. While people are increasingly trusting experts and algorithms as the "new gods," the void of meaning and value cannot be filled, and the division and confusion are deepening.