Technological Religiosity as Digital Idolatry: An Anthropological and Neurocognitive Analysis of “Deus in Machina”

Introduction . This article examines the phenomenon of technological religiosity as a form of digital idolatry emerging amid the anthropological crisis of the digital age. The aim of the article is to demonstrate that digital technologies are ceasing to be a neutral tool and are beginning to influence the ontological foundations of human existence, transforming religiosity, identity, and ways of experiencing the sacred. Materials and Methods . The methodological foundation of this study is an interdisciplinary analysis at the intersection of philosophical anthropology and the study of religion. The theoretical framework draws on the concepts of E. Fromm, P. Tillich, M. Scheler, G. Marcel, M. Heidegger, N. Berdyaev, C. Taylor, as well as contemporary researchers of digital religiosity and posthumanism (J.-C. Larche, E.S. Elbakyan, D.D. Veliyev, N.K. Hayles, and others). The empirical material includes cases of the virtualization of the sacred (online communion, AI confession, the art project Deus in Machina, and the phenomenon of “Googlism”). Hermeneutic analysis of cinematic narratives is employed as cultural symptoms of anthropological transformation. Data from neurocognitive studies are utilized to support the thesis regarding identity transformation. Results . It has been established that the digital environment naturally gives rise to quasi-religious forms in which technology replaces the transcendent principle and acquires the status of ultimate reality. It is demonstrated that technological idolatry has deep philosophical and anthropological foundations, described in the concepts of anthropolatry, “ultimate interest,” and quasi-religion. It has been revealed that the virtualization of religious practices, the sacralization of communication, the cult of the algorithm, and transhumanist projects represent various manifestations of a single process, the replacement of religious experience with its technological simulation. Neurocognitive data confirm the formation of a “digital personality” and the transformation of identity under the influence of the digital environment. Discussion and Conclusion . It has been concluded that the key threat of the digital age is not linked to technology per se, but to an anthropological transformation in which technical systems begin to perform quasi-religious functions. Technological idolatry is interpreted as a form of deviant religiosity arising from the misuse of technology (παράχρησις) and the loss of ontological hierarchy. The distinction between the use of technology (χρῆσις) and its sacralization is emphasized. Criticism of digital idolatry does not imply a rejection of technology, but points to the need to protect human spiritual autonomy and preserve the transcendent dimension of religious experience.