Greg Epstein—Humanist chaplain at MIT and Harvard University—spoke to Closer To Truth about technology, religion, the future of humanity, and more.
His latest book, Tech Agnostic: How Technology Became the World’s Most Powerful Religion, and Why It Desperately Needs a Reformation, is on sale now.
You can also watch our new interview with Epstein on our YouTube channel.
1. What are your hopes for the future of humanity?
I’d like to see humanity continue to make healthy progress, both technologically and in terms of how we behave towards one another. But if we can learn to place greater emphasis on the latter, I’ll feel a lot more confident about how well we’re likely to do with the former.
2. What have you changed your mind about?
Tech Agnostic is all about a number of big changes I’ve made in my mindset: in how I define Humanism; in no longer wanting to be a congregational leader; coming to believe very strongly in the importance of unconditional love after not really understanding what the #$%& that was. But my view of atheism & agnosticism hasn’t changed a bit!
3. What is your favorite quote?
I’ll go with a line from the Mishnah, a nearly 2000-year-old rabbinic text, that I’ll note does not contain any theological content. “It is not on you to finish the work. But neither are you free to desist from it.”
4. What are you optimistic about?
I have learned to derive more satisfaction from Camus’ concept of rebellion against the imperfection and injustice of the world as we find it. A kind of constructive pessimism that doesn’t need things external to us and beyond our control to be good, in order for us to achieve a sense of purpose and meaning.
5. What is something you wish could change about how we view technology?
AI has gone beyond a trend, or even a “craze.” Much of our society has become fixated, even deluded, believing it can be the solution to every human problem (or that it is the biggest threat we face—AI Heaven, or Hell). I’d have people start from a place of skepticism about all of that.