Big Data: A Trending, Stealth Topic in Science, Technology, and Religion (A Somewhat Revised Musing)

This comes from my Top Eleven List of Key Topics in Science, Technology, and Religion adapted from my book Negotiating Science and Religion in America. In it, I look forward to topics I hope to address in future posts, which is an appropriate way to begin a new year. 

I move now to #7.

Big Data 

I don’t see much religious writing or speaking in the popular press or in academic circles on this stealth topic. Big Data is (via a reasonably garden variety definition) 

“data sets, typically consisting of billions or trillions of records, that are so vast and complex that they require new and powerful computational resources to process.” 

This new reality bequeathed to us by the power of computing has profound religious significance. Maybe because Big Data is all around and seems powerful, many technologists associate it with the divine.

On a related note, some seem to promote Big Data as the scientific cutting edge with almost religious zeal. Pat Gelsinger, CEO of VMware, commented, 

“Data is the new science. Big Data holds the answers.” Pat Gelsinger, CEO of VMware

That sounds like a fairly grandiose, even religious, claim. Since this is such a new topic (at least to me), I’ll simply lay out three sets of questions: 1) How do we as human beings conceive of the sheer volume of information? What tools do we possess? 2) What should we do with this information? Who owns each person’s data—the individual or powerful, multinational corporations? This is an especially tricky ethical question with healthcare. 3) How does the Eye of Big Data relate to the omnipresence of our God? Is it benevolent? Does this give us comfort, concern, or some mixture of both? 

New Topics in Science and Religion: Contours of What's to Come

I’m fascinated by the future. Often I’m trying to discern the contours of what’s to come. And so I’ve asked friends who seem to know, “What do you think are the top ten topics to come in science and religion?” 

Before I get to the list, I heard one as-yet under appreciated answer: Big Data. This reality, 

“extremely large data sets that may be analyzed computationally to reveal patterns, trends, and associations, especially relating to human behavior and interactions,” 

exists and, in some ways, describes billions of human beings. It's also the religious significance of this new reality bequeathed to us by the power of computing.

Admittedly, the presence of Big Data doesn’t have the directness of creation and evolution (How do we read Genesis 1-3 as authoritative revelation and take in human evolution?) or astrobiology (If there is life on other planets, what does that mean about God’s coming in a human being to save the world?). And yet, with a moment’s reflection, if you’re one of the 250 million or so smart phone users in the U.S., then we realize that little seven ounce device tracks us and records us and presents a data picture of who we are.

And some promote Big Data as the scientific cutting edge.

“Data is the new science. Big Data holds the answers.”Pat Gelsinger, Chief Executive Officer of VMware

Frankly, I’m just beginning to reflect on this topic. Still, I can imagine that Big Data raises at least three issues: 1) How do we as human beings conceive of the sheer volume of information? What tools do we need to help us manage these teraflops of information about us? 2) What should we do with this information? Who’s is it? This is especially tricky ethical question with healthcare. If my genetic information, for example, might lead a health care insurer dropping me from my coverage, do they have a right to know? 3) How do we cope with the “roving eyes” on us at all times? How does the Eye of Big Data relate to the omnipresence of our God? Does this give us comfort, concern, or some mix of both? Should information ever be discarded, especially that reveals our sin and separated from us “as far as the east is from the west”? (Psalm 103:12)

            

So what are the other nine? Here’s how I’d finish out my top ten (in some kind of loose,

descending order). The way to read this like could be “Finish the phrase ‘Religion, Science, Technology and Their Relationship to…”

1. Artificial Intelligence and Transhumanism
2. Climate Change
3. Sexuality, especially Same-Sex Attraction and Gender Identity
4. Evolution and God’s Creation (which will always be with us)
5. Neuroscience and the Cognitive Science of Religion
6. Genetics, especially Technologies like CRISPR cas9
7. Astrobiology, Extraterrestrial Life
8. Medicine, especially End of Life and Reproductive Technology
9. Race

What do you think? What would you add?

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