RECAP: What We Need to Know About Technology Now

A recap of the insights David and I were granted in our recent Art of Embodied Conversation

Our spirit guide showing us the technology problem, art by Midjourney AI

Dear Friends,

On Tuesday a week ago, David Sauvage and I held our seventh conversation in the Art of Embodied Conversation series. This one was about technology.

We asked the subtle world, unseen beings, and our own higher selves: What do we need to know about technology now?

Even though the dominant conversation around technology in the zeitgeist is characterized by chaos, fear, doom, and defeat, what we actually felt when we tuned into it on a subtle level was…dare I say…hope? I walked away from the conversation with a visceral and encouraging sense that mastery of technology is within our grasp. It will take WORK, but the WAY is clear. YES, there is a problem. YES, we are the ones to blame. But, we are also the solution and we can do this. The answer(s) were succinct and beautiful in their … we both felt … do-ability.

Here is what we received about the situation and also the way forward:

1. Technology is not “other”—Keeping it relegated to something outside of ourselves; made by unfeeling tech bros in Silicon Valley or some version of The Evil Empire; or something (like in the case of AI) that is from another planet or state of consciousness…keeps us from engaging honestly with the fact that WE MADE THIS. It is of us and it is ours. When we “other” technology, we avoid really grappling with our dependence, our regret, our complicity—and miss cues about how to be in relation to our own creation. Maybe even, how to wrest power back.

2. For anything to change, we need to SEE technology for what it is—Technology feels out of control right now because we’re not clear about the nature of the problem or the solution. We’re exerting energy in resistance and fighting something we don’t fully see or understand. It’s like fighting a rip tide. It is futile if we keep this up. This seems to lead to apathy and numbness about the encroaching of technology in our lives, our art, our culture, our love. We can turn that energy of fighting and wringing our hands into honest self-inquiry, accountability, and clear SEEING. This is the first step to freeing ourselves.

3. We are under a spell—When we LOOKED, really looked, and saw the problem, we were shown that our dependence on technology is actually something malevolent and insidious. It is a magic spell, woven intentionally by technologists. They have used their talents and their will to create a spell that keeps us enraptured…that captures our attention, harvests our attention, to no end other than the power they feel in being able to do that. The technologist masterminds seem to be driven by a lack of feeling felt and seen. This is the core wound creating this monster…weaving this spell.

4. The solution is a lot more love—It is hard to see the spell because seeing it requires the seer to be in touch with the violation of the most intimate parts of our imagination and inner life these technologists have captured. It may sound hokey here in writing, but as we were carried into this vision; as we saw the spell being woven by master magicians, as we felt the emptiness from which technology currently is being birthed, we felt CALLED to give our attention, presence, attunement and LOVE to the technologists. Simultaneously, we felt called to give this love and attention to ourselves, and each other…instead of granting it to the screens in our lives. We felt the power in drawing the childrens’ attention to the beauties of the world. Like this, we can break the spell of ‘enchantment with disenchantment’ that is running amok. Filling the unmet need, the HUNGER for attention that lies beneath the surface of this whole charade, with love seems to be crucial to breaking the spell.

As usual, our journey to getting these answers was unexpected…When we entered the subtle realm, we were met by a guide (this often happens). The guide was an eight or nine-year old androgynous being who seemed to represent the collective state of humanity’s current relationship to technology. We are a child with a toy that has come to life and is beyond our control and there do not seem to be any adults present. The child was imploring us to SEE what they are dealing with. When we looked, we saw an enormous entity extending in all dimensions, back through space, and covered with television screens. It was a giant ‘screen being’ representing technology and the child seemed to be saying, “See what I am dealing with here??!”

We looked more deeply and David uncovered the spell of technology and the unclean motivation to capture attention that is the intention of the spellcasters. When he saw this, he felt a violation. It was hard for him. But, I felt apathy…I articulated it as, “Why does that not surprise me?” David helped me see the habituation to the situation that lives within me. My past in media and advertising (his, too) had inured me to the situation. Harvesting attention is the business model…I was complicit in it. I already KNOW this is what’s happening and it doesn’t shock me anymore. With some help from David, I was able to see the damaging reality of excusing the system; I was able to see that the habituation itself is part of the spell.

Ultimately, I felt my way underneath the spell and met David in an awareness of how I am being manipulated. How I was spellbound. There, I found anger, outrage, empowerment…And THEN, in the seeing it…I had that feeling I described at the outset…something like, “Oh…this isn’t so hard.” The seeing of the spell was the hard part.

We ended the session with a feeling of being incomplete. Like, we’d just scratched the surface. But, the surface needed to be scratched. Seeing this spell seems like the first order of business and we are already in the inquiry around how to break it. We felt that this is big work and will actually require some excavation and healing that was beyond us in the container of this first conversation. David and I both feel clear that the breaking of the spell will require a magic ritual—you have to fight a spell with a spell—and we want to design and offer this ritual to folks on a large scale. Stay tuned for more on that.

A final word…maybe it’s obvious, but probably worth saying, that technology comes in many forms and is not, in and of itself, bad. We are not advocating for abstinence or luddite lifestyles (though that’s also great if you choose that route). I think he and I agree that technological advances are actually essential for the future culture/world we want to live in. We both teach and write and relay our own work with the help of technology. I am grateful for the gift of connection and creative expression it offers. There is a way to create technology and live within a technological society that is supportive of humanity’s mission and all life on the planet. To get there, to that way of being in relation to the magic of technology, we are going to have to heal what is broken in our current relationship to it. It’s in bad shape. But, it is not irredeemable.

We will not be sharing the video widely, as the experience is truly of a moment. It is alive for those who participate in the emergent unfolding and it loses something in the recording process. But, if you feel that hearing and seeing the whole conversation is important for you, please reach out. I can accommodate you.

With deepest respect and in service, David and I will continue to listen into the subtle realms for instruction and guidance through these tumultuous and transitional times. We will continue to offer our rituals and magic in ways that feel alive and effective to us and hopefully, you will be called to join.

Thank you!

Schuyler and David