With its wireless networks encompassing the globe, the Digital Revolution is altering the very fabric of our lives with alarming rapidity. New technologies are bringing about an ever closer union between human beings and machines, whilst at the same time transforming our planet into an increasingly hybrid ‘cyber-physical’ world.

The current rollout of fifth generation wireless communication networks, or 5G, is central to the project to create a global ‘electronic ecosystem’, in which we will be obliged to live. This will provide the basis for an all-pervasive Internet of Things, and the widespread integration of Augmented and Virtual Reality into human experience. But what genuine human needs will this serve? Does the planet really need to be made ‘smart’? Will our health, and that of other living creatures, really be unaffected by exposure to escalating levels of electromagnetic radiation?

As we enter a new era of extreme technology, driven by a momentum that seems beyond the constraint of any spiritual or moral consideration, both human beings and nature face an unprecedented challenge. Jeremy Naydler argues that it is a challenge that can only be met through a re-affirmation of essential human values and the recovery of a sacred view of nature. From this grounding, we can work towards a truly human future that, rather than creating yet more pollution and toxicity, will bring blessing to the natural world to which we belong.

Praise for In The Shadow of the Machine:
‘A brilliant and penetrating study of the prehistory of the computer in relation to the evolution of consciousness… His book is a spiritual beacon reminding us that our essence transcends the material and the mechanical.’ – David Lorimer, Paradigm Explorer
‘A marvellous and erudite account of the history of consciousness… The range and depth of Naydler’s investigation is vast. He identifies and brings out the significance of key, often little-remarked changes in thinking... [and] offers new, insightful perspectives.’ – Richard Gault, Beshara Magazine
‘This important and profoundly thought-provoking book is a must-read for anyone with an itch in the back of their mind that something is very wrong with the world today. [It] takes us on the fascinating journey of the human mind from the very dawn of time to today, the age of the computer. In doing so, we are forced to question the very nature of our reality...’ – Brett Lothian, New Dawn
‘This important book illuminates contemporary consciousness powerfully, and offers a crucial exploration of what it means to be human.’ – Mark Vernon, author of A Secret History of Chrisitanity
‘Jeremy Naydler has become, in my judgement, one of the most interesting and original living writers in Britain.’ – Professor Bruce G. Charlton, author of Addicted to Distraction

JEREMY NAYDLER, PH.D., holds a doctorate in theology and religious studies, and is a philosopher, cultural historian and gardener who lives and works in Oxford, England. He has long been interested in the history of consciousness and sees the study of past cultures – which were more open to the world of spirit than our own, predominantly secular, culture – as relevant both to understanding our situation today and to finding pathways into the future. His longstanding concern about the impact of electronic technologies on our inner life and on our relationship to nature has found expression in his book In the Shadow of the Machine (Temple Lodge 2018) and in numerous articles contributed to magazines such as New View, Self and Society and Resurgence.