| The thesis looks at the quest for and the construction of sense and meaning in the information and communications technology craze that ensued the popularisation of the Internet at the end of the 20 th century. It posits that contemporary, secular society looks for satisfaction of its essential religious needs outside traditional faith and projects religious qualities on commercial phenomena, such as so-called hypes. In these cases religious feelings are implicit. Implicit religion , as defined by E. I. Bailey, is the central concept of the dissertation, and it refers to processes of sense making that do not belong to the realm of explicit, institutionalised religion. The thesis studies the internet phenomenon from the perspective of the following four implicitly religious qualities: hope of salvation, belief in transcendence, charisma and group consciousness. |
