Who Are We?

This chapter examinesTotemism techno-totemismTechnototemism and other aspects of the ways in which modern society define their identityIdentity around technologies. Techno-totemismTechnototemism is the definition not only of one’s identity but of a society’s entire cosmological outlook in terms of technological objects. CosmologyCosmology, a vision of order in the universe, is an integral part of identityIdentity, of who we are, how we connect with our neighbors and kin. CosmologyCosmology unites the social and the natural, the temporal and the eternal, into a singular verity. In America, the perfect example of totemic objects is the car, yet many other examples (guns, computers, smartphones, airplanes, boats) can be found as well. Automobiles not only define who we are, but the entire structure of our lives and the built environment. After establishing the importance of identityIdentity and its relationship to technology, we turn to the narratives that tell the stories about who we are, but also who we are not.