Homo Digitalis: Human Wholeness in the Digital Space in the Post-Truth Era
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33856/kerusso.v11i2.656Keywords:
Homo Digitalis, post-truth, imago Dei, deconstructive hermeneuticsAbstract
This article examines the phenomenon of Homo Digitalis within a digital civilization increasingly dominated by post-truth narratives. Drawing on philosophical anthropology, the humanities, and Christian theology, the study argues that the relentless flow of digital information does not necessarily produce wiser human beings; rather, it threatens the existential integrity of persons created as imago Dei. The post-truth condition, compounded by algorithmic curation, echo chambers, and digital identity fragmentation, generates a profound epistemological and ontological crisis. As a distinctive methodological contribution, the article applies Jacques Derrida’s deconstructive hermeneutics to four biblical texts, namely John 14:6, Genesis 1:27, Proverbs 16:32, and 1 Corinthians 13:12, demonstrating that Scripture itself contains internal critiques of any claim to final or closed representation, a foundation directly relevant for confronting the absolutism of post-truth discourse. The study finds that restoring human wholeness in digital spaces requires three interrelated foundations, namely critical awareness of algorithmic operations, character formation rooted in transcendent values, and the cultivation of contemplative spirituality that transcends the velocity of information. The article concludes that a wholesome Homo Digitalis is determined not by technological proficiency but by the depth of personhood manifested through relational existence, reflective practice, and rootedness in a truth that surpasses any algorithm.
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