Sin Evil Quote by Neil Postman
““Some of our priest-experts are called psychiatrists, some psychologists, some sociologists, some statisticians. The god they serve does not speak of righteousness or goodness or mercy or grace. Their god speaks of efficiency, precision, objectivity. And that is why such concepts as sin and evil disappear in Technopoly. They come from a moral universe that is irrelevant to the theology of expertise. An so the priests of Technopoly call sin 'social deviance,' which is a statistical concept, and they call evil 'psychopathology,' which is a medical concept. Sin and evil disappear because they cannot be measured and objectified, and therefore cannot be dealt with by experts””
About This Quote
Source Book: Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology, 1992
In a technocratic society, experts replace moral language with technical terms, rendering concepts like sin and evil invisible because they cannot be measured or objectified.
In simple terms: Tech experts ignore morality, treating sin as data.
Key Takeaway
Integrate ethical reflection into technical fields.
Themes
technology
ethics
expertise
Mood
critical
thought‑provoking
Type
philosophical
analytical
When to use this quote
- policy making
- healthcare ethics
- education curriculum design
- corporate governance
Key Concepts
technological determinism
secularism
Questions to Reflect On
- How can we embed moral accountability in data‑driven decisions?
- What role should ethics play in scientific research?
A Different Perspective
The argument may overlook that some technical fields already incorporate ethical standards and that moral concepts can be quantified in certain contexts.
![“…[E]veryone knew that sin was evil, and that no good could come from evil. But he did feel good; he felt positively marvellous. Consequently, it followed logically that telling lies and defecting from duty could not be sins. The chaplain had mastered, in a moment of divine intuition, the handy…” quote by Joseph Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/3a4/joseph-heller-601_character_e-veryone-knew-that-sin-was-evil-and-tha_777165.jpg)
