Desire for Wow, or Hacking the Happy

Abstract

In this chapter, we show how megachurches meet attendees’ desire for “wow” and awe. The data show that megachurch members are overwhelmingly “in love” with megachurch worship. Worship time is often an outward expression of praise and the sharing of joy—a time for generating collective effervescence. The collective effervescence evoked during the worship service is intensified by the fact that there are thousands of people contributing to it. Megachurch services are fields of wonder that energize and synchronize human bodies and feelings with remarkable acuity. The intense emotional energy produced prepares attendees for the pastor’s message, which follows the worship service.

A Reality of Vulnerability and Dependence: Internet Access as a Human Right

“…However, not all rights need transcend the social conditions in which we live. 103 'Human rights are commonly understood as the inalienable rights to which each person is entitled by virtue of being human'. 104 'For an individual claim to constitute a human right it must be fundamental, universal, definable in justiciable form (in other words, capable of judicial interpretation and application), and the actor designated responsible for implementation must possess the necessary capability to fulfil the obligation in question'.…”