The Correspondence of Attar’s Conference of the Birds journey with Technological Complexity of soul: The Application of Linguistic Metaphor in Futures Studies

Technologies transition is a concern for humanity and this article seeks to examine the course of technological developments and predict their future path based on a mystical and humanistic perspective. Contemplating on the literary text of "The Conference of the Birds," the evolution of human life and human interaction with technology is considered in the framework of seven valleys of conduct and humanity’s encounter with technology is metaphorically interpreted as the evolution of the seeker’s soul. In this regard, Gadamer’s hermeneutics has been regarded as a theoretical basis of research,. The findings indicate that in the tribal age, human’s need was to be survival and the most important tool was technology so this age corresponds to the Valley of Quest. In the agricultural age, love is born to nature which resembles the Valley of Love. Then in the age of urbanization social system was formed and skill was created in the life that is the same as Valley of Knowledge. In the age of industrialization, with the onset of mass production, human was at the Valley of Detachment stage of the seven valleys of the spiritual journey of Attar. In the information age, integration networks were formed which corresponds to the Valley of Unity. In the age of artificial intelligence, the world entered a new phase of the complexity of technology which aligns with the Attars Valley of Bewilderment; and the next age is ambiguous and even threatening the nature of man, which corresponding to the Valley of Annihilation.