"The Christian notion of the possibility of redemption is incomprehensible to the computer"

Vance Packard’s observation draws a line between human spirituality and the logic-driven nature of technology. The Christian perspective holds that individuals, regardless of past misdeeds, can seek forgiveness and attain a changed state through an act of grace, redemption. Redemption carries with it the idea that someone’s past errors need not define their future, that there is room for mercy, change, and renewal rooted in something more profound than a simple transactional reckoning of deeds.

A computer, in contrast, operates according to codes and algorithms. Its judgments are binary, based on rules and unambiguous logic. A computer keeps records, tallies actions, and analyzes inputs without compassion or moral ambiguity. There is no internal mechanism by which a computer can erase an error out of empathy or offer a second chance because of sincere remorse. It can update a database, override a file, or reset a system, but these actions reflect mere changes in states, devoid of meaning beyond their programming.

Packard’s statement exposes a fundamental divide between human moral frameworks and artificial processing. Redemption, as envisioned in Christianity, relies on concepts like grace, forgiveness, and transformation, ideas that transcend data and touch upon existential and emotional dimensions. To a computer, an individual is the sum of their inputs and actions, not a being capable of inner transformation through penitence or faith. As artificial intelligence advances, its grasp of human nuance may increase, but the underlying capacity for true moral empathy or understanding seems a uniquely human (or spiritual) domain.

Therefore, the possibility of redemption is “incomprehensible” to a computer, not because the concept is overly complex, but because it exists outside the realm of calculable logic. It speaks to a quality in human (or religious) experience that cannot be replicated by circuits and code, a reminder of the mystery and depth of the human spirit.