William Sims Bainbridge (born October 12, 1940) is an American sociologist who currently resides in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. He is co-director of Cyber-Human Systems at the

National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National I ...

(NSF).Bainbridge bio
at the

Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies The Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies (IEET) is a technoprogressive think tank that seeks to "promote ideas about how technological progress can increase freedom, happiness, and human flourishing in democratic societies."Joseph R. ...

, accessed 5-III-2007. He is the first Senior Fellow to be appointed by the

. Bainbridge is most well known for his work on the

sociology of religion Sociology of religion is the study of the beliefs, practices and organizational forms of religion using the tools and methods of the discipline of sociology. This objective investigation may include the use both of quantitative methods (surveys, ...

. Recently he has published work studying the sociology of

video gaming Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This feedback m ...

Career

Bainbridge began his academic career at the

Choate Rosemary Hall Choate Rosemary Hall (often known as Choate; ) is a private, co-educational, college-preparatory boarding school in Wallingford, Connecticut, United States. Choate is currently ranked as the second best boarding school and third best private high ...

preparatory school in his birthstate of

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

. He matriculated at

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

and

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio. It is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational liberal arts college in the United S ...

before settling on

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...

, where he received his

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in sociology in 1971. Initially, he studied

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

and became a skilled piano-tuner. In his free time, he constructed

harpsichord A harpsichord ( it, clavicembalo; french: clavecin; german: Cembalo; es, clavecín; pt, cravo; nl, klavecimbel; pl, klawesyn) is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. This activates a row of levers that turn a trigger mechanism ...

s and

clavichord The clavichord is a stringed rectangular keyboard instrument that was used largely in the Late Middle Ages, through the Renaissance, Baroque and Classical eras. Historically, it was mostly used as a practice instrument and as an aid to compositi ...

s with the "Bainbridge" name, which still exist in a few households. Bainbridge received his

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

in sociology at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

in 1975 and went on to study the sociology of religious

cult In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal. This ...

s. In 1976, he published his first book, ''The Spaceflight Revolution'', which examined the push for

space exploration Space exploration is the use of astronomy and space technology to explore outer space. While the exploration of space is carried out mainly by astronomers with telescopes, its physical exploration though is conducted both by robotic spacec ...

in the 1960s. In 1978, he published his second and most popular book, entitled ''Satan's Power'', which described several years in which Bainbridge infiltrated and observed the Process Church, a religious cult whose founders had been members of

Scientology Scientology is a set of beliefs and practices invented by American author L. Ron Hubbard, and an associated movement. It has been variously defined as a cult, a business, or a new religious movement. The most recent published census data indi ...

. The study was one of the last of this type of academic studies done before new rules were introduced restricting unregulated participatory observation and study. After completing his doctorate, Bainbridge served as an assistant (1975-1980) and

associate professor Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''. Overview In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a ...

(1980-1982) of sociology at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

. During this period, he worked with departmental colleague

Rodney Stark Rodney William Stark (July 8, 1934 — July 21, 2022) was an American sociologist of religion who was a longtime professor of sociology and of comparative religion at the University of Washington. At the time of his death he was the Distinguished ...

on the Stark-Bainbridge theory of religion. Upon returning to Harvard as a visiting associate professor of sociology (1982-1987), he co-wrote the books ''The Future of Religion'' (1985) and ''A Theory of Religion'' (1987) with Stark. As of 2013, their theory, which aims to explain religious involvement in terms of rewards and compensators, is seen as a precursor of the more explicit recourse to economic principles in the study of religion later developed by

Laurence Iannaccone Laurence Robert Iannaccone ( ; born May 24, 1954) is a Professor of Economics at Chapman University, Argyros School of Business and Economics, Orange County, California. Before moving to Chapman in 2009 he was a Koch Professor of Economics at Geor ...

and others. From this period until the 2000s Bainbridge published more books dealing with space, religion, and psychology. These included a text entitled ''Experiments in Psychology'' (1986), which included psychology experimentation software coded by Bainbridge. He also studied the religious cult the Children of God, also known as the

Family International The Family International (TFI) is a Christian New Religious Movement founded in Huntington Beach, California, USA, in 1968 by David Berg that has been criticized as an authoritarian cult. Originally named Teens for Christ, it has gone under a n ...

, in his 2002 book ''The Endtime Family: Children of God''. Bainbridge has also taught at

Illinois State University Illinois State University (ISU) is a public university in Normal, Illinois. Founded in 1857 as Illinois State Normal University, it is the oldest public university in Illinois. The university emphasizes teaching and is recognized as one of th ...

(professor of sociology and

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of behavi ...

; 1987-1990) and

Towson University Towson University (TU or Towson) is a public university in Towson, Maryland. Founded in 1866 as Maryland's first training school for teachers, Towson University is a part of the University System of Maryland. Since its founding, the university h ...

(professor of sociology and anthropology & department chair; 1990-1992). He then joined the National Science Foundation as the director of its sociology program (1992-1999) before holding a series of positions that prefigured his current appointment in 2006.

Bibliography

Books authored by Bainbridge include: *''Cultural Science: Applications of Artificial Social Intelligence'' (2020), *''The Social Structure of Online Communities'' (2020), *''Virtual Local Manufacturing Communities: Online Simulations of Future Workshop Systems'' (2019), *''Family History Digital Libraries'' (2018), *''Computer Simulation of Space Societies'' (2018), *''Dynamic Secularization'' (2017), *''Star Worlds: Freedom Versus Control in Online Gameworlds'' (2016), *''The Meaning and Value of Spaceflight'' (2015), *''An Information Technology Surrogate for Religion'' (2014), *''Personality Capture and Emulation'' (2014), *''eGods: Faith versus Fantasy in Computer Gaming'' (2013), *''The Virtual Future'' (2011), *''Online Multiplayer Games'' (2010), *''The Warcraft Civilization: Social Science in a Virtual World'' (2010), *''Nanoconvergence'' (2007), *''The Secular Abyss'' (2007), *''God from the Machine: Artificial Intelligence Models of Religious Cognition'' (2006), *''The Endtime Family: Children of God'' (2002), *''Sociology'' (1997), *''The Sociology of Religious Movements'' (1997), *''Religion, Deviance and Social Control'' (with Rodney Stark) (1996), *''Social Research Methods and Statistics'' (1992), *''Goals in Space: American Values and the Future of Technology'' (1991), *''Survey Research: A Computer-Assisted Introduction'' (1989), *''Sociology Laboratory'' (1987) *''A Theory of Religion'' (with Rodney Stark) (1987) (Reprinted in 1996 and translated into Polish as ''Teoria Religi'' in 2000) *''Dimensions of Science Fiction'' (1986). *''Experiments in Psychology'' (1986) *''The Future of Religion'' (with Rodney Stark) (1985) *''Satan's Power: A Deviant Psychotherapy Cult'' (1978). *''The Spaceflight Revolution'' (1976). In addition, ''The Future of Religion'' was reprinted in Chinese in 2006 and ''Satan's Power: A Deviant Psychotherapy Cult'' was translated into Italian in 1994. Bainbridge's edited and co-edited books include:http://mysite.verizon.net/wsbainbridge/data/wsbcv.htm Curriculum Vitae * ''Handbook of Science and Technology Convergence'' (with Mihail C. Roco) (2016) * ''Convergence of Knowledge, Technology and Society'' (with Mihail C. Roco, Bruce Tonn, George Whitesides) (2013) * ''Leadership in Science and Technology'' (2012) * ''Progress in Convergence: Technologies for Human Wellbeing'' (with Mihail C. Roco) (2006) * ''Nanotechnology: Societal Implications—Maximizing Benefit for Humanity'' (with Mihail C. Roco) (2006) * ''Nanotechnology: Societal Implications—Individual Perspectives'' (with Mihail C. Roco) (2006) * ''Managing Nano-Bio-Info-Cogno Innovations: Converging Technologies in Society'' (with Mihail C. Roco) (2006) * ''Encyclopedia of Human-Computer Interaction'' (2004) * ''Converging Technologies for Improving Human Performance'' (with Mihail C. Roco) (2003) * ''Societal Implications of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology'' (with Mihail C. Roco) (2001). In addition to his books, Bainbridge has published over 200 articles and essays in various journals and encyclopedias. From 2013, when he published ''eGods'', his work has shifted towards the study of the sociology of video gaming, beginning with the publication of a new article (co-authored with his daughter Wilma Alice Bainbridge) on the potentially interesting aspects of glitches in video games. He has also studied "personality capture" in software, the process by which one may save one's personality in a computer through the answering of vast personality surveys.

Awards and organizations

''The Future of Religion'' won the "Outstanding Book of the Year" award from the

Society for the Scientific Study of Religion The Society for the Scientific Study of Religion (founded in 1949) was formed to advance research in the social scientific perspective on religious institutions and experiences. The ''Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion'' is published by ...

in 1986 and ''A Theory of Religion'' won the "Outstanding Scholarship" from the Pacific Sociological Association in 1993. Bainbridge is a founding member of the Order of Cosmic Engineers and is distantly related to Commodore

William Bainbridge William Bainbridge (May 7, 1774July 27, 1833) was a Commodore in the United States Navy. During his long career in the young American Navy he served under six presidents beginning with John Adams and is notable for his many victories at sea. He ...

References

Bainbridge, William S
Curriculum Vitae
Retrieved October 12, 2006.

External links

Personal websitelatest archived version
2014)
Uploading Life: Send Your Personality to Space
(Includes Bainbridge's work on spaceflight)

(Study done in 1978 by William Bainbridge and Murray Dalziel)
Religion for a Galactic Civilization 2.0
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bainbridge, William Sims American sociologists Living people Yale University alumni Oberlin College alumni Boston University College of Arts and Sciences alumni Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni Researchers of new religious movements and cults Sociologists of religion 1940 births George Mason University faculty American transhumanists Choate Rosemary Hall alumni

Career

Bibliography

Awards and organizations

See also

References

External links