My pocket theory is that tech advanced so much that more people reverted to the natural state of magical thinking. Yandex bots living in small electronic boxes = evil spirits living in old tree trunks or ugly rocks. Both can lead honest people astray and do sinful things
A nice touch of ageism there, so techy...you should talk to Donald Knuth...
I once got into a "debate" with WalterBright and I mean, I dunno. The man's accomplished far more than me, but like.