The modern era is marked by a radical transformation of the productive forces of society. Its main trend is the digitalization of many areas of human activity. The technological determinism of the digital environment comes into dissonance with the underlying processes of culture and education. For the university’s mission they occasionally play a programming role, while creating significant problems, including, problems for such "cultural units" as intelligence and thinking, dialogue and interaction, audience and discussion, autonomy, independence and independence of internal norms of functioning, academic charisma, charisma of the teacher, elitism and egalitarianism at the same time, not "preparation", and "education" (the production of an "educated person"), broadcasting culture, enlightenment, awareness of humanistic values, love of one's profession, understanding of its mission. The article analyzes some of the contradictions between the "cultural codes" of education and the technological tools of the digital environment. A hypothesis is put forward about the dominant role of the program as a "selfish gene" (R. Dawkins) in the hereditary matrix of modern culture. The necessity of the conscious building of relations between culture and digitalization is substantiated.