As you may have noticed, many things in my life take precedence over blogging.
In Chapter 1 of Responsible Technology, the authors point out that technology is so omnipresent in our society that it often goes unnoticed & unquestioned. I work on a university campus, and it amazes me how many students walk around using cellphones and music players.
Bold Claim: To paraphrase the authors, the beliefs that infuse technology, processes that mark it, and outputs from it are not inevitable, neutral, or necessarily benign. Consider Colossians 3:17 - whether we design or use technology, we are called to do it for God and His glory.
Here's a personal anecdote to illustrate. When my wife and I got married, we started our marriage together in a nice little apartment. Within about 2 weeks of moving in, a salesman from the local cable company came by and asked if we would like to sign up for one of their packages. He was surprised when I declined and asked "why not?" I told him that we were newly married and felt the need to spend time interacting and building our relationship. We planned to read books out loud to each other for entertainment and didn't want TV to get in the way of that. While he looked at me like I was from Jupiter, he didn't press the issue further. In this instance, my wife and I chose older technology (books) over newer - and I believe our marriage has been better for it. We did not inevitably need cable, nor did I think it would have a neutral impact on our new marriage.
There is much more to Chapter 1, so stay tuned!
(Post script: a few years ago, I broke down and bought an antenna.)
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1 comment:
Excellent thoughts. We too never signed up for cable, rarely watch TV. Most people think we're nuts, but in our marriage and raising three children, that made a huge difference. I do spend more time blogging than I probably should.
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