Social media consumes many of us—and in too many ways, it has taken over our minds. We’ve made a deal with the devil.
Dear Thoughtful Pastor: been noticing of late how intrusive I’ve let social media and media consumption in general become.
So I’ve been banishing the tablet from my bed three nights a week, which has made me antsy and itchy.
And, irony of ironies, I’ve downloaded headspace, a meditation app. Believe it or not, a seasoned meditator guides you into 10 minutes of breathing and silence.
It is so, so hard. How did this even happen?
We are collectively cracking our brains with a piece of technology that most of us stay tethered to constantly. The smart phone has taken over. In a piece of my own irony, just as I started to work on this question, I realized I had misplaced my phone. Massive angst followed as I frantically searched for it.
I finally remembered that there is a “find-my-phone” utility which then made my phone ping (the sound was otherwise turned off) and found it. To my utter relief. Why? Because I have outsourced much of my brain to the phone.
I rarely know what day it is: I look at the phone.
I do not know phone numbers or addresses of my children. I look at the phone.
I have to function with a plethora of passwords to multiple places and they are all stored, safely encrypted, in some app on my phone.
Bank balance? A fingerprint sign-in gives me up-to-date information.
Directions to anywhere? And yeah, I’ve forgotten how to internalize them.
Want to know the traffic? Check the phone and see the graphic with endless orange and red dots showing congested areas.
Need a document? I can get to anything I’ve ever written or stored for any reason right there on my phone.
Want to know the latest political news (well, no, actually)? Can tell you in seconds.
What are my friends up to? And what do I want my friends to know that I am doing? Easy-peasy: social media!
My calendar no longer sits in my head or on a desk, but in electronic form. I don’t try to remember birthdays: a reminder will show up a week ahead of each important one. Need to remember to do something? No, I don’t, because a reminder will pop up when it is time.
Again, a huge part of my brain resides there.
This wonderful, freeing addition to our lives leaves all of us with broken brains. Constant interruption accompanies the screen environment. It gratifies the never ending need for something NEW to show up. We can pass on thoughtless quotes or seriously biased news to others in microseconds.
Our use of social media is a deal with the devil
Several years ago,, I read Nicholas Carr’s superb work, The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains. He lays it out clearly: in many ways, we are all becoming addicted to distraction.
I remember when I read the book how difficult it was for me to stay focused even as I was reading about how the unabated use of the Internet was making it nearly impossible for people to read books from beginning to end.
None of us can stay focused. It took constant self-checking to persevere with that book. I became more troubled by each well-researched page on how this electronic world is indeed mangling our brains.
Why? What’s the draw? Personally, I think it is one more way to keep us from having to confront and carefully examine our own lives. By staying in a state of consistent distraction, we move further from the kind of honest self-reflection that is mandated for people to reach real maturity.
We’ve traded information for wisdom and in doing so, we’ve made a deal with the devil.
As for our spiritual lives . . . the act of worship, of intentionally focusing of God, not our own petty little selves, mandates a move to inner quietness. Much traditional worship is slow, full of spaces, generally devoid of immediate gratification, demanding discipline of body and mind.
Some churches have tried to accommodate the Internet-shallowed mind with mind-numbing loud music and never ending graphics flashing across multiple screens. It may be comfortable, familiar, and non-demanding, but this will not develop the soul.
The Real Problem: Laziness in Brain and Body
But we let it happen because we humans are, at our core, essentially lazy, both in mind and body. These constant distractions feed laziness while giving the illusion that we are engaged and doing something useful.
In truth, the never-ending stream of words, videos and images provides a wall of protection to keep us from having to encounter life in its rawness. All reality becomes mediated by the screen, giving an illusion of safe barriers.
It is yet one more drug to enter into our brains, taking us captive, unprotesting, into the abyss of constant information, curated to feed our particular prejudices. Ultimately, we become less human, less able to listen, learn, and grow.
Why? I’ll say it again: we are, at our core, lazy. That may be the ultimate sin that needs to be addressed.
[Note: a version of this column is scheduled to run in the Sept 30, 2016, edition of the Denton Record Chronicle. The Thoughtful Pastor, AKA Christy Thomas, welcomes all questions for the column. Although the questioner will not be identified, I do need a name and verifiable contact information in case the newspaper editor has need of it. Please email questions to: [email protected].]
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