{"id":2119,"date":"2009-11-04T21:37:40","date_gmt":"2009-11-04T21:37:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/owenstrachan.com\/?p=2119"},"modified":"2009-11-04T21:37:40","modified_gmt":"2009-11-04T21:37:40","slug":"are-iphones-making-us-unkind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thoughtlife\/2009\/11\/are-iphones-making-us-unkind\/","title":{"rendered":"Are iPhones Making Us Unkind?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"google\"Technology changes us.\u00a0 We\u2019re often aware of how helpful it is, and thus we rush to use and apply it.\u00a0 But we\u2019re not often aware of the effect it has on us.<\/p>\n

You may recall the seminal 2008 article \u201cIs Google Making Us Stupid?\u201d<\/a> by The Atlantic <\/em>writer Nicholar Carr<\/a> (his blog<\/a> is engrossing).\u00a0 In the piece, Carr explores how using the use of Internet technology affects the way we think and act.\u00a0 Carr notes that he has noticed the diminishing of his own attention span since using Google.\u00a0 For those of us (myself included) who make extensive use of cutting-edge technology, the essay is a must-read<\/a>. (Illustration: Guy Billout)<\/p>\n

I have a keen personal interest in the devolution of thinking.\u00a0 But I have a greater interest in the devolution of morality, and specifically, Christian morality.\u00a0 How does this relate to Google and technology?\u00a0 It\u2019s actually quite simple.<\/p>\n

As I noted above, technology does not only better our lives.\u00a0 It has negative influences as well.\u00a0 Al Mohler<\/a> has written of the \u201cmorality of knowledge,\u201d<\/a> a matter he tied to the development of the atomic bomb.\u00a0 That is, as our capacity to create and master technology increases, so too does our capacity to wreak havoc on the earth.\u00a0 Even if technological innovations are morally neutral, after all, we are inherently sinful.\u00a0 Whatever we develop, then, we will use for good\u2013and for evil.<\/p>\n

Let me make a connection here of a much smaller magnitude.\u00a0 I want to suggest that our constant connection to the Internet, supplied to many of us by constant access to the Internet through computers and, more recently, smartphones like the iPhone<\/a>, is tempting many of us to decrease our attention span, focus on our own narrow (often silly) interests, and live less kindly than we should.\u00a0 How on earth could this be so?<\/p>\n

We can use our iPhones for good purposes\u2013getting directions, accessing needed emails, finding phone numbers for places to call, and so on.\u00a0 I use mine for things like that.\u00a0 But with our laptops, we can also be tempted to use them as social crutches, means by which we can evade classroom lulls, boring spans, unwanted conversation partners, and more.\u00a0 Do a quick test\u2013have you done this recently?\u00a0 How often?\u00a0 Regularly?<\/p>\n

I know I\u2019m certainly tempted by my laptop and my phone to tune out from the long, slow, mundane rhythms of everyday life.\u00a0 The Internet, however and wherever it\u2019s accessed, promises instant gratification of my small desires.\u00a0 As I\u2019ve said, this can be fine\u2013who would begrudge a traveler in the airport checking his phone, or a student writing a quick email to his wife in class?\u2013but it also can be personally harmful.\u00a0 Technology of whatever contemporary form can provide us an easy means of escape from the realities of life that are meant to shape us.\u00a0 Many of us are letting it do just this kind of work.\u00a0 Our character, meant to glorify God on a moment-by-moment basis, is suffering as a result.<\/p>\n

What are some scenarios in which this might play out?<\/p>\n