Faith shaped by technology

For class, we are reading "Flickering Pixels: How Technology Shapes your Faith" by Shane Hipps. I found found this book very useful and provocative. Three especially interesting points from the first few chapters:

"A medium is anything that stretches, extends, or amplifies some human capacity" (32)..."When we fail to perceive that the things we create [like the internet] are extensions of ourselves, the created things take on god-like characteristics and we become their servants" (35)
The internet is a form of media, a type of mass communication, just like the printing press originally was, and similar to the way fax machines, xerox machines, and old fashioned pen and paper can work. Unlike these other instruments, of course, the internet has the capability to broadcast information instantaneously to a enormous network of people, with the click of a button. The internet allows us to access information, news stories, gossip, and anything else, instantaneously from the couch in our living rooms, in a way never before available. The internet, as such, has incredible power to "stretch, extend, and amplify" human capacities to acquire knowledge, share information, communicate, fund raise, and do all sorts of other things.
But, the internet remains, and always will remain, an extension of God-created human capabilities. The internet allows us to do things more efficiently, with a greater network, and with a wider community, in a way never before seen, but all of these things simply amplify the God-given talents and gifts we each possess. As we continue to work with technology, we must always remember that the internet, and all technology, is a TOOL, which we are called to use for the good of the world (just as we are called to use all our gifts, abilities, and tools for the good of the world). The internet is not a being created by God, it does not have wants, or needs, and it is not included in God's salvific plan. As we proceed, we must always remember that the internet is available for our use, but we should be the masters of it...not it the masters of us.

There are four dimensions to all media: 1) "amplification or extension" (of human capabilities) 2) "every new medium makes an older technology irrelevant or obsolete" 3) "every new medium retrieves some experience or medium from the past" 4) "every medium, when pushed to an extreme, will reverse on itself, revealing unintended consequences" (37)
I found Hipps' articulation of the four dimensions of every form of media very helpful both because it emphasizes the ways in which the internet is just like other, older, forms of technology, and because of the ways in which (the fourth dimension in particular) highlights the potential pit falls of technology. While I do not think it is helpful to either whole-heartedly and unhesitantly accept all aspects of the internet, nor do I feel it is helpful to shun the internet in its entirety either. Being able to identify the ways in which new media can be helpful, as well as the ways in which it can be misused allows us to journey together with technology into the future, albeit with caution.
With regards to the internet in particular, Hipps highlights that the internet, while intended to increase access to information, can lead to too much (potentially incorrect) information, which can be overwhelming to the seeker, and which can lead to greater confusion rather than clarity. Similarly, although the internet was created to increase communication abilities in society, when taken to an extreme, the internet can become the sole method of communication, which can be detrimental to communities and individuals. In order to prevent any new form of medium from reaching the extreme point at which it reverse back upon itself, it is necessary to always remember that mediums are supposed to be TOOLS of which we are the master, not the servants.
"Unfortuantely, the Information Age does little to encourage the development of wisdom. [Wisdom] requires time, experience, contemplation, patience, suffering, and even stillness to obtain. But the churning sea of information never settles long enough to allow for the emergence of wisdom. We are left instead with 'the conceit of wisdom rather than real wisdom' and become a burden to society rather than a boon" (72)
In his chapter preceding this quote entitled "Subliminal Messages", Hipps chronicles the ways in which information and wisdom has been shared throughout the years--from pre-literate societies through today. He argues that in pre-literate societies, individuals relied on the community to pass on information and wisdom from generation to generation. The invention of writing instruments allowed some of these pieces of information to be written down. Writing gave people "the luxury of thinking apart from the tribe without the concern or those thoughts disappearing" (56). In the shift between pre-literate societies and print societies, the gospel message went from being concerned about the community to being primarily concerned about the individual. "Community" in the modern age is come to be understood not as a group of individuals working together for the common good (as it was necessarily in pre-literate societies), but as "a collection of discrete individuals working concurrently on their personal relationships with Jesus" (57).
While the information that was retained and passed on in pre-literate societies was understandably the information which was most pertinent to survival of the tribe, the information available in the print age, and especially in the modern age, is EVERYTHING. Individuals are bombarded by news stories of various importance and veracity, and left to their own devices as to deciding which of these stories is the most appropriate. The bombardment of our minds with information (which is "often contradictory, and random data with no center or periphery" 68) is generally unhelpful. Individuals no longer learn how to evaluate and critique information and often have a hard time deciding what information is important. Hipps describes this plethora of information alone as "strength without coordination" (71). Individuals today may have a great deal of information, but often don't know what to do with it--especially our younger generations. While our younger generations know how to access INFORMATION, they need help with the dissemination, critique, and application part. The Church should see this as a great opportunity to encourage inter generational events and conversations, because our older generations DO possess the wisdom so desperately needed by our children, youth, young adults, and, even by fellow middle-aged and senior citizens.