"Why do people choose the substitute over God himself? Probably the most important reason is that it obviates accountability to God. We can meet idols on our own terms because they are our own creations. They are safe, predictable, and controllable; they are, in Jeremiah's colorful language, the 'scarecrows in a cornfield' (10:5). They are portable and completely under the user's control. They offer nothing like the threat of a God who thunders from Sinai and whose providence in this world so often appears to us to be incomprehensible and dangerous . . . [People] need face only themselves. That is the appeal of idolatry."
- David F. Wells
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
This is both uber-cool and a little bit frightening. This is an 8 minute video but well worth watching, especially once you get past the intro. It wouldn't surprise me if we start seeing devices like these soon, although I wouldn't like the part where someone blazons all my information (plus what they think of me) on my sweater while we're talking.
[Hat tip: The Anchoress]
Trackbacks:
Trackback URL: http://thinklings.org/bloo.trackback.php/5300.
Comments on "Wow":
3. Bill
- 03/12/2009 6:41 am CDT
Andrew - yes.
Sharpton - I've got a Computer Science degree and I always find myself split on these things. My inner geek is marveling at the technology and wishing I could work for a company that did really cool stuff like that.
Most of me, though, is a mid-forties guy who remembers vinyl records and rotary phones and wonders if/when all this will stop. We're overloaded with information already. We live in a world where someone can have 1,000 "friends" on a social networking site and still have no one to talk to.
I think, often, that our grandparents had it far better than we do when it comes to human relationships. We're erecting more and more digital walls between ourselves, even as our lines of "communication" expand exponentially.
4. Scott
- 03/12/2009 9:46 am CDT
I don't know about erecting digital walls. Ten years ago before I started blogging/facebooking/podcasting I didn't interact with all that many people. Now I've found kindred spirits locally, nationally and internationally that I have actually developed real relationships with and as often as possible meet with in person.
Can technology like this be annoying/dangerous/problematic? Sure. Any tech can get intrusive and replace real relationship with a tepid mockery, but if you allow that to happen, it's not the tech's fault.
Also considering my grandparents when they were my age couldn't be in good, reliable, quick, inexpensive contact with friends and family I don't think what you said is true.
Also also the people that have 1000s of FB friends, but no one to talk to, wouldn't have had anyone to talk to before FB.
There are risks to any sort of new tech, but we shouldn't ignore the benefits.
5. Andrew
- 03/12/2009 10:47 am CDT
We're erecting more and more digital walls between ourselves, even as our lines of "communication" expand exponentially.
While things have gotten more impersonal, in another sense, we live in a more open society. Someone is more likely to tell you that they're struggling with something or hurting over Facebook or a blog than they are over coffee.
I'm not endorsing that kind of openness, but that's been my experience.
6. Jason_73
- 03/12/2009 11:04 am CDT
"Who knows, in ten years maybe we'll be here with the 6th sense brain implant device..."
And to think what it will be like in 20 years.
Maybe the Amish had it right...?
8. Chestertonian Rambler
- 03/13/2009 8:42 am CDT
I actually find this cool.
Also, I find the internet has, for me, been great at encouraging face-to-face interactions and continuing relationships with people after I've left their town. It has also engendered invaluable personal phone calls, &c.
In some ways, I see FaceBook and similar devices as a technological regression. Before cars made travel convenient, people tended to rely on extended networks of family and friends to get connected in a new town. Now I can find out if someone I haven't seen in five years is in town through a FaceBook message, offer crashspace in the spare bedroom, and at the minimum share a cup of coffee or a lunch. And of course, in a pinch I can do this for friends of close friends, as well.
So once again, travel is something that is more and more social, that involves an increasing amount of human connection.
I'm not saying that technology always works this way, but I *am* saying that it is unpredictable. Often, it's easier to predict the ways technology will disrupt simple things in life than the ways technology will support them.
That said, I've long thought that if I could wear reflective glasses in the classroom that gave me a HUD identifying student names and allowing eye-gestures to indicate class participation (texting, &c.) I'd take it up in a minute. But I'm not sure how much of a gain it would be, even if it meant calling 200 students by their name on day one.
9. Bob Sacamento
- 03/13/2009 9:52 am CDT
Yes, the potential good in some of these technologies is awesome. But what counts is what actually happens with them.
A buddy of mine went back to school for some continuing ed. When we were in college ourselves, the kids would actually, like, talk to each other during the breaks or at the end of class. The kids in the class he was taking, though, all ignored each other and immediately begin checking e-mail, voicemail, Facebook, whatever. He said it was "ghoulish." All the time, I see college and high school age kids out with their friends and, instead of engaging with the people they are with, they are on their cell phones having extended conversations with others. Younger kids don't even talk on the phone anymore. THey text each other because only "weird" people actually talk to each other. Check out "The New Atlantis" web site for discussion on plenty of research that is showing that kids just can't relate anymore.
Yes, the technology we have gives us quick access to others. And that is exactly the kind of access that does not build relationships. And the scary thing is that the youngsters are getting the idea that quick access is the only kind that matters.
10. Les
- 03/13/2009 9:55 am CDT
I don't know. My chief concern is that it seems like you have to lift and move your arms around a lot.
11. Shrode
- 03/13/2009 10:57 am CDT
I think some of what they showed was exagerated. For example, how would the device know you wanted a watch as opposed to camera mode, or look up paper towels? Each time it was already set in the proper mode.
That said, it's only a matter of time before they figure that out.
Brain implants? No. No. No. There's gotta be a Bible verse against that somewhere. If not, I'll make one up.
There's just something that feels so wrong about that.
12. Andrew
- 03/13/2009 11:23 am CDT
All the time, I see college and high school age kids out with their friends and, instead of engaging with the people they are with, they are on their cell phones having extended conversations with others. Younger kids don't even talk on the phone anymore. THey text each other because only "weird" people actually talk to each other. Check out "The New Atlantis" web site for discussion on plenty of research that is showing that kids just can't relate anymore.
I think you're exaggerating my generation's horridness just a tad, but I see your point. Most relationships we form these days are fairly superficial, and I think you could blame the technology for some of that. But it's not like we don't have any kind of meaningful relationship. Almost everyone I know has a few "best friends", and in my experience, that means more than a texting buddy.
Did older generations have more meaningful relationships with each other at that age? Is the superficial, we-know-each-other-casually-but-not-all-that-great really a new thing?
If it makes you feel better, I still like talking on the phone. :-)
13. Why Not
- 03/14/2009 5:53 am CDT
"Did older generations have more meaningful relationships with each other at that age?"
As for me in HS (grad 1961), a couple of guy buddies and 1 significant other I would consider meaningful relationships. These were football buddies and we hung out a lot together. The SO - we could stay on the phone for hours listening to each other breathe without saying hardly anything. But it was very meaningful, at the time. :)
"Is the superficial, we-know-each-other-casually-but-not-all-that-great really a new
thing?"
I believe the answer is "No". It just "looks" different today than in my youth. We didn't have cell phones. We were happy to be able to stand around in a small group even though we didn't say much beyond trivia stuff.
A old guy's opinion.
14. Manders
- 03/15/2009 10:00 pm CDT
I'm getting a degree in information science, so we're looking at all this kind of thing. We're right on the cusp. What was that line in Hamlet? "There are more things in heaven and on earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy." Technology's rising, and I think you're right, it's going to be used for both good and ill.
My main reservation about this kind of thing is that several speakers that I've heard view increasing technology as a form of evolution, as a form of humans becoming more and more powerful. It's a way of becoming Nietzschean overmen, of dominating (instead of having good dominion over) creation. As Christians, how are we to respond to this?
Leave a Comment:
Wow. That's....freaky, really.
Oh, sure, in theory, it sounds nifty.
But she's right about the cost, ease of use, etc. In a few years, these will, if they catch on, be cheap, fashionable, easy to use, and so on. If you don't have one, you'll be "behind the times".
A decade beyond that, we'll be at brain implants.
And, after all, why shouldn't you have all this information ready to access in your brain? It's not like there are any risks.
I guess this just reeks, ultimately, of technology for technology's sake. It's a low-grade form of transhumanism.
Also, someone googling me during a conversation seems rude. But if these things catch on, it'll become normal.
Seriously, how horrible is that? That's right kids, you never have to actually pay attention to another human being again, just the critical info bites about them! Google search while you smile and nod!
...Says the guy who got a technology degree, and (nominally) works in the technology field.