Hit me.

July 20, 2007 · Technological Enervation, society, technology · 2 comments

You may or may not be a fan of Chuck Colson, but in his 18 July 2007 Breakpoint Commentary, Gorging On Politics, he makes a number of points regarding the flaw of the Information Age, the need to CREATE information to maintain flow and interest. He mentions Jacques Ellul’s book, The Political Illusion, which predicted this very thing. Colson’s Point?

But the real evil of the illusion is that it distracts us from other aspects of life.

Nicholas Carr is quoted saying that people are changing the way, and need, to remember things, because the majority of it is available on the internet. He also mentions that this means that “cultural baggage” (whether for good or bad), is being left behind as well. Of course, that also means long views and perspectives, something the Western World is already trying to leave behind at light speed.

Where ARE we going? Perhaps we ought to think about that. And that leads me to what I am finding out about myself. I love technology, but I’m really becoming confronted with what it is doing to me, my children, my country, everyone. At one point, Technological Enervation was going to be just a phrase, but now I’m changing it to a zeitgeist. This is the spirit of the age. Yay.

footnoteIn case you’re wondering the reason for the title name, it is from Johnny Mnemonic (an okay Keanu Reeves movie), where a guy has rewired part of his brain to allow him to carry data. He says, “Hit me,” right before more information is uploaded into his brain than it is wired to tolerate (thus we get the whole, “I’m gonna die,” suspense for the movie). And I’m sure at least one other person out there saw this movie, it’s not just me (I hope). The really funny part, is that the plot of the movie is about information overload.

Technological Enervation defined, I think

July 16, 2007 · Technological Enervation · 2 comments

I’ve almost gotten the definition I’ve been looking for. Tell me what you think.

tech·no·log·i·cal en·er·va·tion [tek-nuh-loj-i-kuhl i-nur-vi-shuhn]

The process whereby human interaction is negatively affected by technology, creating disconnection, alienation, malaise, and depression, and attempts to create relationships damaged or non-existent due to technology using technology (vicious cycle)

And the Atheists Don’t have it

July 9, 2007 · Technological Enervation, faith, society · 2 comments

In his column, Why Are Atheist Books Best Sellers?, Dennis Prager gets a lot of it right, but I think there is something else going on.

In our Technological Enervation and secular arrogance, I believe people without faith are jealous of ones who do have it. We with faith have an anchor in life outside of ourselves. I believe that the reason that atheist books (including, “The Secret”) are successful is that they provide (dead) comfort to people who feel the emptiness in their souls for which they have no answer, and are afraid (or angry) that those with faith have an answer.

I am not saying that Muslim extremists (or Islamacists) necessarily have a deep faith either. I would almost suspect that it is an attempt to quell that very emptiness that the atheists have. I don’t know, and I won’t know until I can talk to God in Heaven. I know that my human conditioning often puts too many barriers to my understanding of God’s creation. Mercifully, He gave us his Word. Read it daily in love.

Come see my website…wait…I mean my video…

July 9, 2007 · Technological Enervation, faith, love, society, technology · Comments Off

In her article,
Hey There, Lonelygirl15 – Prison Fellowship, Dr. Stephanie Bennett has an interesting view of the vlog phenomenon, and what it means about our needs for relationships.

Silence Versus Distraction

June 30, 2007 · Technological Enervation, faith, love, society, technology · Comments Off

In here, Mr. Garibaldi, you cannot hide from yourself. Everything out there has only one purpose, to distract us from ourselves, from what is truly important. There are no distractions in here. You can learn much from silence.

Citizen G’kar
“Messages From Earth”
Babylon 5, Season 3

Have you ever heard, “We’re too busy”? Have you said it yourself? Through God’s creation, we have been blessed with many things. Satan (yes, I believe he exists) takes those wonderful things, and corrupts them, and that’s what this post is about.

The one thing I like about Science Fiction is the way questions can be asked without being threatening, but still be thought provoking. The quote above from Babylon 5 (Wikipedia entry), is one of those. Cellphones, wireless networks, Blackberrys, and now iPhones surround us. Constant noise. Think about casinos. They are engineered to be the noisy places they are: to distract.

As life has caught up with me, I no longer have the time I probably need for solitude. I might very well be less for it. With 3 kids, a cat, a dog, and way too much technology to play with, I’m at that point where I am afraid of solitude.

About the only time I get it is very early in the morning a couple of times a week. I can focus on silence and God. That time of solitude, though little, and relatively rare, I think keep me from completely snapping at times. As we become more distracted, we reach out in less tangible ways. I look at MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and other such sites (I’m guilty of this too, as you can see to the left) and see people aching to connect.

People say they are more connected now, but are they really? Kids are text messaging their parents into the poorhouse. They are text about inane things. Are they really connected to each other? Really?

My wife and I had one of those really deep discussions the other night, discussing friendship. We talked about people we know who have lots of friends. Neither of us do, but then, we need our friendships to be deep ones. Really deep.

Adults who aren’t living children’s lives say that kids these days have just as meaningful relationships as people did a generation or two ago. Hmmm, so if my “friends” keep updating me via Twitter on what they’re doing, that’s connected. I think that says more about the adults making the statement than the kids.

So what’s this about Satan, again? While the first liar has been perfecting his art for a long time. A very long time. We need these things, this (albeit very cool) electronic stuff, to keep in contact with each other. No, what we need is to take a deep breath and connect.

I’ve heard many folks saying that the “Old World” has it right. People spend hours in the café talking with each other. There is a lot of truth in that, however, there is a lot of sloth in the rest as well. There has to be a balance between the hyperactive (and thus shallow) interactions, and the long (slothful) interactions. Both have their place, but like all things, they can go too far.

Culture. What purpose have you?

June 28, 2007 · Technological Enervation, society, technology · Comments Off

I believe Thomas Sowell is one of those people that brings great insight in regards to the human condition. In his commentary, Cultural Heritages, he talks about what is a fundamental flaw of certain people’s perception of culture. His particular example, the Navajo, is only one of may that can used, if one looks around. The part that he doesn’t mention is that culture is fragmenting and changing to such a degree, a lot of that based on technology (both computers and transportation, which I have mentioned previously), that trying to create an “ideal” culture (such as “Navajo Culture” in this example) is, I think, a coping mechanism. We need connections, and with a significant portion of the population commuting and separated from family, by hundreds and thousands of miles, I think his example is only the tip of the iceberg.

Happy International Weblogger’s Day

June 14, 2007 · Technological Enervation, society · Comments Off

Today is set aside to recognize those who blog (such as yours truly, of course)

hat tip to:The Geekend@TechRepublic.com

Moving Forward In Context

June 8, 2007 · Technological Enervation, society · Comments Off

There has been a buzz lately (maybe only from my limited perspective), about how many people are going to the older Christian traditions, leaving the “in style”, “contemporary”, worship modes. I’ve gotten to the point that the “modern” forms of worship no longer bother me as they used, at least in the same way. On the other hand, there is something to be said about tradition.

Americans have a “melting-pot” mentality, which works in many ways towards the success of the country, but can often fail the individual. We are made for connections. I believe much of the popularity of facebook and myspace, and all the others, is a need for connection. Much of what used to bring us this connection is families (usually in rural or agricultural settings) were not separated by many physical miles. As transportation methods changed, families began to spread out. I think my generation is the last one that, on the whole, will not be too negatively affected by this spreading out.

The current generation, the “myspace/facebook” generation is another story, however. My family, despite the separation, at least had the emotional connection that provided a basic connection. However, as my generation has children, I’m not convinced that the connections strained during our parents generation, will survive my generation, and it is my belief that is why these websites are so popular, they are an attempt to create connections that they cannot build at home (and this has nothing to do with the parent-child relationship).

I believe that the ramification in regards to the traditional liturgical churched, is that people are flocking (bad pun, sorry) to these churches is that they provide a different needed connection, a link to the past. However, as far as the Christian church is concerned, I believe there is something else here.

Looking around (hey, even on my blog), the divisions that are blossoming among the denominations are based on basic beliefs that haven’t been in question until the 20th and 21st centuries. I wouldn’t be surprised, in fact I believe, that this is because the basics are no longer taught.

Also, as I experienced during my time in the ELCA (a Lutheran denomination), I experienced the mentality of “they do it, so we won’t”, not for any theological reason, but because the did it. Sadly, because many of the denominations don’t do something because the Roman Catholics do it, like one that I’ve been thinking about recently, kneeling while praying during communal prayer.

As disjointed as this whole post is, it all revolves around connections, connections with each other, and connections with our past. We need them, we need to deliberately plan them.

List of Relevant Articles (The list of articles will be added to as I find more, or find the original ones that brought it to my attention)

Look At All the Depressed People

January 24, 2007 · Technological Enervation, depression, faith, society · Comments Off

If you look around at the stories that are there, you will see an increase in depression, an increase in suicide. As technology integrates further into our lives, I wonder how much more will happen.

As much as the mainstream media and those of the ideoloigical left and extreme right like to malign religion, I truly believe that faith, especially faith in Jesus Christ,  will continue to be the ballwark defending the human psyche from the madness of its own creations.

The Catholic Church of Scotland has begun stating its concerns, and I hope churches around the world start paying attention to something I feel will be a major concern very soon.

New Terminology: Technological Enervation

January 21, 2007 · Technological Enervation, business, depression, ethics and morals, faith, life hack, love, politics, society, technology · Comments Off

I’ve decided that I needed to come up with a new phrase to describe the issues I see with technology and its effect upon people, and by default, society. I’m not sure how to even define it, yet.

I’ve gone back and tagged/categorized older articles, in addition to newer articles as they come up.

In a way, this is a zeitgeist, that seeks to gather together the peculiar afflictions of technology, from my point of view.

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