A Christian Definition of Technology
In: Quotes
- Words: 306
- Sentences: 16
- Grade level: 12.0-15.5
- Read time: ~1.5 min @ 200WPM
In my reading, I have not come across many attempts to define technology from a distinctly Christian perspective. Recently however, I found a definition that seems rather useful which comes from a 1986 publication called Responsible Technology from the Calvin Center for Christian Scholarship at Calvin College:
We can define technology as a distinct human cultural activity in which human beings exercise freedom and responsibility in response to God by forming and transforming the natural creation, with the aid of tools and procedures, for practical ends and purposes. (Monsma, Stephen V. (ed.) Responsible Technology, 1986, p. 19)
Corporate Sin: We Wanted BP to Cut Corners
- Words: 408
- Sentences: 17
- Grade level: 9.9-13.3
- Read time: ~2.0 min @ 200WPM
Jack and BP
Every day we are bombarded with images of the horrific damage the BP oil spill is doing to the Gulf Coast region. When we see these pictures, we love to express our hatred of BP and demand that they pay for what they’ve done. We’re so mad that we get mad when the President doesn’t get mad enough. For the next decade or so, we’ll be demanding justice be served for BP’s sins.
And yet, I think our views about the oil and gas industry are not unlike what Jack Nicholson’s character expresses in the movie A Few Good Men. If only the government hearing on BP could have gone like this:
Steve Jobs: Tablets to PCs are like Cars to Trucks
- Words: 295
- Sentences: 21
- Grade level: 7.2-10.2
- Read time: ~1.5 min @ 200WPM
Source: Macrumors
At this week’s D8 conference, Steve Jobs made an interesting comment regarding the coming shift from PCs to tablet computing.
When we were an agrarian nation, all cars were trucks because that’s what you needed on the farms. But cars eventually became more prevalent is people moved to cities. PCs will be like trucks…they are still going to be around, but there is a transformation coming, and it will make some people uneasy. Is it the iPad? Who knows? Will it be next year or five years from now? (macrumors)
Interestingly, it seems that the truck made agrarian life obsolete, but in doing so it also made itself less needed. The truck allowed people to make the transition from rural to urban life, but that shift also meant they no longer needed their trucks (except in Texas of course, where we all need trucks.) Read the rest of this entry »
Are Chapter and Verse Numbers Making Us Stupid?
In: Books and Texts
- Words: 903
- Sentences: 52
- Grade level: 8.2-11.2
- Read time: ~4.5 min @ 200WPM
Nicholas Carr’s new book The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brain has not officially been released, but snippets of Carr’s ideas are showing up around the web, and they are worth talking about.
If you’re not familiar with Carr, he created quite a stir back in 2007 when he asked the question “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” in an article in the Atlantic. Since then he’s spent a good deal of time collecting research into how using the Internet – from twitter to blogs to wikipedia to video – changes the way our brain works.
Mental Adaptation
The major premise of Carr’s work is that brain adapts to repetitive actions just like a muscle. If you go jogging frequently, your leg muscles lengthen and elongate. If you lift heavy weight over and over, your muscles get bigger and more dense.
Theoretically, when you do certain mental tasks (reading, memorizing, etc.) your mind also adapts. If you read a lot of books, your ability to grasp large concepts tends to improve as does your vocabulary. If you read a lot of tweets, your ability to consume lots and lots of small sentences increases.
But each new task brings with it a set of trade offs. Just as marathon runners can’t bench 300 pounds, and dead lifters can’t run marathons, literature professors don’t tend to enjoy reading 1000s of tweets, and twitter junkies don’t have usually have Dostoevsky next to their iPhone. Read the rest of this entry »
A Conversation with Matt Anderson
- Words: 60
- Sentences: 5
- Grade level: 9.0-12.8
- Read time: ~0.3 min @ 200WPM
Matt Anderson (of MereOrthodoxy.com and EvangelicalOutpost.com) had a little conversation about the theology of technology, and Matt has posted the conversation on his blog.
If you’re interested in listening, check out the latest episode of “The Dispatch” where Matt gives me a over-the-top kind introduction. If you do give it a lesson, let me know what you think.
Information Needs a Compass, Not a Clock
- Words: 102
- Sentences: 4
- Grade level: 11.8-14.1
- Read time: ~0.5 min @ 200WPM
For the March/April issue of COLLIDE Magazine, I wrote an article called “Information Needs a Compass, Not a Clock.”
The thesis is that too often we value information on the basis of how new it is rather than on its capacity to shape our souls for good. We have dozens of ways to access “real time” information, but in reality there are very few cases (other than entertainment) where real time data is truly helpful. In other words,
Even firemen only use fire hoses when it’s really, really necessary.
Go check it out: Information Needs a Compass, Not a Clock
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About this blog
I'm John Dyer a web developer working on sites like Best Commentaries, Bible Web App, Dallas Seminary. I'm also a seminary graduate and teacher at Irving Bible Church.
This blog is about the the role of technology in the redemptive movement from the Garden to the City. I believe technology is an amazing testament to the creativity embedded in the imago dei, but instead of assuming technology is always a neutral tool, I believe it - like culture in general - profoundly influences us.
Upcoming Posts
- What Are They Advertising?
- Jesus, James, and McLuhan On the Heart, the Tongue, and the Internet
- A Definition of Technology
- The Cornwall Alliance: Technological Theory at Work
- Reading and Publishing and Publishing and Reading
- Learning from Buber: I-Thou and I-It
- Prepackaged Communion and Albert Borgmann’s Device Paradigm
- Technology is Kinda Like Money
- Approaching Technology like We Approach Money
Categories
- Bible and Theology (14)
- Books and Texts (17)
- Code Commentary (4)
- Media Ecology Experiments (7)
- Our Technological World (39)
- Quotes (10)
- Spiritual Formation (9)
- Tools for Tech Thinking (17)
- Uncategorized (8)
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- The 10 Commandments: Where the Medium Was the Message
- Location, location, location
- ECHO Conference and MediaElement.js
- Around the Web
- Technicism and the World Cup
- Around the Web
- A Christian Definition of Technology
- Corporate Sin: We Wanted BP to Cut Corners
- Steve Jobs: Tablets to PCs are like Cars to Trucks
- Are Chapter and Verse Numbers Making Us Stupid?
