By David Phillips
Technology. What did we ever do without it? I’ll be the first to admit that I depend upon it incessantly, and would be very foolish indeed if I refused to acknowledge all the benefits it has brought into my life. It would be difficult indeed to think of a field of endeavor that has not been helped, made faster or in some way streamlined by advances in technology. From widgets to warfare, no matter what we’re into, there’s probably an app for our handheld device that will make it easier to accomplish. But is this really making life better, in all respects? I’m not about to throw mine away, but in the interest of seeing the whole big picture, consider some of the DISADVANTAGES that I believe can be associated with our smart phones and handheld devices. And I’ll freely admit that the following words are directed as much to me as to you. To put it another way, I’m writing not as an innocent bystander, but as a guilty party.
- The art of conversation is dying. Thanks to texting, we’re learning a whole new language, in
abbreviations, word representations that fly off our fingertips with only a sub-conscious (at best) prompting from our brain. LOL, LY2, A2D, NBD, IOW, BTA. While some of us could definitely stand a dose of conciseness with our speaking, this takes “boiling it down” to a whole new level. In the interest of speed and convenience, we no longer need thoughtful, carefully prepared sentences. - Good manners are dissolving. Thanks to texting, messaging and email, we can barge right into anybody’s time without warning, and without fear of appearing rude or brash. We’ve even learned how to discreetly carry on “under the table” conversations with others in the same room, while something else has everyone’s full attention (but ours). I’m told some of our youth even do it in Sunday School classes. But no wonder, they’ve learned it from watching adults, during the sermon.
- Self-restraint is shrinking. Thanks to the insulation provided by electronic communication, many are no longer hesitant to criticize, insult, condemn and otherwise offend others in a way that would never occur in a face-to-face encounter. Some have even laid aside all discretion and revealed (in both words and pictures) things that would be better kept covered up. It seems that we are in an uphill battle against sins that are more prevalent now in a climate of diminishing self-control.
- We’re not as familiar with the Bible. I probably worry too much about the obsolescence of books. To a certain extent, I resent the intrusion of those electronic books that seem to be taking the place of those old volumes that used to fill our bookshelves. But in reality, if you are using an electronic version of the Bible as your sole volume, you are missing out on the value of making notations, underlining and just the pure familiarity of the terrain” of the scriptures. Sure, those search capabilities are unbelievably fast and efficient, but like hand-held calculators of the 1970’s they are making laziness a characteristic of the modern-day scholar.
You want to see just how technologically inclined humans are becoming these days? Just hand a two-year-old your smart phone, and watch what all they can figure out how to do in mere seconds. In its proper place, technology is a great tool, but it will forever be a terrible master