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Technologies (And People) Tend To Produce Their Opposites (Living Into Focus)

The simple fact, as philosopher Albert Bormann reminds us, is ‘that people regularly make choices that are counterproductive to the happiness they want’…

Something’s not working. ‘Labor-saving’ devices make us busier. The faster computers go, the more time we give to them. As highways and cars improve, we drive farther and vehicles become increasingly expensive. Email speeds up communications but eats up greater amounts of time. With the ongoing invention of ‘essential’ devices (even energy-efficient ones), we consume growing quantities of power. I don’t know about your house, but we have power strips in numerous rooms; wall outlets no longer suffice…

Gregg Easterbrook convincingly shows that ‘society is undergoing a fundamental shift from ‘material want’ to ‘meaning want,’ with ever larger numbers of people reasonably secure in terms of living standards, but feeling they lack significance in their lives.

-Arthur Boers, Living Into Focus, pp. xvii, xix, xxi

Brian put these quotes together. “Something’s not working” is right.

I often quote Martyn Lloyd-Jones (who was quoting someone else), who often said that ‘every institution tends to produce its opposite.’

Boers is not talking about institutions per se. He is talking about people and their devices. But people and devices do tend to produce the opposite of what they intend. This is a theme that Boers will return to, and I am sure we will as well. Here’s an example:

Communication devices were supposed to bring us closer to family by allowing us to work at home; instead, they often detract from time and attention for spouses and children. Computers and cybercommunication were going to help us become paperless, but we consume growing quantities of paper…While computers and online connections get faster, the time we spend on them keeps going up. The better we are at responding to email, the more we are inundated by it. While it gets easier to assemble meals and food becomes convenient, our society shows greater problems with obesity (p. 70).

This is the case in virtually every realm of life. Sin has so turned things upside down that we often get the opposite of what we want. The question, then, becomes, how do we respond to this fact? My only answer is that we must be constantly checking and re-checking; constantly taking inventory. I think that many modern folk understand this. That’s why ‘vision’ and ‘goals’ and ‘instructional design’ have become so firmly entrenched in our vocabularies. But we are not talking about business models here. We are talking about life.

But, as I run the risk of sounding like I want to professionalize life, I think it is absolutely essential that we question our motives in virtually everything. Why do I need the new iPhone? Why do I need to get fast food today? Why do I need to check my email right now? If the answer is simply ‘to save time,’ then we need to ask ourselves if we are really saving time; and if we are, where is that time going? Is my ‘save time’ going into other actions that are also done for the sake of saving time? Am I so busy saving time that I don’t actually have any time left? Has my ‘saving time’ actually become its opposite?

So, here’s my bottom line: take the time to ask yourself what the opposite of your goal or purpose is, ask yourself how your pursuit of that purpose could lead to that opposite, and take inventory regularly to see if you are veering toward that opposite.

0 comments

    • Heath says:

      I don’t have a problem with video games in and of themselves. I would say that in some sense they are not different than watching TV. If you want to play games in your spare time, I wouldn’t have a problem with it.

      The main thing – and I know you know this – is that some games have content that is problematic (morally speaking) and it can also be very time consuming.

      As with most things, I would say that moderation is the key. If you can get by without playing – then don’t play. But don’t feel like God is going to be angry with you if you play games from time to time. So long as you are not violating God’s Law, (as Augustine says) Delight in the Lord and do as you please.

    • Heath says:

      Let me say a couple more things just to keep you thinking:
      1) if your conscience is uneasy about a game, don’t play it.
      2) ask yourself why you’re playing. If it’s simply for entertainment, then ask yourself what the opposite of entertainment is; then make sure you don’t head that direction. I don’t want to come across as if I’m saying, “Go play video games!” That’s not my point. My point is that I think they are permissible, not that we should necessarily encourage them.

    • Heath says:

      Austin,
      I keep thinking of things to say. Do you remember reading C.S. Lewis (he said it in so many different places) say something to the effect that anything that gets our minds off ourselves is good? Anything we truly enjoy can aid us on the road to self-forgetfulness, which is a part of humility.
      Do video games do that for you? That’s another question I’d ask. Or put it this way: do they make you more self-centered or less, more selfish or less, more self-mindful or less?

  3. Austin says:

    Thanks for the comments. I’m able to go without them and do well with other forms of entertainment which in fact are more productive in more than one sense. Reading, exercising and writing are all entertainments or at least can
    be.

    The opposite of entertainment is boredom, fatigue, and work. Those are some antonyms. The interesting thing is that since I became a christian I’m never really bored or in the need of a really “stimulating source of entertainment”. Don’t get me wrong,.video games are.fun and can be exhilarating but are they all the edifying?

    I asked this question to myself and answer it before you.

    Before I ever knew anything about Jesus Christ , I would spend many many hours playing games like World of Warcraft and Call of Duty but I didn’t get any fruit out of it towards my character. I eventually sold all my game systems and devoted my self to reading.

    Reading has been a good source of getting out of my self and getting into a story ( my life is like a story and so is everybody’s).

    Anyway, the main reason I asked the question is for my own “inventory” to see where I’m at with things. Like if I’m reaching certain goals or a vision I have put in front of me. Video games are really enjoyable but I only have so much time on this earth and my mind and spiritual growth (also body) won’t develope on its own.

    There’s more that could be said.

    Also, I’ve been reading the puritan theology book by Joel beetle and my hunger for Christ-centered reading is being satisfied with them…with the Bible of.course.

    I read Magic City (the book you posted about) and that was a source of entertainment beyond words.

    Please post more books that you would recommend.

    Thanks

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