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Technological Imperatives: Do This and Live

All technology is equivalent to a conditional command, for it is not possible to define a technology without acknowledging, at least at second hand, the advantages which technical operations might reasonably pursue…A technology must…declare itself in favour of a definite set of advantages, and tell people what to do in order to secure them.

– Michael Polanyi, Personal Knowledge, p. 176

All technology is, well, technical; as such it demands technique. It offers promises and delivers implicit imperatives. In our cultural and historical setting, the issue becomes this: since technology offers promises that can only be received through obedience (i.e. push the lever and out comes the food pellet, or use this and become cool and popular), the question becomes, Who is the master in this scenario? Are we using technological tools, are they using us, or is someone using us through them?

Do not think for a moment that silicon valley, or Hollywood, or Washington D.C. is blind to this. The problem is that we are often blind to it ourselves. Take care that while you give your iPhone commands that it is not actually commanding you. If it is saying ‘Do this and live,’ then be certain it cannot deliver on its promises. When Google says ‘Do this and find resources on so and so subject,’ that is entirely reasonable, and even wonderful. When it says it will help you live forever, it has gone into a whole other realm.

For some food for thought on this issue, watch PBS Frontline‘s The Persuaders and Generation Like. And while you’re at it, see if you can see the implicit call to idolatry, as a case in point, of this commercial:

Don’t Believe In Anything That Can’t Be Told In Coloured Pictures (Chesterton)

G.K. Chesterton wrote these words in a Randolph Caldecott picture-book he gave to a child:

You will not understand a word
Of all the words, including mine;
Never you trouble; you can see,
And all directness is divine—
Stand up and keep your childishness:
Read all the pedants’ screeds and strictures;
But don’t believe in anything
That can’t be told in coloured pictures.

A former teacher (and pastor) of mine regularly uses the last four lines of this poem as he introduces the Book of Revelation. (He also does a good job of tying a ringing cell-phone into his sermon!).

Wilson on Scientism

This is an old post, but someone brought to my attention that the link was broken. I am updating it with the video embedded. I’ve listened to the talk several times now and it is one of the best talks on C.S. Lewis, Scientism, and culture in general that I have ever heard.

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I’ve written a bit on Scientism on the blog. N.D. Wilson’s talk on Scientism at the Desiring God conference on C.S. Lewis is excellent. I am going to have to listen to it a few times to mull it over. Until then, you can watch or listen to it HERE. Note: Link is dead

Which is it: ‘Physician, Heal Thyself’ or ‘It is Finished’?

I’m subscribed to the YouTube channel of Redeemer Presbyterian Church’s (New York) Center for Faith and Work. That being the case, I generally watch the new videos that pop up from time to time. This one is probably the best I’ve seen. A young doctor gives a testimony to the difficulties of life as a physician, and the hope that the gospel brings in the midst of those difficulties. It is entitled ‘Humanizing Medicine.’

One of the great dangers of our fast-paced, technological society, is that we are prone to forget that people are people – that the person standing beside you, or driving in the other lane, or looking you in the eye – is a human. It is so easy to get trapped in one’s own mind, troubles, entertainments, and even dreams. This short video speaks to those types of realities very powerfully. I only share it because I found it to be the most moving talk I have heard in a while. In fact, it may be the best short presentation I’ve ever heard. It’s only 10 minutes long (all the more reason to listen to it). Make sure to watch to the very end, you won’t regret it:

It’s Like…You Know…Okay?

This post has been sitting in the ‘drafts’ for a while, but tonight I actually saw a video shared on Facebook that makes the point much more strongly than I was orgininally able to.

A portion of a sermon by Martyn Lloyd-Jones (on Ephesians 6:15, ‘feet shod’) got the ball rolling on this line of thought:

Have you a definite position? Are you prepared to stand in it, and say, ‘I will never yield, I will never move from this?’ The moment you begin to compromise on this Word of God you will soon be slipping and sliding both in doctrine and in practice. Some people are constantly contradicting themselves; they praise the Protestant and the Nonconformist Fathers in the first half of their address or article; then criticize them in the second half. That is not ‘standing’; that is sliding. They do not know where they are, and no-one else knows.

As the Apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians 1:19, the Gospel of Christ is not yea and nay at one and the same time. That is true of politics, of ecclesiasticism, of ‘the world’; but it is not true of Christ.

I recently listened to a Mars Hill Audio anthology on the subject of ‘words.’ An author, who was being interviewed, made the point that she theorizes the common American usage of the term ‘like’ as a conversation filler has more to it than meets the eye (or ear in this case). Like is a term of equivocation. It is the language, obviously, of ‘likening.’

Jesus uses such language when he likens the kingdom of God to certain stories or things. The kingdom of God is like a man in search of costly pearls, etc. But Jesus used the term ‘like’ in order to convey ideas and concepts in concrete terms. He actually wants us to know what the kingdom is like in terms that we can understand and relate to.

I am afraid it is not so with many modern Americans. Perhaps the word simply slips out as an unconscious filler in the midst of brain lags. Perhaps not. Perhaps we have been trained, unlike Jesus, to never say things concretely, but to equivocate and make our language as ambiguous as possible so as not to offend or contradict anyone else. Rather than standing in their speech they are sliding.

Here’s a clip from Def Poetry Jam that says it more clearly than I have been able to. I don’t know who the man is yet, but I appreciate his articulation of the idea: