Dancing With Wisdom

Podcast #036: Virtually Human

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Technology is now such a fundamental part of our lives that we so often take it completely for granted. From the moment we wake up to to check our clocks, or more likely our smartphones, to then often seamlessly go onto the Internet, social media and email, we hardly give a moment’s thought to the incredible power we have available to us. Today’s teenagers have never known a time when the Internet was not there. But how do we navigate with discernment and wisdom through the vast plethora of information and choices technology makes available to us?

https://youtu.be/-6XhxXjX-tw

Someone who has given a lot of thought to this is Pete Nicholas, who with co-author Ed Brooks, has written about the impact of technology on our lives in their book Virtually Human. The short 1 minute video above gives an introduction to the book.

Do come and join Pete Nicholas and I on this podcast as we discuss the implications of technology on our lives.

In particular on this podcast we explore how:

  • While technologies hold awesome potential for good, when we engage unthinkingly with the online world , there is a danger we become increasingly like the technologies we use, relating and thinking without human connection.
  • Technology should cause us to think about what does it actually mean to be human and how technology is changing us.
  • What do we actually mean by technology? Why technology is not a neutral tool but actually a frame through which we see the world that in turn then becomes the world in which we live.
  • We like to think we are in control of technology and creating a bold new future for ourselves of never ending progress. That is far too simplistic, or as C. S. Lewis put it:

    • “Progress means getting nearer to the place you want to be. And if you have taken a wrong turning, then to go forward does not get you any nearer. If you are on the wrong road, progress means doing an about turn and walking back to the right road; and in that case the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive man.”

    • How we need to both affirm the good that technology provides us while at the same time being realistic about its limitations in changing basic human nature. We may have smart phones with amazing potential, but we are still the same greedy, self-centred and self-absorbed human beings we have always been.
    • What does the Biblical narrative have to say about how fulfilling the hope technology seeks to give us really comes from challenging and redeeming the failures and problems technology causes?

      • But perhaps most surprisingly and most importantly of all discussing technology is really about discussing what does it mean to be human.

      We will carry on our discussion with Pete Nicholas in future podcasts, particularly looking at practical implications of how we handle technology in our challenging and complex world.

      After listening to this podcast you may also find of interest:

      Podcast #017: The Last Taboo Subject?

      Podcast #029: The Literal End Of The World?

      More details on the book are available at the Virtually Human website here.

      What questions and comments does our discussion raise for you?

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      P.S. There is still time to take my reader survey!

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      Dancing With WisdomBy Dr Sunil Raheja