Does Technology Impact Our Ability To Think And Contemplate Deeply?

This might seem like an anti-technology/anti-internet rant. It is not. I like technology and I like the internet. I recognize the internet as a communication tool and because of that I understand it to be fairly neutral. Like all communication tools it can be utilized in good ways or bad ways.

However, one of the downsides of the internet is that we tend to receive information on the internet in ways that are very superficial. Frankly, this is intentional. In order to get and keep people’s attention online most of the savvy and successful information purveyors realize they have to present the data in chunks that are quick, catchy and entertaining. (I was concerned this post may be too lengthy for a blog post. Ironic, huh?)

This shallow approach to the presentation of info is not bad except more and more of us are getting large amounts of our information—perhaps all of our information—online these days. As this happens there are smart, observant thinkers who are concerned this may negatively impact our willingness and our capacity to think and engage in deep ways, intellectually.

Nicholas Carr is a respected writer on technology and its impact on our lives. He wrote this about his own experience: “What the Net seems to be doing is chipping away at my capacity for concentration and contemplation. Whether I’m online or not, my mind now expects to take in information the way the Net distributes it: in a swiftly moving stream of particles. Once I was a scuba diver in the sea of words. Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a Jet Ski.”

Again, this is not an anti-internet rant, however, it is a word of caution to followers of Christ. Followers of Jesus are called to contemplate the important issues of life, including God and our relationship with Him. We are called to think deeply.

Jesus addressed these matters when He told us to love God with our minds. (See Luke 10:27)

I am not trying to run anyone else’s life, however, I am humbly suggesting that those of us who are serious about being people of substance (loving God with our minds) may want to make sure we unplug, pick up an actual book from time to time, and continue to set aside time for pondering thoughtful questions and contemplating the important issues of life.