I have come to the conclusion that as our society advances technologically, we decrease in intelligence. We may have vast amounts of information at our fingertips, but our minds have become mush in the process. Here’s a story that confirms my theory:I was looking to buy a cell phone the other day. Being the new pastor, I figured I should finally enter the 21st century, break down and get a cell phone so that people could get in touch with me whenever I’m not in the office. When I told a salesman that I was a minister and new to the area, he jumped into his extensive pitch about me needing a combination pda/high-speed internet browser/turn-by-turn voice navigation/cell phone/etc…thingy, and it would only cost a small fortune. He told me that it would literally save me hours everyday, and this is important since a minister’s time is so valuable. I must admit that the phone was pretty cool, but he never really had me convinced (mainly because I’m so cheap!).
But if my frugality didn’t fully convince me not to take the technological plunge, the end of our conversation solidified my decision. I was looking for a few things for my guitar, so I asked the salesman if there were any music stores nearby. He told me that he played guitar in his spare time and that the best place to get what I needed was online at www.musiciansfriend.com. I knew I wasn’t going to remember that, so he said he’d write it down for me. He started to write, and I could tell he was struggling. He said, “please forgive my poor spelling,” and handed me the paper. It read “musistians frend.com” Apparently he doesn’t do much reading or writing in the countless hours that his cell phone saves him each week. I immediately went and got the cheapest/simplest phone I could find!
8 comments:
I certainly think that having technology is not a highly reliable mark of intelligence. I'd rather send my kids to a school that spends more money getting and retaining good teachers than on high speed internet. (But, alas, this is not the way of the world and not the way to attract most students.)
Furthermore, we'd be hard pressed to find anyone alive with quicker wits than Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, or Newton. Technology doesn't give us sharp minds.
Still, wouldn't you admit that on the whole we're smarter today than a few hundred years ago because of technology? Because of technology in food and medicine, we can live longer, and thus learn more and pass on better ideas than our predecessors. The printing press has made available books to everyone. Etc.
I wonder too if there are people today that because of technology know more than Newton or Aristotle even though IF Newton or Aristotle were alive today they would know even more than that.
OH MY GOSH! I literally laughed out loud at this one, Tristan.
By the way, it's good to see you back online. My happiness over your (limited) return to cyberspace is presently overriding my disdain for your assessment that those who are up-to-date with modern technology are somehow dumber than the rest of us. (How's that for putting words in your mouth?) En anee caise, i'ts goode toe cee yoi back. I hoope all gowes wel in the stat up norf.
Duns,
Yeah, your right that some technologies have certainly increased the world's overall knowledge. The printing press and modern medicine are great examples. However, I really do think that other technologies eliminate much of the hard work of learning and decrease the need to retain much knowledge.
I don't know, perhaps our knowledge of how to use technology has simply taken priority over other types of knowledge. We now know how to use computers, televisions, etc... but our language and logic skills have been neglected.
Sean,
I decided comment once to save time (the whole dialup thing). Thanks for your suggestion about reading the Kinlaw book. I started reading it a couple of days ago. It's been really helpful/encouraging. I plan on swinging by your site later, to see what you've been up to.
Later,
Tristan
Congratulations! You now have 5 people reading your blog--since you told us that you have one finally. Cheers! Jenny T.
Jenny,
Glad you're on board! Hope all is well up north.
Hey this is completely off the subject. I think you said that you were reading or had read some N.T. Wright. Well I was looking at some link about "The New Paul" and wondered if you or any of your friends knew anything about that. That would be a cool post, if so. (To which you might be thinking--"Get your own darn blog!" Fair enough).
Duns,
Yes, I've read some and like N.T. Wright, but no I haven't read his stuff on Paul. I heard a few of the biblical scholars mention the "search for the historical Paul," but I don't know much about it.
As far as getting your own blog, if you were interested, you could contribute to this one if you wanted to. I've been so busy lately, posting hasn't been high on my priority list. If you posted once or twice a week, it might help those long periods of silence that I tend to have. I'll show you how to do it and update everything if you're interested. Let me know.
That's PRICELESS!
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