In my defence I knew I was taking a risk but even so, a risk worth taking.
A brand-new operating system was offered by Apple for my Mac desktop last week: Sequioa. I had been having problems with its predecessor, Sonoma, ever since I updated from Ventura. And even though my scientific son-in-law strongly advises against uploading brand new operating systems (“too many bugs”) I naively thought uploading Sequioa would provide the remedy for my computer’s ills.
How wrong I was!
As it happens, my first taste of disaster came as I was finishing last week’s blog. The wheel of death suddenly appeared on my Word document, and I had no choice but to Force Quit, putting at risk my entire blog.
Then my Dropbox facility disappeared. Not that I needed to access any previous files at the time, but it was scary. I felt under personal attack. With my computer not working well, it kind of affects you.
Tragically so much of my life – me – is invested in my Mac. It seemed that one key component of my personhood, what makes me me, was out of action. Clearly I need to take heed of Steve Wozniak’s urgent warning: “Never trust a computer you can't throw out a window.”
But that’s life in the 21st century, how the whole range of digital devices have wormed their way into our lives. We have become entirely dependent on them, even while not fully realising it.
The Columbia University Department of Psychiatry is rightly worried. “The advent of smartphones and social media has brought about significant changes in our society, with profound implications for mental health. Smartphones have transformed the way we communicate, learn, and entertain ourselves.
“However, their omnipresence can lead to compulsive use and a sense of dependency. The constant stream of notifications and updates can create a sense of urgency and a fear of missing out, leading to increased anxiety and stress.”
It’s this sense of dependency which concerns me, in all kinds of everyday ways. I have subcontracted my memory to Dropbox while I avoid doing simple sums in my head. More to the point, in writing this blog my entire reliance on Google. Where would you be without the world’s favourite search engine?
However, such technology is not neutral. It is, to use the jargon, “value-laden”. I have just read in this morning’s edition of Seen&Unseen of the dangers of how the so-called rule of vanilla lets our unfeeling gadgets decide what’s best for us.
To explain, we have become dependent on algorithms, those automated technological processes beyond our understanding and control which largely determine what we see and read. These algorithms on the one hand group us into opposing camps, emphasising our differences: the echo effect.
And at the same time these same algorithms flatten our culture, making the popular even more popular, and the obscure even less visible: the vanilla effect. The Gospel of Jesus is diminished into a small minority interest.
And what is more, these designers of technological objects, this small set of anonymous experts, embed their personal or corporate values into their constructions. They have a huge influence on how we think and whom we listen to.
The danger for we humans made in the image of God is that such is our hubris, our pride, that rather than relying on God, we would rely on our technology, even the work of our own hands. For digital technologies would give the impression that we are in control, that the future is in our hands.
Given time, any problem – it would seem - can be fixed by technology, with even death becoming optional. How about this quote from futurist Thomas Frey? “In the coming years we will find ways to fix human aging, cure diseases, find solutions for deviant behaviours, and even rebuild people after an accident. In short, no person should ever need to die… EVER!”
Here we see only too clearly the presence of sin in our human nature, the inherent bias for our technologies to undermine God’s good creation and our well-being. Think Autonomous Weapons Systems which are beginning to appear in the Ukraine war.
The apostle John observes: “And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil.” (John 3:19)
As Christians alert to the dangers of technology as a whole and digital technologies in particular; we refuse to be taken in by its false promises.
Theologian Nicholas Wolterstorff acknowledges: “Technology does make possible advance toward shalom; progress in mastery of the world can bring shalom nearer.”But he continues: “But the limits of technology must also be acknowledged: technology is entirely incapable of bringing about shalom between ourselves and God, and it is only scarcely capable of bringing about the love of self and neighbour.”
Mind you, this week I needed no convincing of the limits and frailties of computer technology. And so we need to ensure that we do not become too dependent on our varied devices. Technology is to serve us and not the other way around.
To start off with, we decide to use our memories more. Rather than copy and paste a six-digit pass key, we simply remember it. And infinitely more importantly, I have made it my aim rather than to rely on the search function instead to memorise a key Bible verse each day,
Furthermore, we need as physical beings to meet up with our friends and fellow Christians, a casualty of the Covid pandemic. The loneliness caused by digital technologies is now sadly well documented. Facetime is very useful and sometimes a sheer necessity but it’s not the real thing.
“Technology gives us power, but it does not and cannot tell us how to use that power,” writes rabbi Jonathan Sacks. “Thanks to technology, we can instantly communicate across the world, but it still doesn't help us know what to say.”
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