Prophetic voices like Marshall McLuhan and Neil Postman warned us that while we may shape our devices, our devices also shape us.
The commercial is not only amusing; it also rings true—many of us are frequently distracted by our glowing rectangles. Ironically, the commercial was promoting a new smartphone (albeit one that promised to “get you in and out and back to life” quicker). It is understandable that our digital devices are compelling—they instantly connect us to our friends and family, help us navigate roads and cities, and provide news and entertainment. Digital technology has brought blessings for education and medicine, and it has helped spread the gospel message to the ends of the earth. But many decades ago prophetic voices like Marshall McLuhan and Neil Postman warned us that while we may shape our devices, our devices also shape us. Nicholas Carr, in his provocatively titled 2008 article “Is Google Making Us Stupid?,” observes that the internet “is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation. My mind now expects to take in information the way the Net distributes it: in a swiftly moving stream of particles.” He laments, “Once I was a scuba diver in the sea of words. Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a Jet Ski.” More recent research in neural science has demonstrated that our brains remain malleable and change in response to the things we do. Our technological activities gradually shape and sculpt our brains in particular ways. Gary Small, a neuroscientist and the author of the book iBrain, suggests that our “high-tech revolution has plunged us into a state of continuous partial attention” and that we “no longer have time to reflect, contemplate, or make thoughtful decisions” (18). Saint Augustine already had an inkling of this nearly two thousand years ago when he observed that unhealthy “habit, if not resisted, became necessity.” It turns out the alluring draw of many of our apps may not be simply an unintentional side effect of pleasing aesthetic design. In his recent book The Tech-Wise Family, Andy Crouch observes that the “makers of technological devices have become absolute masters at the nudge” (34).These “nudges” come in the form of alerts and notifications that reward us each time we are distracted. The business model for many services depends on revenue from targeted advertisements that require attracting as many eyeballs as possible and keeping them coming back. These nudges have become increasingly sophisticated, with some social media companies hiring behavioral scientists to help advise developers on tuning apps so they play on a user’s dopamine levels. Jeff Hammerbacher, an early social media pioneer, once lamented in an interview with Ashlee Vance from Bloomberg Businessweek, “The best minds of my generation are thinking about how to make people click ads.” Some companies have recently been formed to provide technical solutions to the distractions that arise from digital technology. Flipd is a software company that has created an app to help people spend less time on their phones and remove distractions. The app has been adopted in universities to monitor students’ smartphones and encourage them to remain focused during classes and lectures. Another app called SelfControl helps users block distracting websites while working on their computers. While technical solutions can provide helpful aids, the problem is not just with our time and our eyeballs—it’s with our hearts. For many, screens are continually with us—when we rise up, when we lie down, and when we walk along the way. In his book , Calvin University philosophy professor James K. A. Smith suggests our habits and rituals are like liturgies that point our heart in a particular direction (5–10). Our digital devices foster habits that have significant shaping implications. Smith suggests we need to look beyond we are looking at on our smartphones and consider “the rituals that tether us to them throughout the day,” rituals that are “loaded with an egocentric vision that makes the center of the universe” (46). The Scriptures warn us, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it” (Prov. 4:23). The heart is of strategic importance—once it is captured, everything else follows along. If habits shape the heart, Christians ought to devote significant attention to their habits and rituals. Crouch’s book includes a variety of results from a Barna Group survey of parents with fourteen- to seventeen-year-old children. The survey results clearly show how much parents wrestle with technology in the home, with most parents indicating that technology and social media make it “more difficult to raise kids today” (Crouch 27). Crouch provides some practical guidance for “putting technology in its proper place” by outlining “Ten Tech-Wise Commitments” for a healthier family life with technology. These commitments are meant to nudge us in a better direction and include advice such as remembering the “rhythm of work and rest” and “show[ing] up in person for the big events of life” (41–42). Crouch does not merely prescribe countermeasures, but in several sections of candid honesty he shares how his own family has struggled with keeping technology in its proper place. Arthur Boers, in his book , builds on the writings of the Christian philosopher Albert Borgmann by suggesting we need to cultivate “focal practices” (10). These practices include things like family meals, cooking, gardening, and hiking. Boers defines focal practices as things that take time and effort, things that connect us widely and deeply, and things that remind us what matters. In addition to such focal practices, Christian traditions offer rich historical practices we can retrieve.Perhaps the best antidote to the challenges of the modern digital age lies in rediscovering the practices found in ancient spiritual disciplines.Perhaps the best antidote to the challenges of the modern digital age lies in rediscovering the practices found in ancient spiritual disciplines. These include things like Sabbath keeping, Scripture reading, prayer, fasting, solitude, silence, and serving others.In the classroom, we can also strive to keep technology in its proper place and to develop intentional pedagogical practices that shape our students in helpful ways. (See David I. Smith’s book .) We need to resolve to periodically stem the stream of nudges from our digital devices to recenter ourselves in Christ. Establishing daily and weekly rhythms where digital devices are intentionally and regularly set aside will serve to keep technology in its proper place. It will also have the benefit of helping us avoid the silly situations portrayed in the Microsoft phone commercial. But more importantly, if habits shape the heart, then these habits will serve to point our hearts back to God.
Works Cited Augustine, of Hippo, Saint. , Book 8, Chapter 5. Project Gutenberg http://www.gutenberg.org/files/3296/3296-h/3296-h.htm. Boers, Arthur. (Brazos, 2012). Carr, Nicholas. “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” , July/August 2008, https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/07/is-google-making-us-stupid/306868/. Crouch, Andy. (Baker Books, 2017). Small, Gary. (Collins Living, 2008). Smith, David I. (Eerdmans, 2018). Smith, James K. A. (Brazos, 2016). Vance, Ashlee. “This Tech Bubble Is Different.” , April 14, 2011. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2011-04-14/this-tech-bubble-is-different.
Derek C. Schuurman is professor of computer science at Calvin University in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He is the author of Shaping a Digital World: Faith, Culture and Computer Technology (IVP Academic, 2013).