To Blockbuster and beyond
How to approach technology in a rapidly changing technological world
[Happy launch day for my book AI in Church and Ministry: Applications of Artificial Intelligence for Faith Communities. I’d love for you to order and review! You can get it on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or as an eBook in a bunch of places.]
Everything has changed.
I grew up using cassette tapes, VHS tapes, DVDs, and even witnessed the brief hype about Blu-rays before I went off to college.
I owned a flip phone, a full-keyboard phone, and a smartphone all before I could vote.
I've witnessed the rise and fall of various social media companies, from MySpace to Google Plus, and even remember when Instagram was just pictures of food.
I remember walking into a Blockbuster Video on Friday nights to rent VHS tapes and DVDs, and sometimes getting some popcorn or candy if my brother and I could convince our dad. Papa Murphy's was next door to Blockbuster, so if we were really lucky, we could get some take-and-bake pizza to make the Friday night something special!
But by the time I hit middle school, the local Blockbuster Video and Hollywood Video had closed up shop as Netflix took off and Redboxes popped up around town. I remember having to wait for Netflix to send the next DVD so you could continue watching your favorite show.
Now, the only waiting we do is for our significant other to finally break down and just pick something to watch. Netflix has adapted, altering its model from the DVD delivery business, which crushed Blockbuster, to now being a fully online streaming service, which caused a million other streaming services to pop up.
So much change, in so little time.
As someone born in the awkward gap between the Millennial and Gen Z generations, I have plenty of firsthand experience with technological revolutions. Just in my formative years, I witnessed so much upheaval of old systems that I, along with many of my peers, simply had to adapt. We learned to embrace change and see the positives. By virtue of birth, I feel like I'm a techno-optimist.
However, not everyone is quite so positive about technological change. Christians, in particular, often worry about how technology will impact humans spiritually, emotionally, and socially. Today, in honor of the release of my book, AI in Church and Ministry: Applications of Artificial Intelligence for Faith Communities, I hope to explain the most important principle when it comes to a theology of technology: it can either shape us, or we can shape it.
So what’s it going to be?
If you want more info about my approach to theology and technology, especially with AI, check out the in-depth article below.
The philosopher Marshall McLuhan famously outlined the ways that technology changes us. He described how technology always extends a part of ourselves, helping us accomplish something we couldn’t before, but at the same time, it atrophies another part of ourselves. The technology we employ ends up influencing our behavior and skills in both good and bad ways. In McLuhan's words, "We become what we behold. We shape our tools and then our tools shape us."
McLuhan was concerned about technology like TV, not living to see the way the internet has exploded. I can't even imagine what he'd say about TikTok, except maybe something like "I told ya so." Now, we see plenty of evidence of the ways that technology shapes us.
Social media, for instance, has enhanced long-distance communication. I now have friends around the world who I care for and who care about me. But on the flipside, it's affected the way we communicate in real life—where two bodies in the same room don't know what to do with each other since, as of publishing time, we can't gif react in real life.
The internet has brought us so much information at our disposal. We can learn what's happening right now in Bhutan or learn how to paint a garage door—information that previously wasn't so accessible unless you bought the encyclopedia set from the door-to-door salesman. I heard recently that during the London Blitz when Londoners escaped to the countryside, many were shocked to learn that eggs came from chickens—in their context, they lacked first-hand experience and access to information sources to teach them these facts. Of course, we lose a lot with the onslaught of information, not the least being that it's now near impossible to determine what is true.
I've been reading the fantastic book You Are Not Your Own where Dr. Noble essentially diagnoses all societal ills as the result of this poor environment we've created, chiefly a culture that overemphasizes “being ourselves.” He opens the book with the image of a lion at the zoo pathetically pacing back and forth in his cage. Because the lion isn’t in the right environment, even with the advantages of medicine and food sources for the captive creature, the lion can never really be what he is supposed to be because the environment is artificial.
However, I don’t want to give the impression that I’m completely hopeless and that technology will destroy us! I do recognize that technology gives us something good even when it takes something good away from us. And I believe we must recognize this goodness at the same time we recognize what we are losing—and recognizing is the first step in not letting technology control us.
There’s a reason why, despite what you might believe, Christians have historically been at the forefront of technological advancement—Christians rightly understand that the fruits of human ingenuity are gifts from God! It is good that we’ve decreased infant mortality and wars and have created systems where many people are able to live beyond basic survival. Technology has enabled this. It's cause for rejoicing. That’s why Christians have often readily embraced technology (specifically communication tech) like the bound book, printing press, radio, T.V., and live streaming.
In AI in Church and Ministry and throughout podcast interviews on the subject, I call myself “cautiously optimistic.” I try to hold in tension the dual reality that technology offers us good but it can also hurt us. But neither becoming Amish nor embracing tech uncritically is a rational option; the truth lies somewhere in the middle.
In step with my Christian ancestors, I think it’s right to lead the conversation on this technology. Simply dismissing the inevitable or refusing to engage in these questions is to ignore our God-given role as the public’s moral conscience, a tradition going back to the Old Testament prophets. We have to talk about it. Just talking about it at least makes us aware of the harmful effects certain tech can have on us.
Don’t worry, this isn’t my last word on the subject. Far from it. But I hope more Christians can understand that the most helpful approach to technology is a middle way, a cautious optimism, an understanding that like everything in God’s creation, technology is a tool that can be wielded for good or evil. As Christians engage in these conversations, we will hopefully earn a spot in wider public conversations so more people will engage with technology in ways influenced by Christian virtues of human dignity, unity of body-soul, and love for our neighbor—even digital ones.
Question of the Week
Leave your answer in the comment section below or reply to this email.
What is a technology that you find is very BENEFICIAL? For that technology, what may be the unintended consequences?
My “Goings On”
AI for Church and Ministry is out today! Buy it on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books or as an eBook in a bunch of places!
I was recently on two podcasts about this book that I’d really encourage you to check out!
I’ll be back,
Jake Doberenz
Thanks for reading Faithful & Funny. Please share this publication with others!