Flickering Pixels

I'm reading a fascinating book called Flickering Pixels, by Shane Hipps. Its a great commentary of how technology and faith dance, wrestle, and shape each other. He begins with explaining how the invention of the printing press changed everything! In pre-written culture, our minds were stronger, in that we were forced to remember facts, history, etc. Once we were able to write and pass on texts, the mind had to do far less in remembering.

Interesting.

Once the printing press came to light, the chaos and mystical side of faith was dampened in light of the new ways of linear thinking, systematic reasoning, and process.

Interesting again.

Hipps goes on to discuss that with each new technological jump, the old becomes irrelevant and obsolete - not gone, just obsolete (think horse drawn wagons...you can still ride one in the city at night as a tourist, but its by no means our way of preferred transportation).

Interesting once again.

But perhaps the most brilliant piece I've gathered from Hipps is his commentary on what technology does without our knowing - this is the dark side to its power. Via system, linear thought, post-modernism, etc, is the rejection of emotion. We've embraced a Western culture ideal that says FACT supersedes FAITH, which supersedes FEELING. The problem however is that this change over time has silently caused many to suppress the heart, thus deadening desire.

"That deep longing for life, love, and God fades. Instead, we come to expect less from life. We acquire the bland taste of a domesticated god who resides somewhere in our head. But our head is not for the divine. The head helps us understand the divine from a safe distance. This is a powerful and valuable enterprise to be sure, but there is a difference between knowing ABOUT God and knowing God."

Basically, you just need to pick up the book and read it for yourself. Its full of this good stuff!

Peace,
Ross