Thinking

There are some people who believe the Internet has has some very negative effects on our thinking as humans, and as a society.

Nicholas Carr tells us in his book “The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains” that mind tools – maps, clocks, printing presses, and computers – have, throughout history, altered our thinking.

He writes, that these tools have come at a cost: rapid sampling, cursory reading, distracted thinking, superficial learning. (Christian Science Monitor)

 He goes on to say,  Superficial learning isn’t just a regrettable side effect. As Alexander Pope noted, it is a dangerous thing. That’s especially true when radical ideas are involved. As anyone who has studied Scripture, philosophy, or political theory knows, it takes dedication, concentration, and inspiration to distill meaning from a complex argument or make sense of archaic language. Phrases taken out of context, simplified by literalism, clouded by mysticism, or twisted by glib propagandists are easy fallbacks when ideas seem elusive or contradictory. (IBID.)

If I didn’t know better, I would think that Mr. Carr has been “attending” Church on TV, or one of the local congregations that doesn’t have much in the way of a Biblical Worldview. The regular fare at many gatherings called “church” has little to offer in the matters of “dedication, concentration, and inspiration” not to mention the “phrases taken out of context,” or “clouded by mysticism, or twisted by glib propagandists.

I am unalterably convinced that God want us to know the Truth, live the Truth, and share the Truth. The study of Scripture is not a pastime, but an intense, mandatory focus for becoming all that God designed Believers to be. I encourage you to avoid “the shallows.”