Competence vs Dependence

I did not grow up with technology.  Technology grew up with me.  I grew up before a dial phone and in the days of the proverbial party line.  I grew up when the news was first from paper and radio.  I grew up when devices meant to make your life better were exclusively mechanical.  I grew up with the first TV being brought into the home and watched a couple of hours at night as a multi-generational family watched and listened to exactly the same content.  That said, I enjoyed the first personal computer (the IBM PC) before it was even on sale to the general public (we had people who worked for IBM).  I juggled two floppy floppy discs to provide program and memory for word processing (a brand new term).  I have a smart phone and tablet, a laptop and a desktop, and stream movies into my home.  I listen to podcasts, blog, and get my news from a host of sources -- none of which is a newspaper and only one of which is a TV.  I shop online and our bills are paid online.  There is not a Luddite in our household.

The great technological divide was once conceived as between those who are conversant with technology and those who are not.  For a time that might have sufficed.  Now I am not sure this definition is worthwhile any longer.  Instead, it is a divide between those who are servants of their screens and those who are not.  Notice, that I did not say those who were servants and those who were masters.  Indeed, those who are servants of the screens are much more masters and exploiters of technology than I am.  The difference here is no longer competence but dependence.  There are increasing numbers of people among us who cannot live without and who cannot put down for a moment the ever present screens that have come to define us and our lives.

We have all watched in restaurants as the folks eating together are occupied individually on their screens, taking full advantage of the complimentary WiFi supplied by their hosts.  It is a study in contrasts as they are together at the same table but divided not only by the food they ordered but by their occupation with the screens they cannot put down.  How many church services or solemn events are interrupted by the sound of texts being received, outlandish ringtones announcing a call, or the sound of social media memes and reels which they forgot to silence?  We cannot let go of our ever present need to be in contract with someone or something.  Not even God can command our attention and these devices have become a danger to us as we try to drive and do other dangerous things with half our attention and eyes on the screens.

There is another element to this.  We cannot put down our screens not simply because we don't want to put them down but also because we cannot function without their aid.  The apps on our phones monitor our health, record our transactions, connect us to our friends, calculate figures, and stream entertainment to us.  What would we do without them -- literally?  Could it be that as they become more intelligent, we become less so?  Could it be that we no longer know how to do what the generations before did almost instinctively?  Have these screens actually aided in the education of our young or have they become an excuse for failing to learn or memorize what prior generations did with ease?  Could we find our favorite Bible passage without Google search or sing the lyrics of our favorite hymn without a screen telling us the words?  

I do not need my screens and sometimes I find them an enemy to my health, peace, and well-being.  It bothers many of my friends and family but I turn them off or silence and forget them all the time.  I would urge you to do the same.  Life will not get worse without them but just may improve not only your mental and emotional health but also your joy.  Imagine a week without checking to see what people said about you on social media or said about people you know on social media.  Imagine becoming so immersed in a book that you lose track of time.  Imagine your whole family exchanging their individual playlists to listen to the same song and artist.  Imagine sitting through an entire worship service without hearing the sound of something on a screen.  I resist becoming the slave of a technology that is supposed to serve you.  You should, too!