Technology and Wisdom

Neil Postman over the years has been very helpful to me in thinking through how technology impacts culture. Postman's article on "Five Things we need to Know on Technological Change" is worth the read. Pastor Jeremy and I had a great conversation last night about how technology is not bad. . .but, technology without wisdom can be like an "ax in the hand of a psychopath" (to quote Einstein). I encourage you to read Postman's whole article (if this topic interests you. Below are the five basic ideas. The article fleshes each of these out in insightful and thoughtful ways.

First Idea

All technological change is a trade-off. Technology giveth and technology taketh away. This means that for every advantage a new technology offers, there is always a corresponding disadvantage. The disadvantage may exceed in importance the advantage, or the advantage may well be worth the cost.

Second Idea

The advantages and disadvantages of new technologies are never distributed evenly among the population. This means that every new technology benefits some and harms others.

Third Idea

Embedded in every technology there is a powerful idea, sometimes two or three powerful ideas. These ideas are often hidden from our view because they are of a somewhat abstract nature. But this should not be taken to mean that they do not have practical consequences.

Fourth Idea

Technological change is not additive; it is ecological. A new medium does not add something; it changes everything.

Fifth Idea

I come now to the fifth and final idea, which is that media tend to become mythic. The word "myth" to refer to a common tendency to think of our technological creations as if they were God-given, as if they were a part of the natural order of things".