“How Technology Shapes Us”

“Digital Liturgies” — Week 3 Reflection

You are what you eat

You are what you eat, we've all heard this phrase before and it makes sense, right? If you eat healthily, more than likely, you’ll be healthy. There is a reason why this phrase has stood the test of time, it rings true for the most part. Also, this phrase can encompass more than just food. Consumption is a metaphor for the things we intake and make us into who we are. Author Samuel James brings to light the often overlooked and unnoticed effects of technology on the Christian life. Particularly, this chapter is on the ways it shapes us. He builds the case that when we look back on past inventions such as transportation, clocks, and even central heating for homes have all shaped life in significant ways. 

I can remember when my household first got a family computer. As I look back now, this addition significantly changed our home life, particularly among sibling relationships. We went from socializing with one another to competing over screen time to “socialize” with our school friends. I didn’t recognize then just how much more important my siblings were in comparison to fleeting friendships made in school. This is time wasted, and can not be made back. As adults now, who all live in thier own homes, I sure miss being under one roof together. Now, I wonder what kind of memories I missed out on, spending it alone on a computer, interacting with people who I can’t even recall.

Be mindful of what you consume

The invention of technology is and will continue to shape our lives drastically. As Christians, we ought to think deeply about the moral and ethical effects technologies have on us. Questions you may consider asking yourself are, Is this isolating me? Is this a good use of my time? Is this enhancing my worship of Jesus? Before reading this book, I didn’t think too deeply about my online presence, but now I see it’s important to recognize what it shapes.

James concludes with an example of two friends that he witnessed transform. These two individuals had become split personalities, where they were one persona in person and a completely different persona online. However, their online personas were not particularly unique. Rather, they had become echo chambers of the many people who all said the same things in their ideological camps online. You will think, feel, and believe the same as the technologies you consume. We better be mindful of what it is we are consuming, you are what you eat after all.