227: Glen Davies - Technology As a Challenge To Our Faith (+ 7 Ways To Combat It)

Automatically transcribed. Accuracy is good but not perfect, and words are sometimes wrong. Trust the audio over the text.

1. 0:13

   Welcome to Good Burger selfie and talks. I’m Levi and I’m Chris and I’m Brian, thank you for joining us this week. On this podcast, we select one taco week to help us get the Bible in our daily news feed. We post a new episode of the start of each week with a short intro before. Hand to kind of set the stage for the talk. You’re about to listen to and now let’s talk more about this week’s talk.

2. 0:51

   Welcome to the good christadelphians talks podcast. This is brother Brian. This week’s talk is a Class by Brother, Glenn Davies, that’s called technology as a challenge to our faith. The class was given at the 2019, New Zealand Bible school and this was sent in by recommendation. So once again, we thank you for all the help in finding these tremendous talks to help spread the words of encouragement. Now despite what you may think from the title this is first and foremost, not a doom and gloom kind of message that you might presume.

3. 1:32

   The brother will say you know all Technologies bad refrain from using any of it. Thankfully there is a healthy acknowledgement of how prevalent and useful Tech is in all of our lives these days. But it’s a really well-constructed message of warning about how as we have adapted to the age of instant gratification.

4. 1:59

   Constant notification overload. And clickbait messages and images. He asked the question, what is that costing us from a spiritual perspective? Are we becoming slaves to our screens? Idols made of glass and plastic. Or even being conditioned, like, mice in a laboratory to click and click, and click, and click waiting for the next news update.

5. 2:31

   The next shocking headline, the graphic image. I really enjoy that brother. Glen manages to give practical advice all throughout. And especially at the end, he has some very necessary and hard-hitting truths. About the Temptations that Brothers, in particular deal with, in regards to the overabundance of pornography and the lust of the eyes that can so easily, beset us and is in constant display in our modern media.

6. 3:11

   So there is as he says a tremendous benefit to appreciating technology, as we have seen in the past, couple years of Zoom, during covid. And even with this podcast, But there’s a lot that were missing if we opted to lean on our screens, instead of continuing to read for ourselves. Instead of just Googling a verse Meeting and talking with each other face-to-face. And having a mind that is focused on serving other people around us instead of head down serving ourselves. As always, we hope that this does, strengthen your faith and brightens your day.

7. 3:58

   Brother Glenn Davies technology as a challenge to our faith. So at least in Phoenix times. Anyway, welcome everybody to our talk tonight and modified the title slightly.

8. 4:12

   That is, that was the lovely little loot list of quotes. I was going to play in the background while everybody was just sitting here to in the voluntary. Maybe I can put that on at the end. Instead. So I modified the title slightly to three ways that technology threatens our faith and seven ways to fight back because I don’t really just want to stand here tonight and tell you what the issues are really want to try. And at least start presenting some practical things that we can all be doing to fight back, and try and defend our faith. Now, I’m sure that many of you particularly, maybe some of the younger ones are probably thinking. Oh, you’re on some old guys.

9. 4:56

   He’s going to stand up there and tell us how terrible technology is and all those young people are glued to their phones and really, they should all log out of Facebook and just go outside and play. Well, unfortunately I am an old guy. I can’t get away from it. Being said, he was going to be turning 50 soon.

10. 5:19

    Unfortunately, I did turn 50 this year so there’s no doubt about it. I am an old guy, but the good news is young people. I’m not so old and out of touch that, I don’t know. That. Probably the only reason a young person these days would log into Facebook, would be to see the message to your mother or your grandmother. And just between you and me, young people, that’s probably your mother and your grandmother that I shall be telling to log out of Facebook and go outside and play, but we’ll keep that to ourselves for now, but you don’t need to worry that. I’m going to stand up here and preach some sort of radical digital digital detox that.

11. 6:02

    We all have to throw away a divisors because they offer such a terrible threat to our faith. Because again, unfortunately I have to admit that I love technology. So there’s no way that I’m going to stand up here and preach any sort of radical digital detox as I see it. And I’ve got no intention of standing up here and making you feel guilty, just because you have an Instagram account.

12. 6:26

    However, I do think that technology presents some real challenges to our faith and the age, in which we live. And I also think that we’re overdue for having some really serious discussions. About that in order to be able to help each other to overcome those challenges. And it’s some discussions at the Bible school committee has had about, the obvious impact technology is having on our faith and the need to actually sit down and have some honest discussions about it. But before we launch into that, and for those of you that don’t really know me at all, just a little bit of background to convince you, that I’m not actually a Luddite in Disguise. I’m currently a software developer by trade. So I spend probably around 40 hours. Hours a week glued to a computer screen. Well, two screens actually.

13. 7:16

    I’ve got a lazy eye so I can look at two screens at once. And I’ve actually had a smartphone since around 2008. Now that might not sound that long ago, but 2008 is actually win. The first iPhones became commercially available in New Zealand was the iPhone 3G looks quite small and quaint these days, isn’t it?

14. 7:43

    So I was lucky to get one of those as part of my work back in 2008. So I’ve been a smartphone addict for a few years longer than most people in the Room. So potentially reasonably well, placed to discuss the issues involved in owning such devices. I’ve also got a Facebook account. I too have to keep in touch with my mother. I’ve got a Instagram account which I never really use. I just thought I really should have an Instagram account. I’ve got a Twitter account, I occasionally seen some tweets, mostly work-related.

15. 8:15

    So, as I said, I’m no way a lot, right? But really, the comments that I’m going to make tonight, hopefully will help us all in the struggle to maintain our faith against the impact that technology is having Now, tonight’s and not intended in any way to be an all-inclusive summary of the issues. And neither has it been to outline every single struggle that you might have.

16. 8:42

    It’s really just a start of the discussion and God willing tomorrow night. The idea of those discussion groups as we can take what we’ve started here tonight and in your discussion groups, you can start having some discussions about the actual issues that you have and maybe some of the solutions to the issues that you’ll come across.

17. 9:00

    So with that introduction, let me just Outline Three of the ways. I think that technology is impacting our faith. But before that, Let’s just have a quick look at three ways that God wants us to develop in our faith. Now one, we all know, and we read about in our opening, Psalm God wants us to meditate on his word day and night as a way of developing our faith and Brother David gave us a really good introduction into the importance of that last night. Secondly we need to build each other up in the faith. God wants us to come together with the purpose of building each other up and encouraging each other in the faith and thirdly, what he wants us to do in order to maintain our faith has to remain separate from the world. He wants us to come out from the world separate from them in order that our faith might be maintained now, What technology does an opposition to that, as I believe it diminishes, our ability to think deeply on God’s word, that provides a medium, where we find it.

18. 10:01

    All too easy to pull each other down, instead of lifting each other up, and it puts the worst that the world has to offer at our fingertips. So, in order to make this evening as stress-free as possible to the OCD Among Us, let’s start by having a look at the first of these.

19. 10:25

    Let me to take you on God’s word. We don’t really spend need to spend too much time going through the, the essential requirement of this, for a walk in the faith. Because as I said, Brother, David gave a good introduction to this last night and we all know the importance of taking in the word of God.

20. 10:42

    It’s the word that develops, our faith and our opening reading talks about that blessing, that will come upon a man that does this, but it’s not just a Mindless scanning of the text that God wants the word, meditate. Translated from the Hebrew and the King. James has the idea of to murmur or by implication to ponder, God doesn’t want us to just read his word.

21. 11:06

    He wants us to take it in and think about it, ponder it and think about what the implications are of it for us and how we might apply it in our lives. Now, a lot of you will know that traditionally the Jews when they read the scripture would actually do that murmuring and pondering out loud. They would read God’s word out loud. They would have a conversation with both themselves and And with God out loud, in order that they could really come to grips with what it was.

22. 11:32

    They were reading and have a real conversation with god. Now, of course, many of you are probably way too shy and reserved to sit in a room, talking to yourself and talking to God out loud. But God still wants us to have that conversation. Even if we’re just having a quietly inside our own hit and the word gives us.

23. 11:50

    Wonderful analogy doesn’t have chewing the cud. It’s the idea of chewing over the word. This idea of meditating. On God’s word. But what’s the ultimate aim of this process of chewing over God’s word in this way? Well, he wants us to take so much of his word into our minds and ponder it so deeply that it actually transforms the very way, we think.

24. 12:14

    And consequently transforms the way we live our lives. Now, if we come over to Romans chapter 12, the Apostle Paul has a wonderful little way of phrasing. What it is that God is wanting to happen and are constantly. Consideration of his word. Where’s that? I’m sure. You all know. Well, Romans chapter 12 and verse 2.

25. 12:37

    Be not conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. That ye may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. And this word here. Transformed has this idea of renewing or Bing or to renovate or to completely change for the better. So to completely change our mind and most of you probably know the Greek word behind it.

26. 13:02

    Is the idea of metamorphosis where the idea of the Us of the caterpillar comes from. So caterpillar completely changes into a butterfly and God wants our minds to be the same. Now, the really amazing thing is that in our day and age. Scientists have proved that the things we think, actually physically change our mind. Of course, the Apostle Paul didn’t know this, when he was writing this, he knew that the word of God could have an effect on us, but scientists, and our donated proven that our thoughts physically change the way our mind is Should now there’s one really well-known and experiment in this vein and the taken by Professor pass ql Lyon he was a professor of Neurology. So what he did, he took a whole group of people that didn’t know how to play the keyboard or the piano and he taught them a very simple Melody.

27. 13:54

    And then he split the group into halves and he said, like this group over here if every day you can spend so much time actually playing that tune and getting to know it and he said this group over here. Here. Could you just sit in front of the piano and imagine playing that tune every day? It’s been the same amount of time but don’t touch the keyboard.

28. 14:15

    Just in your mind, think about your fingers, moving over the keys, the way I taught you to. Now, the amazing thing is that after that completed that, that time he used a technique called transcranial magnetic stimulation to look at the under map, the underlying brain structures. And what they found was that those people At just imagined playing the keyboard. Their brain structure was changed in. Exactly the same way as those people that actually played the piano.

29. 14:47

    So there’s quite good evidence to show that just thinking about something has the same change on your brain as actually doing it. So in other words, our brains are physically Changed by our thoughts, we become neurologically what we think. So before we go into this a bit further and have a look at will, how it might technology. Be hindering this process of being able to change the way. Our mind is structured through our absorption and thinking about the word of God, just in contrast. Let’s have a little bit of a think about the traditional reading process.

30. 15:23

    What goes on? When we read a book now man called Nicholas Carr wrote a book called the shallows which probably a large number of you here have read and he outlines the process. Is of traditionally reading a book and this way he says what’s so remarkable about book reading is that deep concentration is combined with the highly active and efficient deciphering of text and interpretation of meaning, the reading of a sink sequence of printed pages is valuable, not just for the knowledge readers acquired from the author’s words. But for the way those words said, I’ve intellectual vibrations within your own mind and the quiet spaces opened up by the prolonged undistracted reading of Book, you make your own associations, draw your own inferences and analogies and Foster your own ideas.

31. 16:12

    You think deeply as you read deeply reading a book as a meditative act, but it doesn’t involve a clearing of the mind. It involves a filling, a replenishing of the mind reader’s, disengage their attention from the outward flow of passing stimuli, in order to engage it more deeply with an inward flow of words, ideas and emotions.

32. 16:33

    That is the essence of the you Anika mental process of deep. Reading to read. A book is to practice process. A process of thought that demands sustained unbroken attention to a single static object. It requires readers to place themselves at what t.s. Eliot would call The Still Point of the Turning world. You have to train your brain to ignore everything else around you to resist the urge, to let your focus skip from one sensory cue to another and you have to forge or strengthen the neural links. Needed to counter your instinctive distracted – applying greater top-down control over your own attention. And as you listen to that, you can see, we’ll see how nicely that ties in with what God requires. Traditionally reading takes us away into a quiet place where our entire focus is on the words before us. And in that quiet place we can mullo over those words and make our own connections and draw our own inferences and make our own analogies and really come to terms with what we’re reading. Now, obviously that summary that I read is just the views of Nicholas, Carr and t.s.

33. 17:43

    Eliot, but I’m sure that you’ll agree that that provides a really good summary of what it is to read a book or a longer article. You put aside all those distractions and you’re totally engaged in absorbed in the words, nothing else matters in those moments. now, my wife, Nikki can certainly attest that this is a fact, because if I’m sitting reading a book, And she comes to speak to me.

34. 18:08

    I don’t hear a single word that she says, because I’m completely absorbed in that book. At that moment. Nothing else matters. Now, when was taking that into consideration, how important it is to be able to read in this way. Read deeply, the things of God. When was the last time that you sat down and got truly lost and reading the word or in reading a book, when was the last time that you read a book of the truth from cover to cover, or even read a complete article from one of our Publications.

35. 18:51

    When was the last time that you memorized a section of scripture so that you might be able to meditate and to murmur into two upon God’s word when you didn’t have the written word handy, Now, for some of you here and I’m sure for quite a few of you here. You can you can quite confidently answer. All that was today.

36. 19:07

    I sat down this afternoon and I did that or maybe you can say well last week I did it all last month. I did that But I’m sure there are many of you here that haven’t actually read a complete Book for a number of years. There are probably some of you here that haven’t actually read a complete article from beginning to end for a number of years, and I have to confess when I first came into the truth. About 25 years ago.

37. 19:33

    I was an Avid Reader. I would read lots of the works of the Pioneers, I’d read lots of Articles. I’d always also have a number of other fiction and nonfiction books on the go at the same time. But sometime in somewhere in the 2000s, I just stopped reading And I very rarely put picked up a book and if I did it was just for some quick study to try and find a nice quote for an exit.

38. 19:59

    I very rarely read a book from cover to cover and I very really sat down and read an entire article and in the last couple of years I’ve had to make a real effort to get back to reading books. I’ve had to say to myself that this is something you need to do in order to keep your faith.

39. 20:17

    You need to get back into reading, not only the word but works of the truth. So why the shift away from Reading? Why is it that so many? And the Brotherhood are not reading the way we used to. Well, although there’s research to show why this is happening. I think most of us, probably know from personal experience, why it is without the need for an external evidence and it’s the fact that the internet or more specifically, the web and smartphones actively discourage prolonged periods of deeply meditative reading and thinking they in fact, encouraged quite the opposite, Nicholas Carr. Again he states with me.

40. 21:01

    Go online We enter an environment that promotes cursory reading hurried and distracted thinking and superficial learning. It’s possible to think deeply while surfing the net, just as it’s possible to think shallowly while reading a book. But that’s not the type of thinking that the technology encourages and rewards, but this isn’t just his opinion. Research has been done that supports this view way back as far as 1989 Believe It or Not, There was research done on the the effects of reading.

41. 21:32

    Hi. Per text on comprehension for those of you that not so technology. Savvy hypertext is really just text with a whole lot of links in it. So when you read a web page, there’s usually a whole lot of bits that are a different color. Maybe with a line underneath and your brain is come to understand that those things are links to something more interesting or equally interesting and that’s known it.

42. 21:54

    And Technical speakers is hypertext or a hyperlink. Now 1989 our studies showed that readers of hypertext often end up clicking. Directed lie through pages instead of reading them carefully. And in some research, conducted in 2001, the difference and comprehension rates between reading hypertext and non hypertext documents. And that research was clearly showed that with hypertext, the absorbed and personal motive reading seems to be discouraged. The reader’s attention was distracted towards the Machinery of the hypertext and it’s functions rather than to the experience offered.

43. 22:32

    By the story and in 2007 similar research was undertaken and their conclusion was that the multimedia Technologies? So common to the web would seem to limit rather than enhance information acquisition. Now I’m sure a lot of you are just familiar with this from personal experience. Like if you go on the web looking for something you’re very really start reading at the top of the page and keep reading and reading and reading until you got right to the bottom.

44. 23:06

    But who does that? Nobody does that you read until you find the first link that looks really interesting and then you click on it and open up a new tab and then you read that for a bit. If I another link and you click on it and open up a new tab and before you know it you got 20 tabs open and you never ever get back to that first.

45. 23:22

    Document that sounded interesting but that you only skimmed over two lines of, it’s just the way people read on the web. They don’t read they skim looking for things of interest and then following the first thing that they find interesting. And in that process, really nothing has been taken into our mind that we can chew on and mull over in the way that God wants us to meditate animal over things.

46. 23:45

    And if we want the blessings that come from meditating on God’s word, that is a transformed mind or the mind of Christ. Just then if the only reading we’re doing is skimming content online. Then we significantly reduce their chances of achieving that aim if we’re wanting to transform our minds and the only thing we do is skim across stuff on the web.

47. 24:06

    It’s reasonably unlikely that we’re actually going to achieve that aim. Now, as well as the issue of not being able to read deeply on the internet, think it’s really important to be also highlight briefly the distraction factor of new technologies and it really goes hand in hand with this lack of deep reading because it’s all very well to say. Well, okay, Glen’s convinced me I need to read a book so I’m going to go home and I’m going to read a book and you sit down and you read your book and you get through a couple of lines and your fingers.

48. 24:39

    So you look at it and follow that link and then follow something else. And check your email that tweet see what Donald Trump’s tweeted and then you go back to the second paragraph and you get through another couple of lines and then this is. So if we don’t also look at this distraction Factor, we’re not. There’s no point in trying to go back to the Deep reading from a book.

49. 25:01

    So firstly, it’s worth noting that it’s in the best interest of the large corporations that are driving technology. Ology to make us distractible as distractible as possible. So, for instance, Nicholas Carr. Again, he said about Google. Google’s profits are tied directly to the velocity of people’s information and take the faster, we surf across the surface of the web. The more links we click in the pages, we view the more opportunities, Google gains to collect information about us and to feed us advertisements, its advertising system. Moreover is explicitly designed to figure out which messages are most likely to Grab our attention. And then to place those messages in our field of view, every click we make on the web marks, a break, in our concentration, A bottom-up, disruption of our attention and it’s in Google’s economic interest to make sure we click as often as possible. The last thing, the company wants to encourage is literally reading or slow concentrated.

50. 25:57

    Thought Google is quite literally in the business of distraction And, of course, now that we have the power of the internet in a pocket, there’s probably not many people here today that don’t have a smartphone. So we have all of Google’s technology in our pocket. It’s powerful and distracting influence beckons to us night and day. Now there’s a couple of researchers, Adam gives early and Larry, Rawson they State and their book, The distracted mind just glanced around a restaurant and look at people walking on a city street, pay attention to people. People waiting in line for a movie or the theater and you’ll see busily tapping fingers.

51. 26:37

    We act as though we are no longer interested in or able to stay idle and simple simply do nothing. We appear to care more about the people who are available through our devices than those who are right in front of our faces and perhaps more critically, we appear to have lost their ability to Simply Be Alone with our thoughts.

52. 26:57

    What impact does that on have on our ability to meditate if we’re constantly Attracted by these things. But why is it that these digital devices are so compelling and so distracting? I have to confess that I find my digital devices, extremely distracting and compelling. I have a lot of trouble tearing my way.

53. 27:20

    Myself away from him sometimes a, why is it what makes it? So now Robert kolker, he’s an investigative reporter. He wrote quite a long report on the problem of being distracted by messaging while driving me and he made this interesting comment distraction as the devil in your ear. Not always the result of an attention deficit.

54. 27:43

    But born of our own desires, really stood out when I read this because we can easily convert that into language would be happy with because of course, we don’t believe in the devil and we know the devil is really the carnal mind. So what he’s saying is Well distraction is the carnal mind and your ear not always a result of an attention deficit, but born of our own desires. Eyes.

55. 28:08

    Now. Robert Coker. He probably just used this as a bit of a throwaway line as far as I know, he’s not religious at all. So he just really used this as a turn of phrase, but I think it’s worth taking a look at this a bit further. Because when we do look into this, a bit further, it’s amazing how chillingly accurate. This little phrase is when it comes to the addictive nature of our devices.

56. 28:36

    Now, Robert lustig, a professor of Pediatrics. Had this to say about the addictive nature of smartphones. He said the cell phones like a slot machine in your pocket. With every ding, a variable reward. Either good or bad is in store for the user, the ultimate dopamine rush. Now I’ve highlighted that little section. There are variable reward because it turns out that this is the key to everything beside area of a variable reward. Now, just to give you a really simple example to explain it in terms of email email gives Variable rewards when you check your email inbox because sometimes you will check your inbox and it will be empty.

57. 29:15

    They’ll be nothing new at disappointment. Sometimes you will check your inbox and they’ll be a wedding invite from your favorite friend and you’re so excited and happy that you’ve got, you’ve been invited. Sometimes you might check your inbox to see if you your job application has been received and there’s a note to say that it has so that’s a nice little hit that has been received and something to think about. You might check in and find out.

58. 29:38

    There’s a Jabra. Section leader. So that’s a bit of a downer and a bit depressing. So every time you check your email, it’s a variable reward. You might get a really nice head of dopamine cuz there’s something really exciting has come in. You might get nothing or you might get a real Downer.

59. 29:54

    And it’s these fleeting rewards that actually make things compelling and addictive. And it doesn’t just apply to email this applies to most modern social networking platforms and phone applications. They all use this principle of variable reward random and variable rewards because they know that that’s the way to get you hooked. So, how did they work out?

60. 30:23

    That the way to get people hooked was by using this idea of variable Rewards. Well, interestingly enough, it goes right back to the 1950s before these devices, even existed there was a man called BF Skinner. He was a psychologist and he was doing some interesting work in the education field. He wanted to work out.

61. 30:43

    What’s the best way to reward students in order to get the best educational outcomes? So how can we make students, learn better by varying the way that We might reward them in some way, so he took two groups of mice. And both groups of mice. He trained to tap on a little lever and one group of mice, when they tapped on the lever, he gave them a consistent reward in a consistently timed way.

62. 31:08

    Every time they tapped. They knew that at that particular time, they would get some food of a certain size. Now, the other little group of mice, he taught them to tap to but this time he gave them a variable reward at different times. So sometimes they tap and get nothing, sometimes they tap and get a really big tasty bit of food. Sometimes that tap and just get a little tiny treat. And interestingly enough, the mice that got the random variable rewards became incredibly compulsive about tapping, that little lever, the mice that got the consistent reward.

63. 31:42

    They just knew when they were going to get something that attacked it, and they went away and left it. The other mice with the variable would just compulsively, tapped on the lever, even when he taken that reward away permanently for quite some time, he stopped giving the rewards but they just compulsively, keep tapping the lever.

64. 32:00

    Now, the funny thing is humans exhibit. Exactly the same psychological Behavior. So, technology companies make taking maximum advantage of this. They’ve taken this research from the 1950s and said, hey, this is great because humans behave the same way. So let’s give them really random and varying rewards and they’ll get addicted to our products.

65. 32:28

    Now that might sound like well that’s just like an interesting little factoid. But I think it’s something that we actually need to take a little time to think about and Ponder exactly what that means. And this particular instance, we behave exactly the same as mice. We Exist exhibit. Exact our brains, do exactly the same thing as a mouse brain.

66. 32:53

    Now, we need to ask ourselves if that’s the case. Which brain of ours is it’s doing that? Now, we all have to two minds, don’t be not necessarily to physical brains, we have two minds, we have a spiritual mind and we have a carnal mind. Now, I’m pretty sure that mice. Don’t have a spiritual mind? Think we can probably even find some scriptural basis for the fact that mice have no spiritual mind. So there’s no doubt that it’s our carnal mind that makes us compulsively and obsessively.

67. 33:27

    Check our devices and distract ourselves from what we really should be doing, which is concentrating and focusing on the word of God. And I think, when we think about it that way, Robert kolker was a correct. Wasn’t a distraction as the carnal mind in our area.

68. 33:50

    And again, we if we look to scripture, we can go right back to Genesis. What did God say when he created, man? He said, I want you to have dominion over the animals, and of course, we know that was really just an analogy. He wanted it to have dominion over the carnal mind. And if we are compulsively obsessively, checking out devices and being taken away from the things of God, then who is it that has dominion over us?

69. 34:17

    I think that’s something that we all need to take the time to ponder and think about, and what ways, do our devices have dominion over us. Now, the psychologist a man called Newark IL L, not exactly sure how to pronounce his name. But he, he’s got some interesting thoughts and his book indestructible about the distractions of Technology.

70. 34:39

    Now, interesting enough, this person is most famous for a book that he wrote called hopped how to build habit-forming products. Now, This psychologist is the man that told all of the technology companies to go back to Skinner. He said if you guys want to make your applications and your products completely addictive, look at the sky scanner so you wrote this book hooked and all the technology companies picked it up and they all use these variable rewards.

71. 35:03

    Now, he’s now written another book called indestructible about how to break away from The Addictive Technologies, so he’s making money on both ends. Interestingly enough, though, I have heard him speak and he said, When he wrote the book hopped, his intention was for companies to produce habit-forming products which were beneficial. So he was thinking about the the exercise Market, how can we get people to buy a bit of Technology?

72. 35:30

    That’s habit-forming, which will be beneficial for their health. He had no idea that the other technology companies were going to pick it up and make people form, completely pointless and useless habits. So, partly, the reason why you wrote the second book about how to break free from those is, is to try and Tell the other side of the story and trying to make amends for the fact that he caused the problem in the first place. But he makes this interesting point. He notes, that, although, modern Technologies, provide an easily accessible distraction, the real underlying issue is that we want to be distracted.

73. 36:06

    Particularly if the thing we are trying to do or the thoughts, we are dealing with a painful large part of distraction as attempt to escape something painful on our part. And again Robert kolker he says something different, something similar, we’re distracted because we want to be be because it’s fun and it obfuscates real life.

74. 36:29

    Why else would they sell so many smartphones? And norell. He basically says, if we want to overcome this problem with distraction, the first thing we need to deal with is why is it that we want to be distracted? Maybe we struggle with deep reading and meditation and quiet time with God. Because in that time of quietness, it’s went all out and they and anxieties about our unworthiness and our failures and our past hurts.

75. 37:00

    Come to the surface. I know a lot of people for whom that is the problem. As soon as they sit down and try and get into a quiet space, that’s when they’re their carnal, mind takes over and all sorts of anxieties and issues come to the surface. So they struggle with that. So distraction is can take them away from that.

76. 37:19

    Mindless binging. On YouTube videos is a really easy way to distract ourselves from our own thoughts and it provides an escape from our internal demons. So we can’t just remove technology from our lives. If we don’t examine our underlying motives for need Distraction. And if we try and do that, we’ll probably just find another way of us.

77. 37:40

    Another way of escaping those things, which might be even worse, which reminds us of Matthew chapter 12, doesn’t it? The idea of the house swept clean and it was limp left completely empty. Then the demons that came back with 10 times worse. If we just try to take the distractions of technology away from us and don’t work out what it is, that that draws us to them, we could upend up with worse escapes. Now, of course for those in the world around us, this doesn’t really present that much of a problem because most of them have nothing better to do.

78. 38:12

    Anyway. As an aside, it’s sort of interesting that there are actually people in the world that are worried about this issue of the fact that we’re not reading deeply anymore of the fact that we’re distracted. But largely, when you look at it, you have to say, well, you might as well be distracted by your smartphone because you’ve got nothing else. This is just another version of eat drink and be merry because tomorrow you die.

79. 38:32

    But for us who are wanting develop the mind of Christ. Does checking your smartphone every minute or two during a time of study and meditation does that help? Or does that hinder? The process is that small piece of plastic and glass in your pocket, your slave or your master. The scripture says faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God and if modern technology is inhabiting, our ability to take in and meditate on God’s word the in surely, it has the potential to be a serious threat to our faith. So what are some of the ways that we can start to combat that?

80. 39:09

    well, I know I personally have to Devote specific time for undistracted, reading at the word and the works of the truth. And the meditation we need to get back to being a community of readers each and every one of us needs to be a reader. Now, I’m not saying that we have to throw away technology to do that. I bought myself a Kindle reader because I love the convenience of being able to buy ebooks because I see your book. I want to read it, two minutes later, I can read it, I don’t have to pay the postage surface, a whole lot of money and wait for weeks, but the Kindle is a single-use device. All you can do is read a book on it so there’s no distraction there’s no temptation to quickly flick over and check my email so to get back to reading.

81. 39:56

    We do necessarily have to do that completely without technology. Now, I think one thing just a little easy tip is if you are wanting to get back to some reading, as put your phone in another room, there’s some really interesting research done recently with some exam students, taking exams. Now, some of the students were allowed the phone on the desk, some of them are allowed the phone on the desk, but turned off some turned off and turned over. Some are allowed the phone under the disc and some had to put their phone in a different room.

82. 40:31

    Now the only ones where those different options improve their exam outcomes was when the phone was in a different room, those that had the phone turned off and turned over same exam result as those that had the phone turned on. If it was under the disc, same diminishing exam, results as those that have the phone on the desk.

83. 40:51

    The only time when exam results improved was when the phone was out of the room. Having your phone in the room and turned on is just as distracting or turned off as just as distracting as having it in the room and turned on because your mind knows it’s there and your mind knows what it might be missing and it’s desperate for that variable reward and because it’s such an in such easy reach, it’s easy to give in and check, where is it? It’s in another room completely.

84. 41:19

    It’s a bit more of an effort to break from what you’re doing and go and check another quick. That’s worth trying is the Pomodoro Technique. Strangely named Pomodoro means tomato, apparently, because the person that came up with it used a little timer, which was in the shape of a tomato, but the basic concept is that you, you set the timer for 25 minutes and you sit and read undistracted for 25 minutes and when the timer goes off, you have five minutes to go and do all the checking of email on the destructive things you want to do, and you come back and you set the timer for another 25 minutes.

85. 41:56

    And then you have another five minutes and it’s just a little time management thing of trying to force you into concentrating on one thing and you know that there’s an end to that time appearances. It’s a good technique that works for a lot of people, I won’t go through a lot of other ways that we can, we can do this. But the book I mentioned, from this guy new eel, indestructible as is worth a read.

86. 42:20

    If you’re looking for various ways that you can break out of, The distracting habits of technology. I think the other thing is that we need to acknowledge and accept, whatever. It is that prevents you from seeking a quiet time with God and that drives your need for distraction. And that’s probably the most difficult thing for us to do, but I think we, if that’s your issue, then that’s what needs to be dealt with rather than just trying to get rid of the distracting technology.

87. 42:51

    So moving on to the second point, then building each other up, of course one of the key reasons we have a closure so we can come together around the word, build each other up in the faith and they’re obviously times when this can be done at a distance, we don’t have to be face to face the Apostle.

88. 43:06

    Paul wrote letters to the closures, but for some reason online communication seems to provide an all too easy Forum where we can pull each other down. Now if you’ve ever had the misfortune Fortune of reading some of the online Christian christadelphians discussion forums, you’ll know exactly what I mean, all too often brotherly, love care and concern, is replaced by promotion of one’s own opinion, and the character assassination of others.

89. 43:34

    Now, this isn’t unique to christadelphians. Interestingly enough, the psychologist Elias a Bugatti, he identifies these very issues in his book, virtually you the Dangerous Powers of each personality. And he says, the way we see and evaluate ourselves as changing as a function of the new personality traits born and nurtured in the virtual world world, these include an exaggerated sense of our abilities, a superior attitude towards others. New moral code that we adopt online a proneness to impulsive behavior, and a tendency to regress to childlike States when faced with an open browser.

90. 44:10

    Now he goes on to say, The totality of my experiences as a psychiatrist treating internet Related Disorders, and as a researcher has convinced me that fundamental psychological shifts are occurring within us as we spend time online or using related, digital media. These shifts unfold spontaneously, almost naturally. Nobody teaches us to become more daring, or less diplomatic over. Email that just happens.

91. 44:39

    Protected by an anonymity bound. Only by how quickly they can type. The next insult members of online. Communities often feel empowered to engage and cruel out verse, that would violate their sense of decency in the real world. Now, some of you may have been may be lucky enough to never have experienced that sort of behavior in an online environment from your brethren.

92. 45:02

    But those of you of you that have experienced that what did that do for your faith? When you saw your brethren behaving in ways that you knew were totally inappropriate towards other Brethren and when you behave the same way yourself, What do you think the impact is on your brethren when they see you behaving like that online?

93. 45:26

    Now some of it of course has to do with the separation of written language from verbal cues. And according to some experiments at the New York University School of Business, email communication, which by definition lacks, the benefit of paralinguistic cues such as gesture emphasis, and intonation is more easily understood misunderstood than verbal, communication, especially when users are trying to express subtleties, like sarcasm and humor. The result published in 2005 and the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology strongly suggest that people are overconfident in their ability to communicate sarcasm. Seriousness, anger and sadness over email, Guilty. those of you from North that know me would know that I’m By Nature, very sarcastic, and cynical.

94. 46:20

    And on more than one occasion. I thought that I was more than capable of communicating, my sarcasm and cynicism in an email message and to my shame. That has ended in tears. So now I’m very aware of the fact that I am in no way capable of communicating sarcasm via email. So I do my best to try and avoid that.

95. 46:42

    I am also working on not being quite, so Casta can person as well. Probably, none of you have noticed that. It’s a work in progress.

96. 46:53

    The issue can be further exasperated. A Bugatti goes on to say by the language, which we use. He says well-knit speak or text but most of you are very familiar that when you quickly typing online or in a message you it’s easy to use abbreviations and he says that their lack of any serious edit 8 editing and they’re focused on speed before any other consideration and symbols that are open to interpretation defy. The rational aware mind and cannot be considered an integral part of our personality.

97. 47:23

    As we have always known it, a language, there’s both impoverished and childlike runs the risk of encouraging impoverished and childlike Behavior. Has, as many people seem to retreat to the virtual world play throw a tantrum will be lazy rather than be provocative, rather than to be profitable work towards a purposeful goal now. I think we really need to be mindful of these things as a community.

98. 47:48

    So what Some of the things that we can do to try and combat this issue. Well, I think it really important one. And one that I try and practices to actually pause before sending a brother sends you a message that really gets your back up or he said something to you at the meeting. It’s really easy to quickly.

99. 48:06

    Type A the perfect response which is really going to put them in its place and tell them where he’s gone wrong and hit the send button, does the north lot of wisdom and taking the time to actually pause before sending and And maybe pretend that that email is just as valuable as the Scrolls and parchments that Paul wrote on. He couldn’t afford to make a mistake with his writing because it was an awful lot of work to rewrite it. So maybe there’s that’s a good thing to think about. What would the Apostle Paul be doing if he was writing this response?

100. 48:39

     He’d take the time to think about it and then maybe take the time to just write it down and text document, not in your email inbox and save it on your desktop and Walk away for an hour, two hours, maybe, even a day. And I’d say that if you do that on all of those instances, you’ll probably only send two percent of those emails because by the time you’ve cooled down and you thought about it and when you come back to your desktop and open it, you think well I’m glad I didn’t see in that and really if we do this the really great thing is that our Brethren get up built and uplifted without us having to do anything.

101. 49:21

     They’ve got no idea how much better. They feel that day because of the fact that We didn’t send them the email, so it’s a great way to build up your brethren the faith without doing anything.

102. 49:35

     And the second thing I think, in a digital age, we really need to remember this talk in person wherever possible. That’s just so much better to talk face-to-face.

103. 49:48

     Arranging brothers. Made this decision. A few years back. We had a couple of instances with a reasonably in-depth discussion going on, an email going around in circles and getting more heated and more heated. And after that we made the decision that all of those types of discussions must be face-to-face. The only thing is the arranging Brethren email to each other a minor matters of arrangement.

104. 50:11

     The meeting is going to start a bit later next week or somebody wants to borrow the data projector. Everything else is deferred until we can meet face-to-face because once you can actually see each other hear the tone of their voice, that’s so much easier to talk together as Brethren and to know exactly what each other’s thinking.

105. 50:31

     And in relation to that, for those of you that are really tempted to contribute to christadelphians discussion forums with people on the other side of the world. Just walk away because generally the only reason you want to contribute to that discussion. As Pride, you want to prove to those Brothers, on the other side of the world that you know, the answer to this question. And they don’t.

106. 50:56

     And the only reason we’re contributing as Pride, then we should just walk away and let spend that time instead helping somebody in your Ecclesia. Go and visit somebody in your work Leisure and talk to them face-to-face. That will achieve far more than arguing with a brother on the other side of the world that you’ve never met.

107. 51:14

     So, racing to the end. The third point. Remaining separate. Now, there are numerous warnings in scripture about remaining separate from the world. In order to remain wholly, like for instance, Leviticus 20, we don’t have time to look it up, ye shall be holy unto me for, I am Holy and have severed you from other people that you should be mine. And the quote from first of John, which I had on my opening slide, everything that’s in the world. It’s not a father.

108. 51:50

     Now when I first came into the truth christadelphians will really strong. I’m not having a television like a lot of Christian. Laughing house, has refused to have a television because that was bringing the world into your home. But in contrast, the internet and smartphones, which offer access to far worse of the world than television ever did have made their way into our homes, and it’s like almost without a peep from us.

109. 52:13

     And I think part of the issue is the television was a single-use entertainment device. We could say we can do without that. We don’t need it. But internet and technology is multi-use. There are valid reasons why in our day and age. We actually need it. So many things are using moving to online banking. But we need to be really aware of the dangers that presents. Now, I’m not going to suggest that we throw away. Our smartphones in the way.

110. 52:39

     We got rid of Television, we do have it to make sure that we are 100%. We’re of the dangers that are coming into our house now because it’s a mixed audience tonight. I’m going to speak in it. Slightly catch language about this next section, but I think most people here that need need to know, will know what I’m talking about. So, the corruption of the The world that the internet opens up.

111. 53:01

     There’s nothing new in most ways. So when Balaam was unable to curse, Israel, Israel curse themselves with the women of Moab, David. A man after God’s Own Heart, he fell to the temptation of the lust of the eyes. The Corinthian Brethren had Temptation paraded before them on a daily basis. When the temple prostitutes came through the city, Now the technology that we have enables us to commit exactly that same sin but within one subtly different way, enables it to do that and secrecy we can commit the lust of the eyes and secrecy the Israelites. In the plains of Moab had to do it in plain sight of their Brethren.

112. 53:42

     The Corinthians risk being seen by their Brethren as they walked up to the Temple of Aphrodite. We, however, can gaze upon all that the world has to offer in the Obviously have their own home and nobody will ever know. So we think And the trouble is that temptation is all around us. When we go online and the pictures and the images and the words had specifically designed to tempt the lust of the Flesh.

113. 54:11

     And once we take that move of clicking on those things, the flesh is not happy at once more and it wants worse. And the trouble is that we can deceive ourselves with thoughts about, that’s not wrong because I’m not doing anything. I’m just looking That’s okay. I’m just looking. I’m not really doing anything wrong.

114. 54:33

     But of course, it’s impossible to look on things like that without having related thoughts and Christ taught the Folly of that thinking didn’t even Matthew 25. Again, we haven’t got time to look it up. I say unto you, that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her, hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

115. 54:52

     Now some of you might be sitting here thinking well how could Brethren. Possibly look at some of those things that the internet has to offer. How could they possibly do that? It’s obvious that they shouldn’t be doing it but we need to remember before we condemn and judge that as has already been mentioned David, a man after God’s Own Heart fell in the same manner that OB has a great phrase that he David did it on the rooftop and we do it on a laptop, but it’s exactly the same sin that we falling.

116. 55:23

     To and Brethren that are trapped in the sand. Need help. Love and compassion, not a judgment. And if some of you here tonight are struggling with this problem and private before you condemn yourself, as somehow less worthy than your brethren. Because of this, remember all have sinned and fallen short. We are all unworthy. And just remember, no temptation has taken you, but such as is common to man, but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that, which able but will with the Temptation.

117. 55:54

     Also, make a way to escape that you may be able to Bear it. Don’t draw away from God if you struggle with this problem, you need to draw near to God instead and pray that he will show that way of Escape that will work for you, which may not be easy. Lots of Professionals in the world.

118. 56:11

     See, this particular problem as an addiction, it’s just like, alcohol and drugs and as a cliche as we need to make sure we’re not naive and think that this couldn’t possibly be a problem for anybody in our Ecclesia. We need to be aware that this can be a problem and we need to be prepared to help people with compassion Hearing in a non-judgmental way, just two quick points.

119. 56:42

     Sorry. Ways that we can overcome overcome, this particular problem, I haven’t got time to look in detail, but just taking a little analogy from Hezekiah when sennacherib came against the city here, as well as praying to God. He undertook some certain things to do to help the city. And one of the things he did is he went out and he stopped the water supplies and sennacherib as an analogy of sin and out at our lives.

120. 57:10

     What if he’s like I was doing was taking away something that That could keep sennacherib alive. So we need to take away, whatever it is, that keeps that sin alive that feeds it. And of course, there are a number of ways we can do that. We need to again, if we fall temptation to those things, if we’re alone, we need to put a device in a different room often will power.

121. 57:33

     Won’t be enough to stop us falling prey. We need to remove ourselves from the issue in those times of weakness. And of course, as families. We need to filter the internet that’s coming into our house. The smallest thing we can do to stop the supply, is to actually put a filter on our home internet Supply.

122. 57:55

     And here’s a car. Also built up the defense’s. You might say, well, putting on internet filter on is building up the defenses, but I think really building up the defenses as about building our conscience because the only thing that can defend us from falling prey to the sin of Temptation of looking on the things that the world has to offer on the internet as to have a conscience that tells us that we can’t do that, that it is wrong. That that is an abomination of my God’s eyes and I want to be holy like He is Holy and our conscience needs to be strengthened so that we could, we can do that. Won’t go any further into that, because I believe that’s the subject of brother Marx talks, so just quickly in conclusion. Apologies for going slightly over. I blame the incorrect dongle.

123. 58:45

     As we’ve said, I think technology can be a threat to our faith, and three ways, it diminishes, our ability to think deeply on God’s word, that provides a medium, where we find it all too easy to pull each other down and it puts the worst the world has to offer at our fingertips and the seven ways we can start to combat this. Devote specific time to undistracted, reading acknowledge, and fix, whatever it is. That drives their need for distraction, wait, and consider. Before sending online, communication talk in person. Wherever possible, make no provision for the flesh. By limiting, our access to the things on the internet and build up our defenses by the developing of our conscience and the seventh thing, which I haven’t touched on already and I think almost the most important is that we need to start being more.

124. 59:34

     A much more honest with each other, about the Temptations that we face in our age. And we need to be willing to admit when we are personally struggling and be willing with meekness and humility to help those that struggle. Thank you. Thank you for listening to the good Crystal. And talks podcast, we hope this talk helped you in your walk. If you would like to hear more, please subscribe for new episodes and leave a review and apple podcast or whatever service you are using to help more people find the show when they search for it.

125. 1:00:17

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126. 1:00:57

     Thank you for listening. God, bless and talk to you next week.