Technology and the Character of Contemporary Life

As I was reading from Albert Borgmann's "Technology and the Character of Contemporary Life" today, a few things stuck out to me.

1) An understanding of excellence: page 126 - "I believe that there still is a vaguely understood and agreed upn notion of excellence. It is embodied in the kind of life we would have liked to lead if only the world had not been mean and oppressive and we had been endowed with a greater strength, more talent, and a richer education.... (1) The excellent person is a world citizen who udnertands the structure and coherence of the universie in its scientific and historical dimensions. (2) The excellent person is gallant as well as good and intelligent adn seeks physical valor as well as inellectual refinement. (3)The excellen person is accomplished in music and versed in the arts... (4) The virtue of charity according to which real strength lies not in material force or cuning but in the power to give and forgive, to help and to heal."

-I find it needless to say that American culture embraces this in very very few places.

2) On pleasure - page 141 - speaking of Tibor Scitovsky's "The Joyless Economy" (I think I need to read this book now) - "Scitovsky finds that American technological culture favors comfort; and that accounts for the dullness and shoddiness of our leisure poossessions and practices. The tendency toward comfort, in turn Scitovsky traces to our Puritan heritage, to our disdain of plesure and our preference of work over play and of production over consumption... Scitovsky often urges engagement, education, and skill as necessary for genuine pleasure, a view that is consistent with his commitment to traditional excellence."

The above 2 points speak to the American love of leisure, but the reciprocal nature of happiness and leisure. As we have more leisure time with we fill with consumption, we are less happy.

3) Page 140 - "Since there are obvious limits to the time and capacity of an individual's consumption, entertainment respects rather than attacks physical boundaries." Maybe this is the reson TV draws us in - we can turn it on and turn it off on a whim. It does not creat boundaries for our time, like many productive activities like wood work or sitting down to play a piece of music. Stopping is not always an option with a craft, but it always is with TV.

There is much depth and insight in chapter 18, and these are a few morsels. They have challenged my perspectives on my life in one afternoon, and I have much to ponder...

How did you get here and have you changed after reading?

So, through my web counter, I can see how people arrived at my page, and I think after seeing the links, blogging takes on a new life. The most frequent things people find are my critique of Easton Town Center, the Purpose Driven Life, and outlines for Neil Postman (I'm sorry I never finsished that if you search for Postman and end up here). So what is the big deal that people do google searches and my page comes up for something like easton town center?

Links to my thoughts:
Easton Town Center - Please read this, it is important
Purpose Driven Life

I hope and pray that after reading some of my critiques, it may challenge the readers to start making value judgements in every decision, and hopefully change some of their decisions. Is it good for me and for my neighbors and friends for places like Easton Town Center to exist (what value does this article have? What are the benefits and drawbacks?) ? Is the Purpose Driven Life enough to foster authentic spiritual growth that is not simply consumeristic, callow, and focused on the self?

I hope the pages have helped you and challenged you if you have found your way here.

Click the links and think hard about why these things and places are so darn popular in our era.

Peace,
David

Also reading

I am also reading Albert Borgmann's Technology and the Character of Contemporary Life.

It is a challenging read and a great perspective of the abuses that technology has created, or on the other side, the absolutely poor self-control that human's have.

His distinctions between "devices" and "things" enlightens every reader, and his linking of technology to commodification and consumerism are powerful. I am barely half way through the book, and it has been amazing.

Also, I am revisiting the final books of the Chronicles of Narnia. I read the Horse and His boy over the weekend, and am currently reading the Magician's Nephew. It's exciting, and Lewis offers amazing bits of challenge to me.

I specifically like the Silver Chair's focus on remembering. Just remember these 4 things, and how quickly they forget! How often are we like that? All we have to do is remember our foundation and the worldview that we claim to be a part of, and our direction is clear. It is when we forget that we find ourselves wandering far from our path, and need the assistance of the divine to return home.

The Inconvenient Conscience - George Cardinal Pell

In the most recent First Things, there is an article by George Cardinal Pell called "The Inconvenient Conscience". After reading The Death of Character this article ratified from a Catholic perspective another problem with our understanding of morality, and that is, our understanding of our conscience.

He makes multiple statements about the subjection of the conscience to our feelings. E.g. The spirit must be moving if we feel good about the decisions. He might as well call this idolatry. He wonders why many people make decisions they feel good about, call it the Spirit's leading, but actually sin in acting out their decision. A good example would be the the girl in the movie "Saved" sleeping with her boyfriend because she thought Jesus was telling her to. This a completely irrational understanding of the conscience and the work of the Holy Spirit. Only when the feelings from the conscience line up with the Scripture, can we then think it is the Holy Spirit moving us. Pell adds that a persons conscience cannot go against the Catholic Church, or they must search themselves, the scripture, and be open to more conversations. The church has authority in his view (he is a good Catholic after all), and he is calling Catholics who hold divergent view on Abortion, the Death Penalty, and Contraception to a higher standard. This seemed to flow well from the thoughts of Hunter. Why do we do what we do?