Five key ideas about technological change

These are taken from a 1998 talk by Neil Postman, and recently featured in a recent Washington Post column, Is the Internet Evil?, by Christine Emba.

1. All technological change is a trade-off.
2. The advantages and disadvantages of a new technology are never distributed evenly.
3.  Embedded in every technology is a philosophy.
4. Technological change is not additive; it is ecological.
5. When a technology becomes mythic, it is always dangerous because it is then accepted as it is, and is therefore not easily susceptible to modification or control.

What is arrogance?

The Bible talks a lot about pride, arrogance, and humility.
The Psalms lament the arrogance of the wicked.

The prophet Samuel warns King Saul (1 Samuel 15:23)
For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king.

What is arrogance?
It is an attitude that affects how we relate to ourselves, to others, and to God.

Arrogance about myself says, ``My opinions, achievements, and behaviour are better than others.'' It is blind to our own limitations and failings.

Arrogance towards others says, ``I know you. I understand you. I know what you need. I have the solution. Join my program.''
``I understand this situation. Let me explain it to you.''

Theological arrogance says,
``I know the Bible. I understand this passage. I know what it means.''
`` My theology is right. Yours is wrong.''

Arrogance towards God says,
``I don't need you, God. I can save myself. I can function fine in life without you.''
``You really should act this way and not this way.''

Arrogance is the opposite of humility. But humility, does not preclude seeing our own value or having strong convictions about what is true and what is false.
Jesus embodied humility. His teaching illuminates it.

Pele and the beautiful game

On a recent flight I enjoyed watching the movie Pele: Birth of a Legend. It does many things well: pays tribute to the greatest footballer of all time, chronicles his life as a child in poverty, shows the role of Ginga (a unique creative style of play) in Brazilian history and identity, highlights issues of racism and social class, shows the value and influence of families, illustrates the passion of football, ... 
It is a beautiful game!



I think some of the negative reviews are too harsh.  Albeit, my view of movies is certainly coloured if I watch them on a long flight, when I am somewhat bored and half brain dead.

Who is a criminal?

I got addicted to watching the Spanish TV Series, The Money Heist, on Netflix. It concerns a group who enter the Spanish mint, blockade it, and print money for themselves.
My favourite scene is the below.

A colleague recently introduced me to the idea of legalised corruption. This is where people working in institutions do not explicitly break any laws but use their position to "rob" it. For example, bankers or university presidents who pay themselves ridiculous salaries. It is nicely captured here.

What about human free will?

I was recently asked what I think about free will. Does it exist?
What is my perspective as a Christian? as a physicist?

My immediate answer is: I don't know!
These are awfully hard and subtle questions which some very smart people have thought deeply about over the centuries.

From a physics point of view there are the problems associated with Laplace's demon. But that is classical, whereas the world is quantum (which makes it even more mysterious and controversial). Physicists can't even agree whether quantum theory is deterministic or not!
Furthermore, emergence complicates things and gives richer possibilities, particularly when we come to biology.

The mind-body problem encompasses many issues. I would say free will is part of a cognitive package including consciousness, conscience, moral compass, human identity, intuition, emotions, sense of purpose, and a sense of past, present and future. How these functions "emerge" from the physical brain or it what sense they "exist", involves a lot of rich (and controversial) biology and philosophy.

From a Christian point of view, one has to wrestle with the paradox of the relationship between human free will, God's sovereignty, and pre-destination (election). Humans comprise "heart, mind, body, and soul". I take this not as a taxonomy of separate entities but rather a description of our complexity and the many facets to our nature and existence. I really don't know quite how to relate them but want to embrace them all and live with the tension.

However,  in the end, I don't know.
I live by faith: essentially I live as if I do have freedom to make choices, choices for good or for evil, that I am accountable to God and to others for my choices, and that in all my human confusion and fraility, I do want to choose good!

Jesus and money

Jesus talked about money an awful lot. Indeed, he talked about it much more than about sex! He used money in illustrations, especially in parables. Jesus used money to teach about the Kingdom of God, about faith, trust, stewardship, authority, judgement, and repentance. But, Jesus was also crystal clear how the love of money (and what it represents) was in conflict with the Kingdom of God.
However, he was not totally negative about money, illustrating how it could be used to bless others and to be used for the good of the Kingdom.

I find it striking that in Jesus time almost anyone was a "daily wage worker". There were no annual salaries, no stock market, no insurance, no retirement funds, or government programs that give money to the poor, unemployed, disabled, widowed, or sick. Every family was just one setback (a major illness, a theft, an accident, or death) away from poverty. There were very few rich people. Furthermore, there were very few people who would have had assets and financial security comparable to the upper middle class in the West today. Jesus teaching about money (and its dangers and potential for good) should be a very sober warning to most Christians in the West, especially to me!