Today's computer activated world has given man the impression that he is virtually super-human and almost "god-like", but reality bytes (pun intended) when you examine it.
Omniscient: All knowing
Modern man can with a few keystrokes on their keyboard obtain almost any information using Bing or Google. No more thumbing through encyclopedias or other reference books. He has a system that brings to his mind the latest information available on eHow and Wiki. He can expand his "knowledge" to almost limitless levels. He can also know more about what is going on in "his world" than ever before. He can read an article about:
- a shooting in Connecticut.
- a bomb-blast in Iraq
- a drought in Africa
- a missile lauch in North Korea.
- a glacier shrinking in Greenland.
- a girl missing in Florida
However, most of the "knowledge" is really just "trivia" dressed up as information. Much of it has not been filtered or checked by any qualified person. The phrase "I saw it on the internet" has become a laugh-line for many a joke, TV shows and movies. We must understand that information is not wisdom. It's data and that's all. Wisdom is the ability to take that data and make a leap beyond what you've read or consumed.
Wisdom is not being stupid, and stupidity is something we seem to have an abundance of these days.
Omni-present: Present Everywhere at the same time
The internet has given us the ability to reach out to people all over the globe. We can have multiple browser tabs opened and be Facebook-ing, Twitter-ing, browsing, Google-ing, e-mailing, all around the world all at seemingly the same time. We can also spread ourselves thinner than ever before. Commercials show Dad's and Mom's "being-there" for their kids via "skype" and "face-time". In one commercial, Dad shows up to his son's music recital via Facetime on the iPad. (Way to go Dad! I am sure it will mean a lot to him). You don't have to be there in person... you just have to be there "virtually". Who needs to fly home for Thanksgiving when we can just have computer monitors placed around the table?
Also, the internet has given us the idea that we can "be there" for everyone in the world... even those we have never met. Like God answering prayers, we believe we can reach out to a hurting world with our electronic fingers and heal a hurting world. We write long emotional poems and sermons to heal every kind of hurting person we have become aware of through our network of "friends" and "friends-of-friends". We must stop what we are doing (doesn't matter since we have an infinite amount of time .. see later section) and reach out to them and grace them with out omniscient wisdom because we just googled a story on that subject and now we feel we are an expert on the subject and als one of our friends-of-friends had a similar (well not really similar..but quite close to be used here) incident that we feel would be of use to this person who we have never met and probably never will. Mean while, our real next door neighbor is at the door wanting to ask if you for a favor and you are pretending to not be home.
Additionally I think Google-maps has allowed us to feel like God in one other way. Through it, we can fly to any part of the world and "drop in" in a seconds time. At no other time in man's existence has he ever been given this ability. Zoom-out, move-east, move south, zoom-in... and BAM! Your there! We are never lost (at least not in a physical road-map way). We can also see danger ahead (look's like there's bad traffic ahead) and we can avoid it and not be late....again!
Infinite amounts of time:
We perceive God as being outside of space AND time. It is what allows him to hear ALL of our prayers at the SAME TIME. So too, with our computers we perceive that time slows down or even stops when we are on the internet or the computer. Because these devices do things so "fast" we think what the amount of time we are using them doesn't add up. Like a scene out of the movie "Clock Stoppers" we think that time has stopped for us, but everyone else moves on.
In reality though, each of these activities takes a certain amount of " real time". We don't have a 25 or 30 hour day. We still only have 24 hours and reality slaps us hard in the face when:
....Dinner is not done.
....Work is yet unfinished.
....You missed another appointment.
....You will have to do with another 4 hours of sleep tonight (6 if you are lucky).
....The bills have not been paid
....and on and on and on
Please don't get me wrong. Computers and the Internet have been very helpful to man. But all advances have their place, time and limits. They do not make us super-humans. They do not give us god-like qualities. We need to turn them off and:
- Physically be there for others
- Prioritize our time and do the things that are important and meaningful to those around us.
- Accept our limits and that we don't have to know everything
Personal insight.
Even as I am writing this very blog, I am thinking to myself, "My God, am I trying to be you? Am I wasting my time right now? Am I trying to be omniscient? omni-present? omnipotent?" The anwer to that question quite frankly is "yes" and I too need to hear my own words and take them to heart and change course as well.
Finally, we are NOT God. We are really just people with grand-illusions of ourselves and if we allowed ourselves to be analyzed by a psychologist, I think we would deserve to be put into mental hospitals. My concern is for our future generations. We, who did not grow up with this technology, still know what it was like BEFORE we had the internet and instant gratification. We remember having to write letters, pick up the phone and talk, either looking up information or accept the fact we did not know. We lived within our means and our limitations.
What will THIS generation be like that does not see its limitations and believes itself to be super-human-gods? What egotistical maniacs with illusions of grandeur will they become?
Makes me wonder.
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