Habits of the High-Tech Heart: Living Virtuously in the Information Age [Paperback]

I read this book as assigned by a seminary professor. The course was titled, "Technically Christian: The Internet and Christianity."

"Quentin Schultze has a dark, pessimistic view of technology," were the words spoken by one of my classmates regarding this book. I immediately disagreed with him. Or perhaps it is more accurate to say that I both agree and disagree with him. I agree that at first glance, Schultze does indeed seem to have a pessimistic view of the Internet, but I actually appreciate the so-called "dark" view that he presents. In fact, I do not perceive it as "dark;" I would choose to use the word "realistic" to describe Schultze's view.

Schultze writes, "In the Hebrew tradition, faithful people seek shalom--right relations of peace and justice." (70) It seems that he does not wish to do away with technology, he simply wants people to use technology in a way that fosters shalom. Many of the people who use the latest technology, especially the internet, maintain anonymity as they surf. Their anonymity often seems to encourage people to exhibit behavior and attitudes that would never be displayed in their day-to-day lives. Schultze calls people into reflection on their own behaviors and invites them into an attitude of self-accountability. Such self-examination and accountability is not only healthy, but it can serve to encourage people to seek new and wholesome ways in which existing (and cutting edge) technology can be used.

"The sad truth is that we are not interested so much in rebinding brokenness in life as we are in enjoying greater power and control." (73) When I read this statement, only one word came to mind: sin. Sin brings imperfection to every human institution, including the technological realm. Not only does technology lead people to ignore the call to shalom, it can also feed individuals' desire for power and control. Even viewing religious services over television is a way of seeking control; after all, if we don't like what is being preached, we can turn off the television! But how many people would "turn off" their own pastor by simply getting up and walking out of a church service?

Generally speaking, rules of etiquette within our society do not allow people to simply walk out of church in the middle of a service; televised worship services, or websites found on the internet, can encourage self-centeredness as people who are made uncomfortable by the proclamation of an offensive Gospel-a message which, by the way, should be offensive-maintain their own comfort by refusing to hear the message being proclaimed.

Human wisdom is key to discerning appropriate uses for technology, according to Schultze. Throughout this book, he discusses many situations in which wisdom and discernment and wisdom. Unlike the individual who noted the "darkness" in this book, I find it hopeful and encouraging. There are indeed no "fixes" offered; the individual is invited into self-examination and discernment. In examining the so-called "dark" side of technology, perhaps we can find enlightening ways in which to use technology in a helpful, healthy, wholesome manner.

Dr. Schultze eloquently unmasks the successes of technology to show how values have been displaced. He does not treat technology itself as an evil, but he does spell out the Pyrrhic victory in store for us in our never ending quest for faster messaging and the overzealousness of capturing information.

Dr. Schultze offers some sobering thoughts for chief information officers in all industries as well as the CEO's. He has managed to focus on the very heart of what our technical world has done to unravel the cloth of our character. It was uplifting and encouraging for me after 20 years in the industry to realize that others are noticing this trend - a trend that needs reversal. His observations align well with the reasons many software engineers are looking at agile programming practices (e.g. extreme programming, SCRUM etc) which establish their foundations on direct interaction between developers, nurturing the courage to do the right thing and realizing the basic humanity of developers themselves.

In pure economics alone, we are finding the deception of our quest for more computing capacity. While upholding Moore's law to double computing capacity every eighteen months, industry has also realized that the cost of research and development has doubled every 18 months as well. Basic arithmetic tells us there will be a breaking point. Dr. Schultze tells us without explicitly doing the math we can look into our hearts and see another breaking point - a breaking point of common decency and the human spirit.

Living virtuously in the information age is an interesting thought. Quentin Schultze truly gives us something to think about in the Habits of the High-Tech Heart: Living virtuously in the information age. He spends the entire span of the book telling us that we should not "adopt every new information technology uncritically..." He also states in the preface, "My goal is not so much to discard database and messaging technologies as much as to adopt them to venerable ways of life anchored in age-old virtues." However I do not believe he has done this. He paints a clear picture of how the technology is something we need to be very critical of, and how it will effect our lives. He tells us that we need to question how this goes beyond "addressing annoying glitches and short-term inefficiencies. We also have to examine deeper moral issues, such as moderation, wisdom, humility, and authenticity." He never tells us in all of this how we are to do this. He never shines a light of hope that technology is not the spawn of the devil and we should destroy it and run as quickly as we can. Ok maybe I over stated this a little bit. He does not say we should run from technology, but rather except it not so unabatedly, but with some apprehension. He never in all of this helps us to see how this could be done with technology and living a virtuous life. He said himself that he struggles with this. I believe this is something that we as the current and future leaders of our faith bodies needs to figure out. Dr. Schultze says "a servant hears the call to responsibility, listens to those being served, and then ministers to them." We need to do this with the technology. My wife has said that if we get rid of the technology in the churches, or as Dr. Schultze says "de-technologize" our churches, then how are we going to reach the "entertain me" group. We are living in the time when every around us wants what ever it is now. We live in the era of microwaves, and fast computers. We do not want to wait, and if it is boring I want nothing to do with it. We as leaders of the church need to know this and account for it. We have moved beyond the age of the Baby Boomers. We need to know how to get the people in the pews, not for the sake of numbers, but for their sake. They will not come to church when the chips are down, or their lives are in the pits, because most of them do not know the church. They were not raised in a church family; they did not attend church on a regular basis, more than likely. So how do we get these people to come in and listen to what we have to say? We need to meet them where they are. We need to be in that hurry up and entertain me mind frame. How ever in doing this we need to heed Dr. Schultze. We can not run head first into the internet and new technologies in our churches without examining them first. We need to have ourselves grounded in a morally virtuous life, and then we can figure out this new technology and how it can work in our churches, and how we can make our church work on the web. If the internet is a new culture, and if it is possible to create a community in a culture, then we should be able to create community on the internet. For many in today's society, this is probably where they would turn when the troubles come. This is why we can talk about the inherent evils in being uncritical of new technology and how it will effect us and everyone around us, who we are in community with, but it also, shows how we can not stand by and let what is happening technology wise pass us by. If we as leaders do not embrace technology in some way I believe we are signing the termination papers for ourselves and the Christian community as we know it. Dr. Schultze gives us a place to begin to question the technology around us, and how it will affect our lives as moral, virtuous human beings, but this is only the beginning. Technology will have an effect on us, even if we as a church choose to de-technologize ourselves. It will affect us, because we did not do anything with it. It will affect us by having more people turn away from the light of the world, and to their computer screens to find the filler for the whole in their lives. While technology is something that Dr. Schultze, and I fully agree, says we need to be critical of, I believe that if we do not embrace it, we will be hurting ourselves, and not being true to our marching orders of Matthew 28:19 "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,". We need to go and meet the people where they are. So embrace it, critically, but embrace it.