A Better Hope than Blind Technological Embrace
The tide of technology sweeping over contemporary society is transforming the way we live on a scale never before witnessed. In a world in which data is the currency of power, there should be no stone left unturned when it comes to our analysis of the impacts of ‘big tech’ on society.
There are no doubt countless advantages to the sea of innovation which is sweeping over our world. As everyday objects become ‘smart’, they are removing friction and frustration, and enabling us to live far safer, happier and longer lives than has ever been possible before. It seems that with every year that passes, the human race is becoming ever more effective at mitigating the limitations of human nature, and is striving for that desire for transcendence which exists within each one of us, as those made in the image of our creator.
Yet it is not something which should be taken for granted that these technological transformations are without risk or cost. Whether as individuals, families or nations, there are profoundly disruptive, dangerous and ultimately destructive implications associated with such vast and invasive technology. The capability which has been acquired by human authorities through technology, is able to exert more influence and force over others than at any other time in history. And while such capability can very well be used for much good, we should have the greatest scepticism towards those who claim it can’t just as easily be used for much evil.
The pattern of technological overreach
The propensity for people to embrace technology too eagerly, might be appropriately considered to be ‘technological overreach’. This refers to the pattern of behaviour exhibited by individuals, and culture at-large to naively embrace technology in view of its benefits, without being commensurately cautious about the need to avoid its dangers.
Ever since the tower of Babel, described in Genesis 11:1-9, man's self-interested ambition has been fuelled by the lure of technology. In that ancient narrative, the people are described as settling in a plain in a land called Shinar. There, they utilised a newly-developed technology to make bricks and bake them, and to use bitumen for mortar, rather than using stone. They used this far cheaper and more efficient construction technique to build a city for themselves ‘with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that [they] may make a name for [themselves]’ (Gen. 11:4).
In an act that can be seen both as judgement and blessing, God intervenes to frustrate their entire enterprise. He sees the city and tower they were building and confuses their language ‘so that they will not understand each other’ (Gen. 11:7). Despite frustrating their plans, and setting in motion a global cultural disunity that would endure throughout history, God’s intervention serves to limit their capacity for self-harm, and in that sense is an act of grace.
Yet this example of technological overreach is seen being replicated in a whole host of scenarios throughout history. Whether it is the development and acquisition of nuclear weapons, the widespread adoption of social media, or the excessive use of carbon-emitters, with all the potential - or actual - harm that ensues, it appears that humanity has a profound disposition towards technological overreach.
With this in mind, there arises a pervasive need to constantly make corrections, whether large or small, as we adopt new forms of technology. To take the example of social media, what started off appearing purely as a blessing - inasmuch as it improves our ability to communicate and share information - with hindsight it has also seen disastrous effects among young people.
Whether directly or indirectly, social media has led to a growth in experiences of anxiety and depression; it has exacerbated relationship breakdown; it has led to an erosion of trust towards authorities and has drawn our attention away from deep, meaningful interactions with our friends, family and neighbours. Social media also appears to have made us more ego-centric and obsessed with image; it has nurtured our impatience and weakened our strength of character; and - despite its promises to the contrary - has left us more lonely and isolated than ever before. In many ways, social media has been a profoundly dehumanising enterprise for us to engage with, and we would be wise to make urgent corrections by suppressing its prevalence in our lives.
A reason for technological caution
It is within the context of Christian faith that the reason for caution around technology is particularly acute. The Bible offers a compelling and historically-grounded meta-narrative of the story of mankind which provides a comprehensive value structure and teleology to life. Beginning with our creation by a loving and powerful God, human beings are described as those made in his image and bearing his likeness. We fell into sin through the actions of our first ancestors and since then our hearts have been totally corrupted, and prone to self-reliance and self-interest.
As the story unfolds, we are introduced to Jesus as God’s own Son - the one to whom our lives are owed. In love he offered his life for our sin, and rose to eternal resurrection life, making possible our salvation from sin and our hope of eternal life. As Jesus himself recounts in John 14:6, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
As such, we find in Christianity an explicit indication as to the basic inclination of the human heart: to reject God and elevate ourselves. This is the same heart-inclination which produced the events at Babel and they are the same inclinations which act as the driving force behind much of our technological advance today.
Yet standing contrary to the Christian gospel, according to what one might call the ‘gospel of technology’, the so-called ‘fall’ is an illusion. Indeed, rather than having a basic fallen condition, the rise of man is merely burdened with impediments. Our process of self-directed evolution expands into the technological era, as we attempt to redeem ourselves through technological innovation, rising beyond the constraints of human weakness, to experience the transcendence of evolving towards being an all-powerful multi-planetary species which might even be able to evade the curse of physical death.
The power of this anti-God meta-narrative is that it taps into the perennial hopes and aspirations of each of us - our desire for transcendence, destined for glory and immortality. But the danger is that it is ultimately impotent. As God has demonstrated with the people at Babel, he remains sovereign over the enterprise of human beings, and is ready and able to intervene at any stage. What’s more, no amount of human effort, whether moral or intellectual or technological, can compensate for our fundamental need for Jesus. Our universe is full of decay by God’s ordination and no amount of human ingenuity can allow us to escape that predicament.
It therefore appears to be the case that the secular narrative underpinning the gospel of technology calls for an end to salvation in Jesus Christ, and bears the distinct risk of ultimately leading people to nurture their sinful desire for self-reliance and self-glorification, and in so doing miss out on eternal life with Jesus. That should lead to a pervasive caution to those who engage in equipping humanity with ever-greater capabilities through technology.
A motivation for joyful innovation
While the observations above do help to provide a sound justification for caution in the face of technological advance, they do not warrant a wholesale scepticism towards technology. Indeed, if it is the case that God has made this world and has made human beings to work and flourish within it, then it follows that he has also prepared a trail of discovery and invention for us to follow in, as though - in so doing - we were imitating his essential creative qualities and participating in our nature as God’s image-bearers.
Indeed one of the primary contributions of Biblical revelation is that it presents us with a creation mandate - an overarching purpose or teleology - to employ. As God instructs Adam and Eve in Genesis 1:28, we are to “be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.” In this vein, human beings are to imitate the creative work of God in tending to creation and making it more suitable and effective at serving the legitimate purposes of those who dwell within it. Indeed, this constitutes us participating in God’s good purposes for mankind.
In an analogous manner, in Genesis 6:11-18 we hear a summary of part of the life of Noah and his relationship with God. These verses describe how “God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways” (verse 11), and so he chose to issue judgement on the earth and destroy its inhabitants. Yet in his mercy, he instructed Noah to build an ark to protect and rescue him from God’s judgement, and Noah acted consistently with God’s instructions to participate in this enterprise. In so doing, God demonstrated his character qualities of justice and mercy, and foreshadowed the coming of Jesus who would himself act as an ark to redeem people from God’s judgement.
Yet a unique facet of the story of Noah’s ark is that God uses technology as a means of grace. By providing the technical specification for this ark - that it should be made of “cypress wood” and should be coated “with pitch inside and out” (verse 14) - God reveals to Noah how he should use technology to fulfil God’s purposes for his life. Indeed, in verse 15, God instructs Noah quite explicitly that “this is how you are to build it”. This was God’s means of establishing a covenant with Noah and of saving both Noah and his family.
Throughout the Bible, God wants the world to know his ultimate sovereignty and control over technology and over those who wield it. The Lord declares in Isaiah 54:16-17, “it is I who created the blacksmith…it is I who have created the destroyer to wreak havoc; no weapon forged against you will prevail…this is the heritage of the servants of the Lord”. In so doing God makes it clear that even those who create weapons of war and use them are all, ultimately, within the confines of the sovereignty of God’s will, and that he will ensure that his purposes are fulfilled.
These perspectives, for those who recognise God’s role in creation and his intentions for created beings, enable us to joyfully embrace participation in technological advance, knowing that we are imitating the creative acts of God and are working to fulfil our divinely-ordained creation mandate. When our technology sings in tune with our creator, it can serve to amplify his glory and direct our attention towards his wonderful plan of redemption and the hope of redemption we can have through Jesus.
A better hope than technology
The technology of this world promises a great deal and by all accounts it has delivered a great deal too. From the emergence of vaccinations and antibiotics which have saved countless millions of lives, to the computer chips and fibre optic cables we use to process and share information around the world, innovators have been a resounding blessing to humanity. Yet we’ve seen that the ultimate hope of transcendence which is implicitly aspired to by our most ambitious innovators, is destined to fail at bringing us lasting health, fulfilment and life. It is a false hope.
Yet the Christian faith presents the enterprise of mankind within the context of the perfect and impeachable plans of our sovereign creator God. As Paul announces in Romans 8:38-39, “I am convinced that neither death nor life…nor any powers…nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
God is not intimidated by ‘big tech’. He sees no war of equals in the fight against the gospel of technology. Indeed it is true that Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates, and all those who appear to human eyes as playing with fire, exist only by divine appointment and that God uses them as his means of unfolding his divine purposes. While there is cause for caution in the technology which sinners wield, and for constant course-correction as we go, there should ultimately be no fear that anything will thwart God’s glorious and gracious redemptive plan for his people.
