the Digital age, too much info not enough thinking

I've been pondering about the digital age, and my place in it recently. My wife and I just gained some cred in the digital age by getting our first smartphones. First it is odd to feel that we may have been "behind" in some way prior to this acquisition. As if culture had passed us by and we were the technological equivalent of a monkey rubbing sticks together (thanks apple for making me feel uncool). But the more I thought about it the more I realized this is the way of the world. Change always comes, you adapt to it, or allow yourself to be left behind by it. The same is true with the digital age. However, I feel that in some ways we are losing something real in the switch to 1s and 0s.

 More specifically this is the pattern I had noticed in my own choices in slowly switching over, but there is part of me that is unwilling to let go of my pre-digital self ("analog boy in a digital world"). I have a kindle to read, an ipod to listen to music, netflix to watch television, but do all of these digital things have the same essence as their analog compadres? The same feelings of ownership? I find myself resisting the switch because there is a tangible connection to analog things, it's a mindset for me. The feel of a book, the hum of a record, the honesty in a conversation, these are all things that are real, lucid, and true. I don't find the same truth in their digital counterparts, they seem rather shallow in comparison. Do you feel the same way in talking to an old friend on facebook as you do hanging out and catching up? At what point are we giving up on real honest connection for what is the going replacement for it? God made us for relationships (with humans, NOT computers) and I think technology masquerading as relationship cheapens that gift. I think in making the digital switch we as consumers, and more importantly as humans are giving up a lot. While I see technology as a good thing, it is more akin to a tool like any other invention than a social revolution. Thus, it is not a direct replacement for the activities it seeks to make easier (or circumvent). While the social network has the ability to spread information quickly, this ability has some downsides when it is the only resource some seek out. So it is surprising to me how many rely for news and updates from twitter posts and facebook statuses and form opinions and values from them without any outside information or research. Closing thought: There is a reason internet usage/computer usage can be classified as a process addiction. The need for instant gratification technology brings is rewiring brains (Wired article). The internet and technology are wonderful tools for education, communication, and information gathering however, but when taken as the new normal, they leave us with a breadth of knowledge but a lack of depth.

This whole idea is well discussed in the following blog discussing the Kony 2012 debacle and the spread of social media in replacement for actual thinking and logical reasoning.