The Double-Edge Sword of Technology
A commentary by Darris McNeely
United Church of God pastor, Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, Indiana
Google is the
biggest search engine on the Internet. I use it just about everyday,
as you may do also. I don't even look up phone numbers in a book
anymore. It is faster to "Google it".
No wonder the founders of Google, Sergey Brin and Larry Page have become
rich, the toast of America's Silicon Valley. They have also been
named "Men of the Year" by the Financial Times.
Technology is a wonderful thing. I am glad to be alive in this age
and have access to the Internet, computers and all the wonders that the
microchip has brought to our world.
The promise that this technology holds is in many ways immeasurable.
Massive computing power applied to the challenges facing our world holds
out hope for solutions that will improve the everyday lives of the world's
poor.
Technology is being harnessed to prepare for a possible avian flu outbreak.
A super computer at Los Alamos, New Mexico runs simulations to anticipate
how fast and in what patterns such an outbreak would affect the United
States. Scientists hope to quickly get a handle on any outbreak and lessen
its overall impact.
Can it be done? Possibly! One certainly hopes so.
Google's inventors Brin and Page who are in their early 30's
are filled with energy and ambition. They have gone beyond normal computing
paradigms to get this far. The goal for their search engine seems to
be to rival the human brain in speed and capacity.
A recent Financial Times articles quotes Brin saying that the human
brain "is existence proof of how [information search technology]
can be better". The brain's biological computing power is "very
easy to use... and it's very quick, and it's much faster
than the way [current] human/computer interactions work today... So
it's clear there's no inherent ceiling we're hitting
upon" (December 23, 2005, page 13).
Could a computer search engine ever match the analytical power of the
human brain? What kind of world would that create? I get a bit nervous
whenever I read such boasts.
Frankly, I don't think man will ever invent anything to match
the creative capacity that God, the Creator of life, has built into the
human mind. Yes, I believe that God is the Creator or Intelligent Designer
of all life on this planet.
Because of continuing efforts to remove, bar and forbid the teaching
or mention of God or Jesus Christ in the public forum, I have greater
cause to fear how science and technology may be used if we place too
much confidence in what we invent. As we become more reliant on technology
and less reliant on God we head into a box canyon with no escape.
Technology is growing exponentially and impacting our daily lives in
more ways than we realize. Data storage has become so inexpensive that
it is now feasible to preserve every form of communication—both
verbal and written—that we produce. That can be a blessing or
a curse, depending on the values of those who have access to and control
over those records.
That is the double edge sword that technology poses!
As we become more dependent on scientific and technical achievements
to the exclusion of true spiritual values we are in danger of creating
a world without God. If that happens we will find ourselves very close
to what is described in Genesis 11—the tower of Babel incident.
In an attempt to play god, humans then attempted to build a tower to
the heavens. Because they were in defiance of God's will He did
not permit them to continue. He confused their languages and scattered
them abroad over the face of the earth.
The Bible prophecies of a time in the future when a technically advanced
political system, called "Babylon the great," will create
a global society that trades in the " bodies and souls of men" (Revelation
18:13). It will be a system without a soul that will once again attempt
to make human ability equal with or superior to that of their Creator.
But God will not let this worldwide system bring an end to civilization.
It will meet its doom at the return of Jesus Christ.
Technology plays an important role in our world. But we need to understand
its limitations. By relying on it alone we cannot discover the deep spiritual
truths that reveal the vital missing dimension to life. For that we must
rely on God and His revelation.
 A
good starting place for finding the incredible purpose that God has already
planned for your life and future is to request, read online or download
now our free and exciting booklet: What is Your Destiny?
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