THE LIFE WE’RE LOOKING FOR:
Reclaiming relationship in a technological world
By Andy Crouch
Hodder & Stoughton. 216 pages. £14.99
ISBN 978 1 399 801 768
If modern technology means that we’ve never been more ‘connected’ to others, why do we feel increasingly disconnected from them?
Given that modern technology is sold as being a win-win (‘You’ll now be able to do “this”, and no longer have to do “this” ’) why does so much of it seem to diminish us? As the number of our Facebook ‘friends’ goes up, why does the number of good friends we have seem to be going down?
Andy Crouch explores this cultural phenomenon, and suggests that whilst our greatest human need is to be embedded in rich relationships with those around and treated as ‘persons’ (in mind, heart, body, soul), we have used technology (driven by the desire for ‘mammon’) to build an impersonal world. ‘What mammon wants is to turn a world made for and stewarded by persons into a world made of and reduced to things.’ Yes, it’s more ‘efficient’ for us to have Amazon delivery drivers who’ll turn up at all hours (robot-like), but it creates a disconnected world that means we all (especially the driver) have to behave more like impersonal robots ourselves. Modern technology usually costs us too – shrinking our creative capacity and experience, and leaving us with new burdens. Mobile phones are great, but they often leave us with less time for people, and in constant need of being near a charger!
The answer, according to Crouch, is to acknowledge this, and to seek to build a culture (and so technology) centred around serving our personal relationships. More broadly, we should prioritise the building of communities where we are known and loved; not disconnected and independent from each other, but mutually connected and dependent. We should design technology that goes with the grain of the way God made us – things that bring out our creativity, and help us to connect with one another as embodied ‘persons’. In a culture all at sea on issues of personhood, a counter-revolution is needed.
I was moved, challenged, and inspired by this book. Why not read it, give it to a friend (Christian or not), and then meet up to talk about it!
