Is technology slowly making us less human?

[Daniel-Jonathan]

To be human is to be made in the likeness of God.
To be human is to be imperfect.
God is perfect, which is why we are made in His likeness .. not in His exactness.

As technology begins to make our lives more convenient, do you think we are slowly drifting further from the likeness of God as humans?

For example, humans gets their hands dirty. We toil in the earth. We labor until a seedling turns into a crop we can harvest and finally eat.

The day is coming (and is actually already here) where robots manage most of the sowing and harvesting for us. All we have to do now is write the software to manage the robots.

Little by little, things we humans used to do are becoming automated for us. As a software engineer myself, I see this on a daily basis.

I feel my soul is pulling me away from my profession. I feel my profession wants me to be systematic, automated, and perfect while my soul wants me to be artistic, organic, and emotional.

Do any of you feel that it is becoming increasingly difficult to become in tune with our heavenly Father as technology continues to bring everyday conveniences to our fingertips?

Perhaps this is why people step away every once in a while and go camping out in the woods or go fishing or boating or surfing. Our humanity craves that nature that our Father created, while our world tells us to sit on the couch and get plugged in.

Sure, you can study your Bible from your cell phone. But so can you with an old-fashioned book, pencil, and paper. There's just something about the feel of a book, the smell of the pages, the tactile nature of writing notes by hand that cannot be replaced by scrolling my thumb on my cell phone screen.

 

[timothyu]

We become more human and further from God as we make ourselves gods over our technology. Unlike the God of the universe, we also become so dependant upon our creations that we become incapable of surviving on our own, living the way people did 100-200 years ago without the need for tech or corporations or superstores but who were quite handy at feeding themselves off the land and providing their own housing. Few would know where to start today being so dependant upon their consumer society. No resemblance to what God created.

 

[renniks]

To be human is to be made in the likeness of God.
To be human is to be imperfect.
God is perfect, which is why we are made in His likeness .. not in His exactness.

As technology begins to make our lives more convenient, do you think we are slowly drifting further from the likeness of God as humans?

For example, humans gets their hands dirty. We toil in the earth. We labor until a seedling turns into a crop we can harvest and finally eat.

The day is coming (and is actually already here) where robots manage most of the sowing and harvesting for us. All we have to do now is write the software to manage the robots.

Little by little, things we humans used to do are becoming automated for us. As a software engineer myself, I see this on a daily basis.

I feel my soul is pulling me away from my profession. I feel my profession wants me to be systematic, automated, and perfect while my soul wants me to be artistic, organic, and emotional.

Do any of you feel that it is becoming increasingly difficult to become in tune with our heavenly Father as technology continues to bring everyday conveniences to our fingertips?

Perhaps this is why people step away every once in a while and go camping out in the woods or go fishing or boating or surfing. Our humanity craves that nature that our Father created, while our world tells us to sit on the couch and get plugged in.

Sure, you can study your Bible from your cell phone. But so can you with an old-fashioned book, pencil, and paper. There's just something about the feel of a book, the smell of the pages, the tactile nature of writing notes by hand that cannot be replaced by scrolling my thumb on my cell phone screen.

I've had many of the same thoughts. Plant something. Work with your hands. Create something from raw materials. Read a real book.

We are living in Fahrenheit 451, a world of bland constant entertainment that doesn't satisfy.

 

[BobRyan]

To be human is to be made in the likeness of God.
To be human is to be imperfect.
God is perfect, which is why we are made in His likeness .. not in His exactness.

As technology begins to make our lives more convenient, do you think we are slowly drifting further from the likeness of God as humans?

For example, humans gets their hands dirty. We toil in the earth. We labor until a seedling turns into a crop we can harvest and finally eat.

The day is coming (and is actually already here) where robots manage most of the sowing and harvesting for us. All we have to do now is write the software to manage the robots.

let's say for the sake of discussion that all automation related to farming is wiped out. All the big farms use lots and lots of horses and everyone else that is not a farmer keeps doing what they do today.

So then you have the comfort and assurance that all those big massive farm companies have people with hands-in-the-dirt working the soil.

But most of us still do no farming at all -- isn't that already a problem even with no farm-automation??

 

[timothyu]

It only took 50 yrs to wipe out self sustaining farms that were beholden to no corporations.

 

[BeyondET]

synthetic biology is not far away.

 

[Occams Barber]

To be human is to be made in the likeness of God.
To be human is to be imperfect.
God is perfect, which is why we are made in His likeness .. not in His exactness.

As technology begins to make our lives more convenient, do you think we are slowly drifting further from the likeness of God as humans?

For example, humans gets their hands dirty. We toil in the earth. We labor until a seedling turns into a crop we can harvest and finally eat.

The day is coming (and is actually already here) where robots manage most of the sowing and harvesting for us. All we have to do now is write the software to manage the robots.

Little by little, things we humans used to do are becoming automated for us. As a software engineer myself, I see this on a daily basis.

I feel my soul is pulling me away from my profession. I feel my profession wants me to be systematic, automated, and perfect while my soul wants me to be artistic, organic, and emotional.

Do any of you feel that it is becoming increasingly difficult to become in tune with our heavenly Father as technology continues to bring everyday conveniences to our fingertips?

Perhaps this is why people step away every once in a while and go camping out in the woods or go fishing or boating or surfing. Our humanity craves that nature that our Father created, while our world tells us to sit on the couch and get plugged in.

Sure, you can study your Bible from your cell phone. But so can you with an old-fashioned book, pencil, and paper. There's just something about the feel of a book, the smell of the pages, the tactile nature of writing notes by hand that cannot be replaced by scrolling my thumb on my cell phone screen.

• I bet some of the old hunter-gatherers in the tribe got pretty annoyed when those young whipper snappers turned into nomadic herdsmen.

• Then, generations later, some of the herders upset everyone by planting a few wild oats here and there and putting aside herding for a more sedentary lifestyle.

• Eventually some idiot figured out you could dig more land by dragging a pointed stick behind the donkey. "i remember the good old days when we did our digging by hand".

• Then came the plough and, once again, the old fellas deplored the out-of-touch young folk and missed their pointy stick

• The steam tractor really messed us up. Now we just sat behind the steering wheel while the tractor did what we formerly did walking behind the donkey. Once again we 'lost touch' with the land.

• Since then we've had diesel monsters ploughing and harvesting in laser-guided lines stretching to the horizon.

Technology has existed since primates first dropped rocks on coconuts - and always will. To suggest that we are somehow lesser humans as a result of technology is a gross misunderstanding of human nature.

OB

 

[timothyu]

To suggest that we are somehow lesser humans as a result of technology is a gross misunderstanding of human nature.

They used to grow healthy food. Now they grow money and what we are sold in stores is processed garbage made from sugar, starch, modified oils and chemicals for taste. I preferred the pre-corporate era and remember when real meat and other staples were the bulk of produce sold rather than in an overpriced specialty section. If we are to truly reflect God's image we cannot do so choosing mammon over Him, but most see mammon as their god so I guess they are content..

 

[Occams Barber]

They used to grow healthy food. Now they grow money and what we are sold in stores is processed garbage made from sugar, starch, modified oils and chemicals for taste. I preferred the pre-corporate era and remember when real meat and other staples were the bulk of produce sold rather than in an overpriced specialty section. If we are to truly reflect God's image we cannot do so choosing mammon over Him, but most see mammon as their god so I guess they are content..

I have no idea how this relates to the title of this thread:

Is technology slowly making us less human?
​

(The (apparently) overly processed food sold in your part of the world is not what I see at my supermarket.)

OB

 

[Unqualified]

Don’t be a robot do something human for yourself. You can’t stop progress. The old and retired dream of an easier life for all. Dig in your back yard, plants in your apt. It can’t end well but it will end soon. The signs of the times. Keep in touch with your humanity. Seek God and Jesus your savior. Humanity needs Jesus- have a heart for the lost.

 

[timothyu]

its interesting question for thinking

Thinking makes us anti-technology