We give toddlers screens when they are feeling distressed. Whether they're stuck in the car, mad at mom, or just bored, we hand them an iPad so they can find relief. The magical device gives them unlimited attention and is easier to manipulate than the real world. Technology provides a compensating simulation of the powers we desire but find difficult to acquire. It alleviates the distress of being in a vulnerable world and gives a sense of capacity and power.
Note: This is a rebroadcast.
In the quiet moments of our lives, we can all sense that our hearts long for something, though we often don't know what that something is. We seek an answer in our phones, and while they can provide some sense of extension and fulfillment — a feeling of magic — the use of technology also comes with significant costs in individual development and interpersonal connection that we typically don't fully understand and consider.
My guest today will unpack what it is we really yearn for, how technology, when misused, can direct us away from the path to fulfilling those yearnings, and how we can find true human flourishing in a world in which so much works against it. His name is Andy Crouch and he's the author of The Life We're Looking For: Reclaiming Relationship in a Technological World. Today on the show we talk about the tradeoffs you make when you seek magic without mastery, and how we can understand our desires better once we understand ourselves as heart, soul, mind, and strength complexes who want to be loved and known. We discuss the difference between interactions that are personal versus personalized, as well as the difference between devices and instruments, and how to use your phone as the latter instead of the former. We end our conversation with why Andy thinks we need to redesign the architecture of our relational lives and create something he calls "households."
Resources Related to the Podcast
Connect With Andy Crouch