The Humanitas Forum

Understanding the social impact of Facebook and the other social media is an ongoing challenge.  Yes, it helps us stay in touch with lots of friends and acquaintances.  It’s a good way to quickly pass on certain kinds of information.…

Technology is neither good nor bad, nor is it neutral.  This is a lesson taught by Plato and repeated by Neil Postman.  The French sociologist Jacques Ellul makes the same point and so does historian of science Melvin Kranzberg.

Postman …

Someone has pointed out that if we didn’t have popular culture we wouldn’t have any culture at all.  Theologian Dr. Robert Banks would probably agree:  “Popular culture has become the environment in which we live, move, and have our being.” …

Why can’t you buy a cell phone that doesn’t do too much?  Why are there 175 salad dressings on the shelf at the supermarket?  Why are 120 retirement plans offered in the workplace?  And 50 styles of jeans at the …

Lessons on teaching methods and educational philosophy are not what we typically expect at the movies.  Most people expect lots of action and entertaining plots.  The Matrix and The Karate Kid offer both—one a futuristic sci-fi thriller, the other an …

Belief in God is declining.  Belief among US adults is down from 82% to 74% when compared to previous years, according to a December 2013 Harris poll.  Compared to 2005, belief in miracles is down from 79% to 72%, belief …

What is beauty?  And who decides?  In the pop culture arena, we all have a good idea.  Ultimately, it’s the marketing executives in a broad range of intertwining industries— advertising, film, fashion, television, and magazine publishing.

But there is a …

Phubbing is phone-snubbing.  It happens when someone pays attention to their mobile phone instead of the people in their immediate presence.  Many of us are guilty!  We’re also guilty of excusing our companions when they reach for their phone while …

What does it profit a man if he gains 130,427 Twitter followers and loses his own soul?  The best person to answer this question is Sammy Rhodes who, in his own words, became “irrepressibly and obsessively hooked” on Twitter.  It …

Technology is not neutral—it wires our expectations.  It enables our desires to be satisfied with ever increasing immediacy.  The two-day delivery of Amazon Prime is not about to become passé.  But like the other giant retailers Walmart and eBay, Amazon …