The Housewife Theologian takes on digital culture…

I don’t think, I skim!

“The internet is certainly changing the way that we get information.  Is it changing the way we think?”

Aimee Byrd is a mother of three and a good example of what all of us—not just parents—need to be doing.  Thinking and asking questions!  Her blog post, “Are We Still Thinking?,” is a short commentary on how digital media impacts reading and reflecting.

Here are a few of the insights provided by Aimee Byrd, who blogs at the Housewife Theologian.

·         We spend time cleaning and organizing our closets. And I certainly need to do another gutting of the mini-van. But are we organizing our thoughts? Or are we just allowing the information to pile up every which way, and slamming the door in hopes they will stay contained? Meditating on what we read helps us to do that.

·         Our new habits are actually changing our brains! When someone says that they don’t see a use for books anymore because they can get all their information from the internet, Michael Horton laments that what they really mean is, “I don’t think anymore, I skim.”

·         How can we get more people reading? One thing I do is host a monthly book club, where everyone reads their own book and provides a review.

·         Get your kids reading!! … My oldest is now happily attending my book club.

Go here for the complete post and for a glimpse into how one young mother seeks to assess and manage the impact of digital media on her family.  Besides her own example, the Housewife Theologian provides us with two other very useful resources.

·         Nicholas Carr’s 2010 book, The Shallows:  What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains – Excerpts are available at The Shallows website and at “Wired Magazine.”

·         “Scatterbrains,” a radio segment of Whitehorse Inn hosted by theologian Michael Horton, included a discussion of The Shallows on their June 17, 2012 broadcast. 

Postscript:  I assume you’ve not missed the irony in this post—I’d like to get your comments. 

This post is directing readers (skimmers?) to another post which is commenting on a radio program that is discussing a book on how the internet is affecting our thinking.  Did you follow all that? 

As you reflect on the content and the form of this post, how would you answer these questions?

·         From your own use and that of your friends, how do you think the internet affects our reading, thinking, and learning abilities? 

·         Is the internet making people smarter or more stupid?

·         How many print books have you read in the past six months?

·         How many texts do you send and receive each month, on average?

Here are two of the questions that focused the discussion in the “Scatterbrains” segment at Whitehorse Inn.

·         How can we become true disciples if we are all becoming superficial learners?

·         How are we to be people of the Book in the age of Google?

Your thoughts?