The truth, techology, and the internet

[kev7]

I was considering how different things will be in a few decades with the growth of technology and the internet.

I think technology will completely change the dynamic of how information including the truth of God is shared.

The good news is that the media will not have complete control over what people can and cannot watch. People who seek information on the truth of God will be able to find it by using technology (provided the church does its job at providing those services). This site is a good example of that, but I think the catholic church in general as a lot of work to do.

The bad news is that there will be so many different versions of the truth that people won’t know what to think. People will also become less social and hide being their computer more often.

Education will also change and people won’t always need to be in a class room and listen to a bias activist professor.

I’ll be happy when TV dies and everything people watch is on demand and very selective.

Any know how the catholic church views technology?

I think it is a balancing scale that will be used by both good and evil.

I think the church should have an official site that helps people with their life in christ. I’m sorry but the vatican site doesn’t help people and their faith. It looks like the website of a corporation.

A few hundred years ago the church sent its priests out into the frontier to convert the natives. Now I think it needs to do the same with technology. The potential to reach people via technology is huge.

 

[DavidFilmer]

I thinki people already are learning that they can’t just “feel lucky” with the first hit they Google and take it as the Gospel truth. Folks are gravitating more and more to organizations which have some meaningful credentials (such as Catholic.com or EWTN.org or USCCB.org).

I don’t think it’s the Vatican’s responsibility to try to provide this informational and missionary infrastructure. I think it’s working rather well as it is. Sure, there are wackos out there, and some write books and some go on TV or radio and- nowadays - some publish websites.

But I don’t think you can accomplish true missionary activity by proxy (or proxy server). Human contact is still the key to winning human hearts.

FWIW, I happen to be a professional computer programmer, and my specialty is Internet application development (LAMP (Perl) on UNIX). So even a geek like me believes technology has its limits.

 

[kev7]

DavidFilmer:

I thinki people already are learning that they can’t just “feel lucky” with the first hit they Google and take it as the Gospel truth. Folks are gravitating more and more to organizations which have some meaningful credentials (such as Catholic.com or EWTN.org or USCCB.org).

I don’t think it’s the Vatican’s responsibility to try to provide this informational and missionary infrastructure. I think it’s working rather well as it is. Sure, there are wackos out there, and some write books and some go on TV or radio and- nowadays - some publish websites.

But I don’t think you can accomplish true missionary activity by proxy (or proxy server). Human contact is still the key to winning human hearts.

FWIW, I happen to be a professional computer programmer, and my specialty is Internet application development (LAMP (Perl) on UNIX). So even a geek like me believes technology has its limits.

I agree that there is nothing more important then human contact in regards to missionary work.

I do think that it is possible to find encuraging words on the internet. There have been times late at night when I have read a few catholic websites or the web site of my local parish. There have been times when it has helped me put things into perspective.

One of the ways that people find organizations is the internet.

 

[jjwilkman]

DavidFilmer:

I thinki people already are learning that they can’t just “feel lucky” with the first hit they Google and take it as the Gospel truth. Folks are gravitating more and more to organizations which have some meaningful credentials (such as Catholic.com or EWTN.org or USCCB.org).

I don’t think it’s the Vatican’s responsibility to try to provide this informational and missionary infrastructure. I think it’s working rather well as it is. Sure, there are wackos out there, and some write books and some go on TV or radio and- nowadays - some publish websites.

But I don’t think you can accomplish true missionary activity by proxy (or proxy server). Human contact is still the key to winning human hearts.

FWIW, I happen to be a professional computer programmer, and my specialty is Internet application development (LAMP (Perl) on UNIX). So even a geek like me believes technology has its limits.

gee, in 1959, i remember reading articles in qst and radio electronics magazines to the effect that “the transistor will never replace the vacuum tube.”. the modern integrated chip is just refined and processed sand. that’s why it can be so cheap.

 

[DavidFilmer]

jjwilkman:

gee, in 1959, i remember reading articles in qst and radio electronics magazines to the effect that “the transistor will never replace the vacuum tube.”

There are MANY who will say this is still true. Have you ever priced out a Mcintosh (tube) amplifier? People will gladly pay thousands of dollars for vaccum tube technology, even today.

 

[Steve_Andersen]

When Velum and ink were high tech the Church had rooms full of scribes.

When short wave was the way the reach the globe the Vatican Radio made world broadcast.

From Fulton Sheen to EWTN the Church’s use or TV has been less centralized but that is a function of the medium. Broadcasts have limited range and there are language barriers.

I see no reason why the internet won’t become another tool in the Vatican’s box.

The thing is that as a large organization with 2000 years of history the Vatican moves slowly so a web site probably won’t be a dynamic one.

Humorous side note: In the TORG Possibility Wars role playing game there is a place called the Cyber-Papacy a high tech false papacy set up in Avignon. The caption on the source book reads: The Inquisition is back … but now it has nanosecond response time.