Social Media, Technology, & Cultural Decline
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Has smartphone technology changed the way we live and relate to others? Is there a relationship between social media usage and increased suicide rates among teens and preteens? How do images and short video clips affect the way we think about news stories and the world around us? On this program Shane Rosenthal discusses these questions and more with T. David Gordon, who teaches a course on “media ecology” at Grove City College in Pennsylvania.
Show Quote:
In the mid-twentieth century, if we look at who used visual media to manipulate, it was Stalin, Hitler, and the like. That’s why Jacques Elul wrote about political manipulators in his book, Propaganda, during World War II. By the turn of the 20th century, it was the commercial manipulators manipulating us. Likewise, in regards to surveillance, it was government departments like the NSA that we worried about. Now, it is the commercial industry that is effectively surveilling us.
T. David Gordon
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From the Garden to the City: The Redeeming and Corrupting Power of Technology
Author: John Dyer
Forward by: T. David Gordon
Believers and unbelievers alike are saturated with technology, yet most give it little if any thought. Consumers buy and upgrade as fast as they can, largely unaware of technology’s subtle yet powerful influence. In a world where technology changes almost daily, many are left to wonder: Should Christians embrace all that is happening? Are there some technologies that we need to avoid? Does the Bible give us any guidance on how to use digital tools and social media?
Why Johnny Can’t Preach
Author: T. David Gordon
T. David Gordon has identified a problem, one that affects us all and needs fixing. Our preaching is just not communicating properly anymore. Fortunately, Gordon refuses to stand by and watch and we should too. In this short book, he provides a concise, in-depth look at the causes of this failure and also shows us how to make things better.
Amusing Ourselves to Death
Author: Neil Postman
Originally published in 1985, Neil Postman’s groundbreaking polemic about the corrosive effects of television on our politics and public discourse has been hailed as a twenty-first-century book published in the twentieth century. Now, with television joined by more sophisticated electronic media—from the Internet to cell phones to DVDs—it has taken on even greater significance. Amusing Ourselves to Death is a prophetic look at what happens when politics, journalism, education, and even religion become subject to the demands of entertainment. It is also a blueprint for regaining control of our media, so that they can serve our highest goals.
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