As distributors of technology and information, I believe that we have a certain responsibility to be aware of the negative consequences which might arise from the technologies and information overload that we create. I think that what you’ve indicated above is a perfect example of a cultural change that is beginning to manifest due to the flood of information that technology has brought to us.

The last chapter of Postman’s book provides a list of things that we can due to “fight” against the loss of culture due to the negative aspects of technology. Interestingly enough, one of them is to “never forget the great narratives of religion.”

Carr makes very good connections that have a solid grounding through the past couple hundred years. It is fascinating to me that he has drawn parallels between the physical evolution of industry and the current mental evolution that is taking place.

By being aware of our own weaknesses from using the internet and it’s amazing resources, we now have the opportunity to fortify those weaknesses and, at the very least, prevent ourselves from becoming too lax in our ability to read.

But I didn’t finish this article. After I felt I got the jist, I was good with that and moved on. These days I just want people, at least online, to get to the point and leave repetitious prose for the printed medium.

As for the scripture reading problem, I combined my love of blogging with my love of scripture reading to create http://americantestament.blogspot.com. Blogging a chapter at a time, or even parts of a chapter at a time, lets me do the “deep dive” into the content while scratching my itch to write as well as share the gospel with others. And, it’s something we can all do because we all have our own experiences to relate to scripture and vice versa.

One important quote from the bottom of the article:

“So, yes, you should be skeptical of my skepticism. Perhaps those who dismiss critics of the Internet as Luddites or nostalgists will be proved correct, and from our hyperactive, data-stoked minds will spring a golden age of intellectual discovery and universal wisdom. Then again, the Net isn’t the alphabet, and although it may replace the printing press, it produces something altogether different. The kind of deep reading that a sequence of printed pages promotes is valuable not just for the knowledge we acquire from the author’s words but for the intellectual vibrations those words set off within our own minds. In the quiet spaces opened up by the sustained, undistracted reading of a book, or by any other act of contemplation, for that matter, we make our own associations, draw our own inferences and analogies, foster our own ideas. Deep reading, as Maryanne Wolf argues, is indistinguishable from deep thinking.”

To me “deep reading” is what Moroni talks about when he says: “and ponder it in your hearts.”

I hope this does not affect our scripture reading and gospel study time and especially not our prayers. That is why I enjoy time spent in worship each Sunday. I appreciate that it forces us to pause as we listen to others speak or teach. We absorb the things of the spirit better with time to ponder. Let’s hope that reading the things of the Lord receive our best attention.