I recently heard an interesting interview on NPR with Nicholas Carr, author of The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains. Over a period of several years of increased internet use, Carr noticed a decrease in his ability to concentrate on books or long articles. In his words, “The deep reading that used to come naturally has become a struggle.” In the interview, he states:

“Neuroscientists and psychologists have discovered that, even as adults, our brains are very plastic. They’re very malleable, they adapt at the cellular level to whatever we happen to be doing. And so the more time we spend surfing, and skimming, and scanning … the more adept we become at that mode of thinking.”

And the converse also appears to be true: we become less adept at deeper, one-track modes of thought. Maybe this is old news to you. We’ve all heard similar stories—in the interview, Robert Siegel brought up the “Sesame Street is destroying kids’ attention spans” theory as one (questionable?) previous iteration—but what really caught my attention about Carr’s version of the theory was his use of the word “contemplative”:

Carr argues that even if people get better at hopping from page to page, they will still be losing their abilities to employ a “slower, more contemplative mode of thought.” He says research shows that as people get better at multitasking, they “become less creative in their thinking.” 

If what Carr says is true, our constantly connected, inseparable-from-technology lifestyles are actually making our brains worse at contemplative connection with God and worse at thinking in creative ways that image His creativity.

I’m not planning to become a hermit or a techno-apocalypse proponent… I’m just wondering what affect all this multitasking is having on my soul.  At the very least, Carr’s arguments highlight our deep need for practicing contemplative disciplines like silence, meditation, and spiritual listening. I also think it calls for a shift in our habits and lifestyles—I think if I only turned on my computer when I needed it for something, I would find myself surfing and multitasking far less. And I think it would be worth it.

And yes, I am aware of the irony of my blogging about this.  Ha!

I recently read the book The Trouble With Paris by Australian author and speaker Mark Sayers.  Sayers is like a handy kid with a screwdriver, taking apart Western culture’s consumer-driven longings, addictions, and expectations and spinning the gears to see what makes us tick.  In the process he invites his readers to think deeply about which reality we will choose to pursue—will we try to live in the world’s hyper-reality, or in God’s reality?

The book got me thinking about escapism, our regular attempts at using possessions, activities, people, etc. to numb ourselves, achieve a buzz, or escape from whatever reality in which we think we’re stuck.  If we pay attention, we’ll notice that this drive to escape has become part of the very soul of our suburban culture (just pay attention to how many people are watching Desperate Housewives, and how many more are living the show!).

Anyway, I spoke about the topic at church last Sunday using Elijah’s escape from Jezebel and encounter with God on Mt. Horeb (1 Kings 19) as a text. You can listen if you want by clicking the play button below, or you can download the MP3 directly by clicking here.

The audio at the beginning is a video clip we showed from the Trouble /w Paris DVD study, which you can preview or purchase from the TTWP website.

By the way, this message is part of our church’s current message series is called “The ‘Burbs: Finding God in a Plastic World”.  The series was inspired by David Goetz’s excellent book Death by Suburb (which is a must-read for anyone living/ministering in the suburbs).