Like every resource that has potential for good, technology can also be a problem! We've been counseled by church leaders to be careful how much time we spend online or in virtual realities, etc.!Last week President Barack Obama also acknowledged that this "breathtaking change" information era can become a distraction!
Speaking at the Hampton University commencement President Obama said: "You are coming of age in a 24/7 media environment that bombards us with all kinds of content and exposes us to all kinds of arguments, some of which don't always rank all that high on the truth meter.
With iPods, and iPads, and Xboxes and PlayStations - none of which I know how to work - information becomes a distraction, a diversion, a form of entertainment - rather than a tool of empowerment, rather than a means of emancipation. It is putting new pressure on our country and on our democracy."
I was glad to see President Obama acknowledge the dangers of a culture where we are constantly bombarded with information overload! Some journalists were critical of his remarks (no surprise since he was dissing media diatribes). One journalist wrote that Obama's comments were: "weirdly out-of-touch for a president who fought to keep his BlackBerry."
Overabundance of information can bog us down and fill our minds with useless trivia. Technology toys can distract us to the extent that we never have any quiet time to feel or hear the spirit working in our lives. It's a valid concern. I was impressed that President Obama "gets it," he understands that the bombardment and exposure can have potentially harmful effects.
In the April General Conference, Elder Bradley Foster said: "A distraction doesn't need to be evil to be effective." So true!
