According to Tech News Daily, social media has overtaken porn as the number one activity on the Internet. Whether or not you accept that idea, it is undeniable that the Internet has become a huge location for social interaction. For a lot of the younger generation, it can be the primary location for social interaction. Instead of sitting down over a cup of coffee or spending time together in the same room, many are interacting with tweets, Facebook, texting, and other electronic exchange media. MMOs -- Massive Multiplayer Online games -- include the means to chat with other players. It's a place to type in a line to send to someone to which they can respond. And for many young people it's their social gathering.
Technology is giving us all sorts of new information in social interactions that was never available before. Thanks to better and better technology, we can get answers to questions we never could before. "Where are you?" "What's there?" "What else is available?"
Unfortunately, there is something that all this new social media cannot supply. It's nuance. It doesn't give voice inflection, body language, personality clues, or quirks. In face-to-face interaction you get to know things about the person that inform the conversation. Is there a lilt in the voice that suggests humor even though the words sound harsh? Is there a twinkle in the eye that tells you they're just having fun with the conversation? What is there normal operating process? History, personality, emotions of the moment, personal circumstances, and on and on -- there is so much that goes into communication and personal interaction that is not transmitted over the electronic media.
I had a conversation some time ago with someone who read my blog. He told me that sometimes he couldn't tell if I was just pulling his leg or actually meant what I was saying. Understandable. A blog doesn't offer any of those clues. Having met me and gotten to know me, however, now he sees in what I write many of the nuances and fun that I intend. You see, to really understand what is written, sometimes it takes personal face time, genuine interaction, real relationship.
The truth is that those who read what I write without actually knowing me will often not understand the tone or even intent of what I write. For those who know me, it is generally quite obvious. "He doesn't mean that like it might have sounded. I know him." But the simple fact is that most of those reading my blog don't know me. I'm a nameless and pretty much faceless writer at the other end of a keyboard. My writings will be interpreted by other means -- their personal preferences, inferences, experiences -- rather than knowledge about me. That's too bad. And if we subscribed to the "innocent until proven guilty" idea, it wouldn't be as much of a problem, but we often don't. So I'm telling you now that the best way to understand what I write is to get to know me. That personal, real relationship would make much of what appears obscure very clear.
Hey, I bet that would work itself out when it comes to understanding what God wrote, wouldn't it?
2 comments:
This might be a good place to ask you to consider blogging some day on ‘The Man Behind the Theology and the Politics.’ Some information you might (or might not!) want to give:
What denomination are you? Is it the same as the one you were raised in?
What school subjects did you like and dislike?
Do you write professionally?
If you were not married, what female celebrities would you say were hot stuff?
What is your typical selection of topics for reading, and what periodicals do you subscribe to or buy off the shelf on occasion?
Do you speak any languages other than English?
Do you admire any radio or television ministries?
If you were the education czar of your nation, would you allow the teaching of evolution in public schools?
Did you go through a rebellious phase against parental or church authority?
Do you accept any of the activities that some would label vices, like gambling, drinking, smoking, looking at erotic photography?
Do you claim any particular biblical gifts such as tongues or prophecy? (I can remember a radio prophet claiming he “moves in signs and wonders.”)
What sorts of music do you like and dislike?
What games and hobbies are you into?
Do you ever preach in front of a congregation?
Do you take a vacation trip mainly to do an activity at a destination, or more to enjoy whatever places catch your interest on the loop?
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I ate lunch today at a place that provided the New York Times. I thought of you as I was reading an article on what people in Kansas think about global warming. I can just about quote a sentence from the article: “Some of them deny that God would allow His world to be modified by human behavior.” With no intent whatsoever to come back and argue one side or the other on global warming, I will ask if you agree with them that God intervenes to impose strict limits on how much change humans can cause the environment to undergo.
--Lee
No denomination ... which is not the same as where I started.
I liked most of the subjects I studied in school.
I do not write professionally. (I tried. I got rejected.)
Can't answer the "female celebrities" question because I am married ... and happily so.
I don't know ... so many questions. Don't know that it would actually go very far in getting to know the man behind the blog.
As for your Kansas people, it's interesting. I just read an article from a professor at ASU whose studies indicate that the world itself imposes limits on how much change humans can cause. Her studies showed that the realm of nature tends to compensate on its own for whatever we try to do. As for the "theological claim", can't imagine why anyone would make such a claim. The Bible tells us the world we know is temporary. Why would it need to be protected? I do believe that God controls what happens, but not to prevent human damage to the world.
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