Synopsis
As technology increasingly blurs the distinction between man and machine, new questions emerge about the future of religion, education, work, politics, and family life. Joshua Pauling (Education's End) and Robin Phillips (Rediscovering the Goodness of God's Creation) respond to this profound confusion by articulating a vision for flourishing in the digital age rooted in the sacramental life of the Church and the rich tradition of liberal learning.
The authors leave few stones unturned in detailing the pervasive and often detrimental effects of the indiscriminate use of digital technology. Far from the promise of greater connectivity, digital interfaces often leave us stranded in isolation, ignorance, and sedentary habits, while eroding our imagination and critical thinking skills. The book offers a difficult but needed remedy to our current dilemma by presenting a philosophy of technology anchored in Christian metaphysics. In the process, the authors suggest habits and practices that help us reclaim our humanity from the Machine.
"'The turn away from physical reality to the digital ecosystem is now so commonplace that it seems normal.' If this claim seems over-stated, you need to read this book. The prose will engage you and convince you that it’s under-stated. We are all cyborgs now. Not merely because of advances in technology, but because of changes in our belief in what it means to be human.This is an important book, beautifully written, many-sided, and nicely organized. Once I started reading it, I couldn’t put it down." -- David V. Hicks, author of Norms and Nobility
“Once I started reading this, I was drawn in. In this series of incisive, interlocking essays, Phillips and Pauling distill wisdom from tech critics, theologians, and poets to help us discern how to live as humans in a world being ordered to artificial intelligence.” -- Jeffrey Bilbro, Grove City College
“Evolutionism: ... creatures constantly losing their shape.” That Chesterton aphorism came to mind when I read in Phillips and Pauling that “the smartphone has created a situation where everything bleeds into everything else.” Their book faces squarely the impact of a technology-induced evolution that threatens to cause humans to lose their shape.” - Douglas Farrow, McGill University
"Phillips and Pauling offer something that many of us never received in our primary or secondary educations: a philosophy of technology, and one that is rooted in the tradition of Christian metaphysics....It’s about time we have a resource that helps us resist the Machine and learn how to live as creatures made in the image of God." — Devin O’Donnell, Association of Classical Christian Schools.
“Phillips and Pauling have written a work of such argumentative clarity and cumulative evidence that one may sincerely hope their message will penetrate the minds and hearts of those who need to hear it.” —Peter A Kwasniewski, author and speaker
“Without a doubt, this is the most comprehensive contemplation I've read on the topic, and beyond simply admiring the problems that come with technology, Phillips and Pauling provide their readers with hope and a way ahead to successfully deal with technological advances that easily overwhelm most of us.” — LtC (Ret.) Alexander Braszko, Jr.
After all, what does it mean to be human if not to struggle toward the good in communion with one’s fellow men and women? If you have at times felt lost, disoriented, or fearful in recent years as ever more transformative, disruptive technological products and tools come to market, then read this book and journey toward the good together with its authors.... In reading this book you will encounter two minds alive to the world and its goodness and its peril. To encounter such minds is always a worthy pursuit. — Jake Meador (from the Foreword)
About the Author
Robin Phillips has a Master's in History from King's College London and a Master's in Library Science from the University of Oklahoma. He is Director of Library Services and Professor of World Literature at Washington Heritage University, and adjunct professor of American History at Laurel Ridge Community College.
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