In 2008, Nicholas Carr began a national conversation about technology and contemporary life. His Atlantic article was provocatively titled “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” and it quickly became the talk of the town. In 2012, he expanded his treatment in a landmark book, The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains (W. W. Norton & Company, 2012).
Today, a twofold discussion continues about the issues raised in Carr’s work. First, there is an ongoing conversation among neuroscientists and others about the scientific implications of technology: How does our use of technology impact our brains, mental development, and intellectual abilities? Second, there is an ever-expanding conversation about the prudential side of technology and life: How should we then live in light of the tsunami of technological innovations over the past fifteen years?
More recently, the impact of technology on our social lives has been a leading discussion topic, due in large part to the research of Sherry Turkle. In 2011, the MIT professor explored the social implications of our online lives in her important book, Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other (Basic Books, 2011). This was quickly followed by another provocatively titled Atlantic article by Stephen Marche, “Is Facebook Making Us Lonely?” (May 2012). Every month books are released on one or more of these topics, and we want you to join in the conversation. The following feature articles tease out the consequences for the Christian life. We have some book recommendations throughout the issue and hope you’ll take, read, and discuss with your “friends”’real and virtual.
