Technology from heaven

With all of the nasty things that can be done with technology these days—such as viewing pornography, spreading lies, stealing identities, and so forth—it sometimes seems that the devil himself invented the Internet. But I believe quite the contrary: the recent technological explosion has been divinely inspired, and has served the Lord’s purposes in many respects. Simulations and other computer programs can better prepare doctors to do their job; psychologists, biologists, and countless professions can stay current on the latest discoveries and share new information with others, limited only by the speed of light. People can so easily stay in touch over long distances via Facebook, Twitter, instant messaging, email, and more. In general, new technologies have enabled us to access vast amounts of information. “The glory of God is intelligence”; I feel that soon enough the human race will use this technology to collectively become enlightened, embrace truth, and ultimately fulfill God’s designs.

Wikipedia: the MMORPG for smart people?

MMORPGs offer people the chance of living a fantasy, where the rules of success are different than those of the real world, and yet you never “win” the game. Wikipedia is no different: scholars, rednecks, and essentially anyone with an Internet connection can view and edit Wikipedia. There is no accepted final draft, ready for publication. The rules of publishing on Wikipedia are definitely different than those of publishing through scholarly journals. Would-be scholars with half-earned degrees can find the potential for “addiction” at Wikipedia, like other MMORPGs. If you are checking your Wikipedia watchlist several times a day, and sacrificing other pursuits in order to spend more time working on Wikipedia, you should consider professional help.