{"id":1435,"date":"2011-02-09T01:19:29","date_gmt":"2011-02-09T01:19:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/markdroberts\/2011\/02\/is-digital-technology-making-life-better-or-worse.html"},"modified":"2011-02-09T01:19:29","modified_gmt":"2011-02-09T01:19:29","slug":"is-digital-technology-making-life-better-or-worse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2011\/02\/is-digital-technology-making-life-better-or-worse.html","title":{"rendered":"Is Digital Technology Making Life Better . . . or Worse?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Is digital technology making your life better . . . or worse? Is work invading your personal life, if you have a personal life left? Is your personal life interrupting your work, making you more distracted and less effective? <\/p>\n

A recent story in the New York Times<\/i><\/a> wrestles with questions like these, offering a variety of answers. Here’s how “Who’s the Boss, You or Your Gadget?”<\/a> begins:<\/p>\n

GIVEN the widespread adoption of smartphones, text messaging<\/a>, video calling and social media, today’s professionals mean it when they brag about staying connected to work 24\/7.<\/p>\n

Technology allowed Karen Riley-Grant, a manager at Levi Strauss in San
\nFrancisco, to take care of some business with her New York publicist
\nwhile she was in labor in the hospital last November. “I had time on my
\nhands,” she says, and “full strength on my phone — five bars.”<\/p>\n

It once enabled Craig Wilson, an executive at Avaya in Toronto, to take
\nhis children to a Linkin Park concert and be able to duck out to finish
\na task for a client in Australia, he says, “without disruption to my
\nfamily commitment or my work commitment.” <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Does this encourage you . . . or horrify you? Or something in-between? Does the gain in work make up for the loss in being in the moment? <\/p>\n

The article adds:<\/p>\n

\n

\nBut all of this amped-up productivity comes with a growing sense of
\nunease. Too often, people find themselves with little time to
\nconcentrate and reflect on their work. Or to be truly present with their
\nfriends and family. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\"mother-baby-computer-cell-5.jpg\"<\/form>\n

There’s a palpable sense “that home has invaded work and work has
\ninvaded home and the boundary is likely never to be restored,” says Lee
\nRainie, director of the Pew Research Center<\/a>‘s Internet and American Life Project<\/a>. “The new gadgetry,” he adds, “has really put this issue into much clearer focus.” <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Robert Sutton, a professor at Stanford weighs in:<\/p>\n

The good news about technology, he says, is you can be anywhere and
\nstill work. The bad news, he says, is that “anywhere you are, you have
\nto work.” <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n

\nToo much connectivity can damage the quality of one’s work, says Robert Sutton, author of “Good Boss, Bad Boss<\/a>”
\nand a professor at Stanford. Because of devices, he says, “nobody seems
\nto actually pay full attention; everybody is doing a worse job because
\nthey are doing more things.” <\/p>\n

\nMobile devices and social media, he says, “make us a little more
\noblivious, a little more incompetent.” Just recall those pilots who overshot their destination<\/a> two years ago because they were using computers, he adds. <\/p>\n

\n“The emotionally compelling nature of the device and live information it
\ncarries — and the intermittent reinforcement it carries, plus the
\npressure of living in a world where for many people ‘immediately’ now
\nreally means immediately — causes people to be entranced by their
\ndevices and to ignore real life as it unfolds in front of them,”
\nProfessor Sutton says. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The article contains several examples of people trying to balance the demands of work and personal life in a technology-permeated world.<\/p>\n

What do you think? Is technology allowing us to live with greater freedom? Or is it turning us into digital slaves? Are digital media enriching your life? Or are they impoverishing it? Or both?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Is digital technology making your life better . . . or worse? Is work invading your personal life, if you have a personal life left? Is your personal life interrupting your work, making you more distracted and less effective? A recent story in the New York Times wrestles with questions like these, offering a variety…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":214,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[81,128],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-internet","category-technology"],"yoast_head":"\nIs Digital Technology Making Life Better . . . or Worse? - Mark D. 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Roberts","description":"Mark D. Roberts: Thoughtfully Christian Reflections on Jesus, the Church, and the World","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/#\/schema\/person\/1ff094a57b7e41f534434b1723df3d73","name":"Mark D. Roberts","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/f2d\/f2ddf5f080861f66ea230384f9d1bab2x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/f2d\/f2ddf5f080861f66ea230384f9d1bab2x96.jpg","caption":"Mark D. Roberts"},"description":"The Rev. Dr. Mark D. Roberts is a pastor, author, retreat leader, speaker, and blogger. Since October 2007 he has been the Senior Director and Scholar-in-Residence for Laity Lodge, a multifaceted ministry in the Hill Country of Texas. Before coming to Laity Lodge, he was for sixteen years the Senior Pastor of Irvine Presbyterian Church in Irvine, California (a city in Orange County about forty miles south of Los Angeles). Before his time at Irvine Pres, Mark served on the staff of the First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood as Associate Pastor of Education. (Thanks to Janel Pahl for taking the photo to the right.) Mark studied at Harvard University, receiving a B.A. in Philosophy, an M.A. in the Study of Religion, and a Ph.D. in New Testament and Christian Origins. He has taught classes in New Testament for Fuller Theological Seminary and San Francisco Theological Seminary. Mark has written several books, including No Holds Barred: Wrestling with God in Prayer (WaterBrook, 2005), Dare to Be True (WaterBrook, 2003), Jesus Revealed (WaterBrook, 2002), After \"I Believe\" (Baker, 2002), and Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther (Word, 1993). His most recent book is Can We Trust the Gospels? Investigating the Reliability of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John (Crossway, 2007). He is currently working on a commentary on Ephesians that will be published by Zondervan in 2014. Mark writes a devotional for The High Calling of Our Daily Work, a website associated with Laity Lodge. His \"Daily Reflections\" can be viewed online or sent as a daily email. If you wish to receive this email, just visit TheHighCalling.org and sign up. Mark serves on the editorial board of Worship Leader magazine, where he publishes articles and reviews, including his regular column \"Lyrical Poetry.\" Additionally, he has published dozens of articles in leading magazines and journals. He often speaks for churches and other Christian groups, and has been interviewed on over seventy-five radio programs nationwide. Mark is married to Linda, who is a Marriage and Family Therapist, a Spiritual Director, and a retreat speaker. They have two children, Nathan and Kara.For Publicity Photos and Bio Statements for Mark, please check here. Mark's Dossier Professional History: Senior Director and Scholar-in Residence, Laity Lodge, October 2007 to present. Senior Pastor Irvine Presbyterian Church, June 1991 to September 2007 Adjunct Assistant Professor Fuller Theological Seminary, 1994 to 2007. Courses: New Testament Theology and Exegesis. Adjunct Instructor San Francisco Theological Seminary, 1995 to 2001. Courses: New Testament Greek and Exegesis Associate Pastor of Education First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood, 1987-1991 Teaching Fellow Harvard University, 1980-1983 Education: Ph.D. in the Study of Religion. Harvard University, 1992. Area: New Testament and Christian Origins M.A. in the Study of Religion Harvard University, 1984. A.B. magna cum laude in Philosophy Harvard University, 1979. Phi Beta Kappa; Danforth Fellowship Books: Can We Trust the Gospels? Investigating the Reliability of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Crossway, 2007 No Holds Barred: Wrestling with God in Prayer. WaterBrook, 2005 Dare to Be True: Living in the Freedom of Complete Honesty. WaterBrook, 2003. Jesus Revealed: Know Him Better to Love Him Better. WaterBrook, 2002. After \"I Believe\": Experiencing Authentic Christian Living. Baker, 2002. Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther in the Communicator's Commentary Series. Word, 1993. Contacting Mark: You can reach Mark at: E-mail: mark@markdroberts.com mroberts@laitylodge.org Phone: Laity Lodge: (830) 792-1216 Address: Laity Lodge 719 Earl Garrett Kerrville, TX 78028","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/author\/mroberts"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/214"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1435"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1435\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}