Website owner: James Miller
Modern technology is neither good nor bad in itself, it is a facilitator
Modern technology is neither good nor bad in itself. Technology is a facilitator. It is a tool that can make easy whatever the user wants to do. It can be used in good ways and it can be used in bad ways. Just as a knife is neither good nor bad in itself. A knife can be used as a tool to prepare food for dinner and it can also be used to murder people. Consider the internet. It can be used in good ways to increase your knowledge and understanding of the world around you. It can also be used for viewing pornography and take you down into a moral abyss. Cell phones. They can be used in many good ways. They can also be used for sexting. Television. Is it good or bad? It is good if it raises people up morally. It is bad if it destroys them morally. The automobile. It is a really great invention, right? Or is it? If, as Hippocrates believed, a lot of walking is very important to good health, perhaps the automobile has not been such a great thing for mankind after all (Americans don’t do much walking these days). Hippocrates believed moderate diet and regular exercise were central to good health (with walking as the best exercise). What constitutes a moderate diet? Modern technology has given us vending machines that offer us cookies and cakes and soda pop at every turn. It has given us modern tractors and farm equipment that can grow cereal grains very cheaply, modern supermarkets with their deli’s and endless kinds of processed, packaged and canned convenience foods, kitchen appliances that make food preparation easy, etc. It has put really great tasting, affordable food and every culinary temptation right at our finger tips. And, not unrelated, two thirds of Americans are overweight or obese and sickly. And medical health insurance premiums are skyrocketing. (Sickly people means high average health costs which means high health insurance premiums)
One hundred and fifty years ago most people lived out in the country and the influences that affected the way a person thought came mainly from family, acquaintances, schools, newspapers, and books. Time moved more slowly and he had time to mull over things and sort them out. Now most people live in cities, we live in a money-oriented fast-paced age, and one has, in addition, radio, television, Hollywood movies, and the internet all also beaming their subtle and not-so-subtle erroneous, satanic assumptions, ideas, beliefs, attitudes, outlooks, and values upon man’s impressionable mind. These devices have magnified Satan’s power to pervert and deceive by a thousand fold. Have these modern communication devices been good for man or have they destroyed him spiritually?
Modern technology has given us all kinds of machines and devices that do our work for us. If you believe that idleness is death for man and being busy doing something is a fundamental key to personal happiness, then perhaps all of the machines and labor saving devices created by modern technology have not been in man’s best interest. If you believe one of the essentials of life is a good job and that automation is stealing away all of the good jobs, perhaps it is not such a blessing after all. At one time spinning thread, weaving cloth, and making clothing provided jobs for many people. Now machines do it all.
Has technology been overall good for mankind? Will all of our technology lead us into a better world? The optimist might think so. The pessimist might think not. It all depends on your appraisal of people and human nature in general. If you believe most people are wise and can be counted on to use tools wisely and for their own betterment, then you are an optimist. If you believe most people are fools with natural inclinations that tend to take them downward instead of upward, then you are a pessimist. A pessimist might think that technology will merely facilitate man in his downward moral descent, making it easier and faster.
May 2019
Jesus Christ and His Teachings
Way of enlightenment, wisdom, and understanding
America, a corrupt, depraved, shameless country
On integrity and the lack of it
The test of a person's Christianity is what he is
Ninety five percent of the problems that most people have come from personal foolishness
Liberalism, socialism and the modern welfare state
The desire to harm, a motivation for conduct
On Self-sufficient Country Living, Homesteading
Topically Arranged Proverbs, Precepts, Quotations. Common Sayings. Poor Richard's Almanac.
Theory on the Formation of Character
People are like radio tuners --- they pick out and listen to one wavelength and ignore the rest
Cause of Character Traits --- According to Aristotle
We are what we eat --- living under the discipline of a diet
Avoiding problems and trouble in life
Role of habit in formation of character
Personal attributes of the true Christian
What determines a person's character?
Love of God and love of virtue are closely united
Intellectual disparities among people and the power in good habits
Tools of Satan. Tactics and Tricks used by the Devil.
The Natural Way -- The Unnatural Way
Wisdom, Reason and Virtue are closely related
Knowledge is one thing, wisdom is another
My views on Christianity in America
The most important thing in life is understanding
We are all examples --- for good or for bad
Television --- spiritual poison
The Prime Mover that decides "What We Are"
Where do our outlooks, attitudes and values come from?
Sin is serious business. The punishment for it is real. Hell is real.
Self-imposed discipline and regimentation
Achieving happiness in life --- a matter of the right strategies
Self-control, self-restraint, self-discipline basic to so much in life