Editorial June 17, 2019 Issue

The demand for change

Barbara Vining

History has shown the human mind to be riddled with contradictions: It wants change for the better—quicker, more convenient, less restrictive. Yet, when changes come, the human mind can be defiantly resistant; it can yearn for things to slow down, to not change the status quo, and especially to not change its way of thinking. What often happens is a clash of human wills between individuals, between society and industry, between races and cultures, and between nations. Everyone wants change for the better, so long as it doesn’t require unwelcome changes in personal opinions, habits, and lifestyles.

The recently published book by Tom Wheeler—From Gutenberg to Google: The History of Our Future—explains how humanity has striven to break through the barriers of limitation imposed by the material aspects of distance and time. At first slowly, and now quite rapidly, human inventions have been dramatically changing human experience. From the printing press, and then the railroad, up to the wireless communication of today, each of these inventions has brought a combination of welcome progress and stiff resistance—and difficult adjustments for society and individuals. While information, products, and communication have become instantly available to individuals, the wisdom to deal with all of this is not so rapidly attained.

The acceleration in the elimination of distance and time leaves us less space and time to adjust—and with that have come a proliferation of stress, a coming to the surface of previously hidden intolerance and hate, a rise in extremism, and a disturbing increase of mental illness and suicide. All this can seem pretty bleak, but there’s a spiritual approach to life that I’m finding invaluable in dealing with these changes.

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Bible Lens—June 17–23, 2019