Collection of articles responding to Habits of the High-Tech Heart (to you Radio users,  these are stories)“Review of the Forward (Habits of the High-Tech Heart)” | “Schultze Preface” | “Intro: Identifying the Techno-Moral Crisis” |  “Discerning Our Informationism” |  “Moderating Our Informational Desires” | “Instantaneous vs Infoglut” |”My problem with anti-Net culture rhetoric” | Legitimate Theological and Sociological Exploration of Continue Reading

Therefore,  we need again to reconcile our embellishments of technology with the reality of what it means to be human.  In spite of all  of the changes in human culture and society over the millennia,  human nature remains essentially the same. In this from the conclusion of the final chapter of the book, Sojourning With Heart,  Schultze here affirms something Continue Reading

In Chapter 8,  Sojourning With Heart,  Schultze observes: Many lonely, rootless individuals seek solace online,  particularly when they cannot find it in person. Although a digital “place” cannot possibly provide the levels of neighborliness and hospitality we need for community,  some of those surfing the cyber-diaspora do find temporary comfort there. (p.191) So my question is this:  At the very Continue Reading

A defense of Schultze’s arguments (from Habits of the High-Tech Heart) without having to agree in “Legitimate Theological and Sociological Exploration of  Online Community” (and then I proceed to say why I don’t agree)

In “Speech vs Online Interaction”,  I take issue with the suggestion in Chapter 7 of Habits of the High-Tech Heart that online is not as dialogical,  not as personal,  and not as “communal”.  This seems to be the theme of Schultze’s discussion of Virtual Community.  Schultze often takes up the phrase “Real Community” and usually in comparison to “Virtual Community”,  Continue Reading

I remember this phrase as being used in some of the “Church Growth” books,  encouraging Churches to use some “marketing” techniques and recognize that organizations grow when they avoid too much “diversity”.  In Chapter 7, Nurturing Virtue In Community,  Schultze identifies this as a tendency of cyberspace: We can talk about cyberspace as a global village, as if it unifies the Continue Reading

This blogger (Nathan Bierma) noticed the same thing I did about Habits of the High-Tech Heart,  a book to which I have reacted quite a bit over the past week. I recall reading portions of “Dancing in the Dark” several years ago and recall being impressed with it….and so my surprise at finding so much of the “dark side” of technology Continue Reading

As I remember the way that I was “introduced” to Martin Luther King, Jr. by televesion,  and reflect on the new “opportunities” for the Church in “telling a story” on the Web,  I am still reading “Habits of the High-tech heart” and continue to find myself saying “Yeah, but….” at nearly every paragraph through where I have read (page 56).  Continue Reading

My review of  “Moderating Our Informational Desires” presents a misunderstanding of Metcalfe’s Law – the value of a network increases at the rate of the square of people using it — Schultze lumps this in with the triumphalism of the Tech-utopians as another example of “More and bigger is better”,  but this misses the point.

I picked up a book from a bookstore shelf yesterday by Quentin Schultze, entitled “Habits of the High-Tech Heart: Living Virtuously in the Information Age” (this is a link to the story I have begun writing on the book). I’ll probably end up getting it and hope I won’t have to “return it” if something doesn’t happen soon on the Continue Reading

Smart Mobs- The Blog (by author Howard Rheingold)The Book – Buy or read about it at Amazon A book (and also a Blog) that is something destined to be grabbed up by any group interested in becoming connected to the “always on” day to day routines of millions of working, roaming, “mobs” of people across the world.  Fine sociological analysis of Continue Reading

What I’m reading (or carrying around with me, intending to finish), with links to entries where I comment on them: Smart Mobs – Howard Rheingold (I’ll be mulling that over for years to come…..even more so when I can become a “Smart Mob-ster” myself and get me “one of them” (meaning a pocket PC/Phone contraption so I can be “always connected”) Continue Reading

General Online Religion/Spirituality Resources–Journals, Research Data  & Other Interesting Things Chapter One: A Revolution in the Making: Spiritual Wonder Goes Online. –Cross-section of links introducing the phenomenon of online religion Chapter Two: The Ultimate Diaspora: Religion in the Perpetual Present of Cyberspace–Links to William Gibson, Tim Berners-Lee, the Bishop of Cyberspace and more. Chapter Three: A Taste of Forever: Cyberspace as Continue Reading

Call to Commitment,  and just about anything written by the late Elizabeth O’Connor,  are my absolute favorites.  O’Connor was a beautiful writer.  Her stories of the COS people so wonderfully communicated in an accurate way the “atmosphere” and spirit of the activity and community at COS,  and surrounding many other communities I have since come into contact with who have Continue Reading

“Gordon Cosby is a remarkable preacher-prophet whose life ministry has been re-visioning the church and what it asks of those who believe.