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Science and Story
Excerpts from Science and the Story that We Need by Neil Postman.
I think this article starts of well, and highlights a great many true and important thoughts, which I've tried to collect below. But If you read it in its entirety, be prepared for an ending that misses its own point, throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
"Upon this gifted age, in its dark hour,
Rains from the sky a meteoric shower
Of facts . . . they lie unquestioned, uncombined.
Wisdom enough to leech us of our ill
Is daily spun, but there exists no loom
To weave it into fabric."
Where information was once an essential resource in helping us to gain control over our physical and symbolic worlds, our technological ingenuity transformed information into a form of garbage, and ourselves into garbage collectors.
The tie between information and human purpose has been severed.
Information is now a commodity that is bought and sold; it comes indiscriminately, whether asked for or not, directed at no one in particular, in enormous volume, at high speeds, disconnected from meaning and import. It comes unquestioned and uncombined, and we do not have, as Millay said, a loom to weave it all into fabric. No transcendent narratives to provide us with moral guidance, social purpose, intellectual economy. No stories to tell us what we need to know, and especially what we do notneed to know.
If there are children starving in Somalia, or any other place, it has nothing to do with inadequate information. If our oceans are polluted and the rain forests depleted, it has nothing to do with inadequate information. If crime is rampant on our streets, if children are mistreated, it has nothing to do with inadequate information. Indeed, if we cannot get along with our own relatives, this, too, has nothing to do with inadequate information.
What we are facing, then, is a series of interconnected delusions, beginning with the belief that technological innovation is the same thing as human progress—which is lifted to the delusion that our sufferings and failures are caused by inadequate information—which is linked, in turn, to the most serious delusion of all: that it is possible to live without a loom to weave our lives into fabric, that is to say, without a transcendent narrative.
Eric Hoffer once wrote, “[...] For has not the mighty Jehovah performed from the beginning of time the feats that our machine age is even now aspiring to achieve?”
The science-god sends people to the moon, inoculates people against disease, transports images through vast spaces so that they can be seen in our living rooms. It is a mighty god and, like more ancient ones, gives people a measure of control over their lives. Some say the science-god gives more control and more power than any other god before it.
But in the end, science does not provide the answers most of us require.
To the question, “How did it all begin?”, science answers, “Probably by an accident.” To the question, “How will it all end?”, science answers, “Probably by an accident.” And to many people, the accidental life is not worth living.
Moreover, the science-god has no answer to the question, “Why are we here?” and, to the question, “What moral instructions do you give us?”, the science-god maintains silence. It places itself at the service of both the beneficent and the cruel, and its grand moral impartiality, if not indifference, makes it, in the end, no god at all.
Comment
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Comment by Jesse Hake on December 18, 2011 at 9:23pm -
Well put!
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Comment by Jacob Belcher on December 18, 2011 at 5:01pm -
Absolutely. Finding and keeping what truth there is in the ideas and philosophies of "pagans and blasphemers" is one of the hallmarks of classical education, is it not? The pagan Greeks with their geometries and philosophies, the antagonism of modern science towards the Bible, etc... That's why I offered the article in the first place, because even though Postman doesn't hit every doctrinal nail on the head, he's still got worthwhile stuff to say.
And I'm grateful for your point about proving "a poor witness" by insisting that others do and think our way.
I guess we'll both just need to go read more Postman as time allows. ;)
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Comment by Jesse Hake on December 18, 2011 at 4:09pm
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You ask hard questions. I don't know Postman well enough to speak much here, but your summary that "everything's equally 'not the absolute', and everything's equally a retelling of the absolute" makes sense. It also makes sense when you say that this absolute Truth "is hidden in what we've got now." For us now, on this side of the veil, Christ is a mystery that can only be recognized and valued as such. All of creation testifies to its Creator (as do all people, even pagans and blasphemers in their ways), but we should place the written word of God and the sacraments of Christ's church in categories of their own (with the written word being preeminent), unique and superior from general revelation in their ability to communicate Christ and His saving grace. And Christ as the Truth of God becoming incarnate among us is a unique and supreme Christian claim to which we must bear clear testimony. These are all critical theological distinctions and categories. However, regardless of exactly where Postman stands in all of this, Evangelicals and Protestants should be able to read and appreciate his many insights. Ironically, we can become a poor witness to Christ if we spend too much energy insisting that other's get in line with us on each of these issues (as vital as they are). Now I'm in way out of my depth and have probably spoken in far too much ignorance. :) But since I was foolish enough to jump in earlier, I figured that I should see it through and give it my best shot...
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Comment by Jacob Belcher on December 18, 2011 at 1:35am
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I liked that final point too. It's good to be reminded that we don't need to know it all, be in control of everything, to be okay and live a meaningful and purposeful life.
I found it curiously illogical that Postman made such a staunch point that both science and scripture need to be read as 'human retellings' and not absolutes, but that they are retellings of 'ancient truths' which seem like absolutes that apply across all cultures and times.
It seems like he's saying, "There is an absolute, but it just can't be anything out there today. Absolute truth was too ancient, and it's been too long, and now all that's left of it is hidden in what we've got now. Everything's equally 'not the absolute', and everything's equally a retelling of the absolute." But what's his reasoning? I hope it's better than "Let's just be fair to everyone and make everything equal so no one can get upset about it"...
Can anyone who's read Postman more than me shed any light on this?
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Comment by Jesse Hake on December 17, 2011 at 10:34pm
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I was meeting with some young folks for a few hours today who got talking about Postman's book Technopoly, which lead to some great thoughts about technology needing to be a servant of true humanity and not vice versa. So I was reminded to read this article by Postman. Thanks for the tip! Rich and thoughtful material indeed. And I would agree with you that he came sadly short of recognizing Christ's supremacy:
The great revolutions and revelations of the human past, and I include the Christian revelation, have all been great retellings, new ways of narrating ancient truths to encompass a larger world.
His point at the very end, however, was a note about humility (recognition of limitations) in our grasp of Christ's supremacy that I could appreciate:
The technology-god ... promises you can have it all. My own limited reading of Scripture tells me that that was never a promise made by God—only that we should have such understanding as is sufficient—for each one, and for a time.
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Comment by Jesse Hake on December 16, 2011 at 2:23pm
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Oops. I just deleted my first comment by mistake. I had mentioned that I appreciated the line about transforming "information into a form of garbage, and ourselves into garbage collectors." I'll look forward to reading the full version.
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Comment by Jacob Belcher on December 16, 2011 at 2:15pm
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Jesse, I'd recommend you read the whole thing when you have the time. The 'best bits' get so much better when you read through the longer set up and explanations connected to them, and the article goes far beyond the few ideas I've highlighted here.
Postman starts talking about science and technology as 'gods' of our age, and traces the succession of 'gods' backwards through the last century or two like a genealogy, from technology, offspring of science, through nationalism, communism, Marxism, fascism, relativity, psychoanalysis, et. al. It's really worth the full read. (Just be prepared for an ending that goes out of its way to point out that Postman throws Christianity in with the rest, and unnecessarily and unconnectedly so.)
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