Attendees at BYU Education Week were told that technology can and should be used for good. Ron Schwendiman, of the Church Internet Coordination Group, reviewed the wonders of the information age and cautioned that it must be harnessed for good. Some key points:
- With all the information that is available, which information is true and right?
- What information is of the most value?
- How do we prioritize our time in conjunction with technology?
- How do we take advantage of all these great discoveries?
Read more in the Deseret Morning News.
I enjoyed reading about Ronald Schwendiman’s Education Week session and agree with his assessment of the great promise and peril presented to us by technology. As our exponentially advancing information technology further converges with other scientific fields, it will most likely enable revolutions in biotech, nanotech and robotics. If you expect to see about the same rate of change going forward as we have seen in the past, you are probably wrong. The intuitive view of linear change in technology does not accurately reflect the quantifiable historical trends. Unless the trends change, we will soon experience a period of time when technology advances so quickly and dramatically that, given current limitations, humans will not be able to predict or direct the outcome (futurists call this the Technological Singularity). However, as Ronald points out, we should not expect our limitations to remain unchanged. Our relationship with our technology is becoming increasingly intimate. Computers that were once in large warehouses far away are now in our pockets or even embedded in our flesh, saving us from problems humans could never before overcome and enabling us to do what humans never before were capable of doing. Assuming this trend continues, we have reason to believe that, given some wisdom and inspiration, we can navigate the challenges before us, and realize possibilities that perhaps only the ancient visionaries foresaw.
Brother Ron,
Great presentation at Education Week. I’ve attended your classes in the past and have learned a lot. I really appreciate your insights as to how and why the church allows or not material on the web. Fridays presentation was most informative and I look forward to your presentation next year for more updates.
Ron Schwendiman did a wonderful job promoting good technology and explaining how to more effectively use the LDS Internet sites. It would be wonderful if the information he presented could be made available to the Stake Technology Specialists. Thank you for all of your hard work.