"The fact that I was not able to communicate with anyone via technology was almost unbearable."

That's what she said.

Literally.

The University of Maryland just completed a study in partnership with International Center for Media & the Public Agenda (ICMPA) where 200 college and high school students were asked to give up all media for just 24 hours. From computers to television to cell phones, they could not use any technological devices. The quote from this blog title was a good summation of the overall feelings conveyed by the subjects. Each student who participated was asked to write blog entries after the fast with no length requirement. Among the 200 students, over 110,000 words were written. Just so you know, that's about a 400-page novel.

The study concluded that "without digital ties, students feel unconnected even to those close by."

"The student responses to the assignment showed not just that 18-21 year old college students are constantly texting and on Facebook -- with calling and email distant seconds as ways of staying in touch, especially with friends -- but that students' lives are wired together in such ways that opting out of that communication pattern would be tantamount to renouncing a social life."

One of the stranger, more disturbing parts of the study involved the language of the addicted online socialites. They used words that the researchers often hear from alcoholics and drug addicts, saying they got "jittery" and "extremely antsy" and "frantically craving" and even "miserable."

I've got to say, that when I purposefully fast from technology in order to keep myself in check with some of my beliefs, I find that I'm not so different from my peers. I'd like to think, as perhaps many of you would, that I'm not addicted to my phone or computer, but alas I seem to know my heart well enough to say that I'm equally linked electronically. I reach for my phone or go to turn on the TV without even thinking about it. When my technological fasts are most successfully done, I'm usually in the woods or at the monasteries.

However, the idea that we're now all being connected electronically is not all bad. The study also found that this generation has responded so positively to things like Facebook and Twitter because many of this up and coming generation really care about what is going on in their world: both locally with friends and internationally as a citizen of the world. A student who failed the assignment and wasn't able to shut off the computer said he was glad he failed because he was able to find out about the earthquake in Chile and a friend who needed someone to talk to. The researchers were surprised at how many blog entries included sentimental language about missing their friends and the news about the world around them; the students seem to really care.

The electronic age is not something to be resisted because, frankly, we're already in it. The best thing for those who are older, perhaps having trouble understanding "all this techno-stuff" that the "kids are in to these days," is not to lambaste and demonize it, but to get involved with it. This is how humans will connect for a good amount of the foreseeable future, and if you desire to talk to anyone from any culture or generation, it's often best to meet them where they're at, even if they're online.

Numbers

I realize that this has been somewhat all over the blogosphere, but I also realize that some of you have a very limited...um...sphere.

USA Today and LifeWay Research center just completed a very extensive study of young adults and religion/spirituality. The headline ran on the front page of the paper two days ago saying, "Young Adults Less Devoted to Faith," which was backed up by what USA Today does SO well: tons of colorful unnecessary graphs!

Basically, today's young adults (called "Millennials") would describe themselves as "spiritual" and not "religious." This quote, which includes the president of LifeWay Research group, is telling:

"Among the 65% who call themselves Christian, 'many are either mushy Christians or Christians in name only,' Rainer says. 'Most are just indifferent. The more precisely you try to measure their Christianity, the fewer you find committed to the faith.'"

They found that most Millennials (65%) don't pray with other people, don't read their Bible/Sacred text (67%) and don't go to any type of worship service (65%). BUT 65% of all of them claim to be a Christian. I think what Rainer says near the middle of the article is very well stated (his interpretation of the data):

"We have dumbed down what it means to be part of the church so much that it means almost nothing, even to people who already say they are part of the church," Rainer says.

It may surprise some of you, but I'm really not the type to freak out about this type of thing. I know there are tousands of moms who are saying something like, "OH GOODNESS WE'RE LOSING ALL OUR KIIIIIIDSSSS!!!!"

But here's the truth: the door is narrow (Luke 13:22-30). I think it is a healthy mindset to desire for churches to be big, for the movement of Christianity to be massive. But the truth is, since the beginning of the Christian movement, and even before that through the history of Judaism, we have seen a large group of people who desire the benefits of Christianity and the God of the Bible without the cost that it so clearly entails.

The cost, though, is more than just going to church and reading a sacred text.

EEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!

Proof that humans beings are MESSED UP. SO MESSED UP. This is Bieber Fever in New Zealand. Pay attention to the 1:35 mark.

HT: Blogtown

Are You TIRED?

I've always loved these segments of infomercials. Mainly because most of the things they say that "always happen" either never happen or do so often that you should just deal with it. KIDS SPILL CEREAL SOMETIMES OK??? We don't need a device that prevents that from happening, we just need to be less lazy and expectant of convenience. Get off your rear, get some Bounty paper towels and wipe that milk off your floor! He's just a kid... Oh, oh wait, I'm sorry, that would just be so inconvenient. This is America! Make something do it for me! Now!

Cinderella

For all of the talk about how the publishing world is in a tailspin, there are still victories.

Book publishing could be the most complex and difficult businesses to break into. The process from getting a book off your computer, desk, journal and in Borders is about as difficult as getting in to the NBA. But luckily, the world of books still operates in a very unique way when it comes to the awards it gives out. The film and music industry have both gone to the dogs, politicizing every award in order to lift a young performer's career or give it a nice cap (Jeff Bridges, I love you), or even cap a young performer's career (Cuba, you have a place in my heart).

But, no, not in the world of books. We still award great art and see the written word as virtuous and novel and creative. We still recognize the word as art, dangit!

I say all of this because of how pleased I was that I had not heard of the Pulitzer Prize winner until I checked the Pulitzer Prize winners. Tinkers by Paul Harding has an amazing story of publication, and of course it is told best by NPR. Take four minutes and thirty seconds to listen to or read the story of its publication and road to literature's highest honor. No one has heard of this book, it was published by a tiny publishing house, and simply by word of mouth the manuscript traveled to the highest desk, and received great affirmation.

Now all I have to do is find a copy of it...