Tag Archives: The Future

New Rule #1: Data & Attention are the New Currency

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How much is your attention worth?

Well, as the person who wrote this post hoping that you might read it – it’s pretty valuable to me. And I’m not alone.

The Internet is the most efficient, far-reaching delivery system ever known. The combination of the Internet & smartphones has now made it possible to communicate a message to anyone, anywhere, 24 hours a day. Food companies, Car manufacturers, mega-corporations, small businesses, and governments – all are trying to get their message to you, all day long. The key to success for any product, movement, or idea is its ability to beat out the competition for a fraction of your focused attention. In such a competitive market, anyone who can successfully deliver your “eye balls”, or claim a certain percentage of your “mind-share” holds an extremely valuable chip. That person or company can use your attention for his own purposes, or sell it to the highest bidder.

Although there were no computers in his day, Paul knew the value of attention. In Chapter 3 of Colossians, Paul makes the point:

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

He understood that our attention is finite, so what we do with it matters. He understood that where you spend your attention shapes how you see the world and what you value. If we spend our time focused on the latest Twitter fight, online meme, or Facebook rant, we won’t be focused on Christ, who is our life. Therefore, Christians should be very careful where they “spend” their attention, because where we place our focus ultimately determines what we fill our thoughts with. And if we aren’t filling our thoughts with Christ and “things above”, then we open ourselves up to things that will ultimate pull us away from Christ (Colossians 3:5-10).

While it might feel like it costs you nothing to give away, your attention has real monetary and spiritual value. Be careful whom you give it to.

Just as the Internet has made everyone reachable, technology has increasingly made everything we do measurable. Where we go, what we buy, who we talk to, and even what we say can all be quantified. While all these data points might seem random, when analyzed over time by powerful computers, patterns immerge. And analyzing data that quantifies what we do makes our habits evident – and predictable. For those who collect large quantities of this data, they hold the keys to predicting much of our future behavior. The ability to predict what people will do with reasonable accuracy is very valuable to organizations big and small, because if you can predict behavior, you can control outcomes. No one knows what combination of different data sets might yield highly accurate predictive correlations of people’s behavior. As a result, there is a rush of corporations, governments, and organizations that are collecting seemingly “worthless” data about everything we do, (often without our knowledge). Once you do find a large set of relevant data, it can be sold again and again for everything from predicting traffic patterns to predicting election results.

Your data is the building block of predictive analytics, and can directly shape your physical reality. Therefore it is highly valuable.

So – just like the cash  (you still have cash!!??!?) and credit cards in your wallet, pay attention to what you do with your attention and data. It’s the new currency.

See you next week for Rule #2!!!

What if Bull Connor had Big Data – A Future History

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I thought that since we are fast approaching the Martin Luther King Jr National Holiday (in the United States), it might be worth considering a key event of  Civil Rights Movement in a modern context – particularly in light of technology’s prominent role in our lives.

Simply put – how would a pivotal event in US history, such as the famous Montgomery Bus Boycott, (led in part by Dr King) be changed in light of today’s technology?

I was also drawn to this question because the non-violent American Civil Rights movement, which was initiated by and coalesced under the Black American Christian Church, was one of the preeminent Christian movements of the 20th century. From leaders like Dr. King, Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, & Rev. Ralph Abernathy, to organizations like the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), the modern Civil Rights movement simply would not have happened without the Black Christian Church.

If we want a recent example of the followers of Christ successfully provoking large-scale societal change, this is a good place to start.

Rosa Parks, who was chosen by boycott leaders to be the test case to challenge Montgomery’s system of racial segregation, was selected because of her “good standing in the community”. This was important because if, after being arrested, Mrs. Parks’ reputation could in any way be maligned, then her character would become the issue, and any challenge to Montgomery’s oppressive and unconstitutional laws would be drowned out.

In today’s world, any investigation of Mrs. Parks’ character would largely consist of her online activity. Every Facebook post, tweet, and Instagram picture would be scrutinized. Much of her digital behavior – the sites she visits, the apps on her phone, even her movements (thanks to her mobile phone metadata) would be scrutinized by the Montgomery Police Department as soon as she was arrested. If one post, tweet, or picture could be bent or twisted to make Rosa Parks’ character an issue, then the boycott would successfully be stymied. In today’s world, the bar for “good standing in the community” can be raised to a height few are capable of clearing.

From the start of the bus boycott on December 1, 1955, the black churches in Montgomery organized much of the logistics necessary to keep it going. This included things like managing a network of organized car pooling for thousands of participants, coordinating news updates to Montgomery’s black community, and accepting donations – which poured in from black churches across the country. All of these tasks would be made easier by today’s tech. Perhaps the Montgomery Improvement Association would develop a smartphone app, allowing participants to get the latest updates on the boycott, set-up ride sharing groups, and even enlist the support of others. Donations from other across the globe could be received through donations sent via text message.

Once the boycott was underway, its participants met swift, organized resistance from many Southern whites. The ranks of the pro-segregationist White Citizens Council began to grow as the Montgomery Bus Boycott wore on. The homes of Dr. King and Ralph Abernathy were firebombed, in addition to four black churches. Insurance companies canceled the insurance policies of black car owners who were believed to be giving rides to boycotters. Boycott participants were repeatedly attacked and beaten by local whites opposed to their cause. At the same time, J. Edgar Hoover, head of the Federal Bureau of Investigations, began his infamous surveillance of Dr. King, in order to find information that might discredit him and destroy the Movement.

Just as technology would increase the effectiveness of those supporting our hypothetical, 21st century bus boycott, it would also increase the effectiveness of those opposing it. The use of technology would make the efforts of white citizens and government officials substantially more efficient. White citizens could use smartphones to take pictures of people participating in car pools as they drove by, making them known to police and other protestors. Videos of boycott participants being beaten would be anonymously uploaded to YouTube – an effort to terrorize the black community into giving up. Money and words of support would flow into Montgomery’s White Citizens’ Council, sent from people across the world who supported the principles of white supremacy and segregation.

More importantly, those in local and federal government, who either opposed the idea of desegregation or just wanted to maintain the status quo, would be in particularly good position to take advantage of technology to advance their position. Phone records and metadata would quickly identify the leaders of the boycott and provide real-time updates of their whereabouts. Agreements with Internet Service Providers and mobile phone careers would give government officials, from J. Edgar Hoover all the way down to T.E. “Bull” Connor (the brutal commissioner in nearby Birmingham, AL),  direct insight into all communications passing between the leaders organizing the boycott.

Unlike the somewhat offsetting advantages that technology would offer both the boycott organizers and the White Citizens Council, the information advantage that government officials would have would be insurmountable.

In fact, it is fair to say that the information advantage government officials would have – thanks to today’s technology – would have given them the ability to shut down the Montgomery Bus Boycott in its earliest stages.

As a result, one of the biggest Christian movements in history would have never taken place.

So – what does this mean to us?

The quality of our freedom can only be judged by our ability to dissent.

Loud, obnoxious, nagging, persistent dissent…

True dissent – the kind that pricks the conscience, changes minds, and transforms society – must be all of these things. When viewed through the eyes of the Pharisees and the occupying Roman authorities, Christ and the early Christian Church were all those things. It was this kind of dissent that Martin Luther King Jr and the leaders of the non-violent Civil Rights movement attempted to emulate. As followers of Christ, we too should adopt this posture.

If Christians hold fast to the priorities Jesus spells out in the Sermon on the Mount, then the things we value should in many ways be contrary to those who don’t follow Jesus (think “salt of the Earth”). In order to advance the cause of Christ, we will need to speak out in support of our beliefs. This should lead us to be involved in some kind of dissent – taking a position that is supported by God’s Word, but is contrary to public opinion.

Therefore, followers of Christ must always protect our ability (and the ability of others) to freely protest, without interference from the majority or those in positions of power. Not for our own sakes, but for the sake of Christ.

The question we must all ask ourselves is this – do our digital tools still allow us to dissent in a meaningful way?

If we, like Dr King, are called to take to action in support of a position that is justified by Christ but is unpopular, will technology help or hinder our efforts?

Share your thoughts in the Comments!

 

Getting Past Wonder

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Thinking back on my childhood, I vividly remember the first time I got lost in a public place. I was about five or six years old. My family went to an open-air fruit market not too far from our home. As soon as we pulled into the parking lot and got out of the car, I immediately went into sensory overload. The place was full of people. More than that, the colorful array of fruits and vegetable seized my complete attention.

“What’s that purple thing?”
“Why is that celery red?”
“What’s that smell?”

I was also a boy with a healthy appetite (my clothes always came from the “Husky” section of the Boys Department). Therefore, seeing all these foods sent my mind racing…

“Are those strawberries? Maybe Mom will bake a pie!!!”
“Whoa – did that guy just eat one of those grapes? Can I have some?”
“Look!!! That lady is giving out samples!!!”

I was so caught up in a mixture of known favorites, new choices, and tempting possibilities that I lost track of where I was. As I ran from booth to booth, trying new fruits and marveling at things I had never seen before, I became separated from my parents. I spent the next 10 minutes doing what any sensible child would do in this situation. I started screaming my head off! My parents didn’t hear my cries, but an older woman who heard me figured out I was lost, and helped me eventually find the rest of my family.

Now that I’m older, I can successfully navigate a fruit market on my own. That doesn’t mean I still don’t get caught up in wonder over new things. Instead of food, now it’s new technology.

New mobile apps, social media sites, and online services spring up on a daily basis and excite our imaginations. They give us the opportunity to do things we’ve never been able to do before. Beyond just adding convenience, these new devices make us feel like we are living in “The Future”.

BTW – The Future = an always clean, minimalist utopia that has every cool thing you’ve ever seen in a sci-fi movie. It’s a place where everything either floats, is made of glass, or wears spandex.

I’m enthralled with the idea of living in “The Future”. And apparently I’m not alone. The rate at which society is eagerly adopting new technologies and services is astounding. Facebook grew to from 1 million members in 2004 to over 1 billion users in 8 years. Google’s web-based email service, Gmail, has grown from zero to 425 million members in roughly the same time period.

When the iPad was released in April 2010, it invented a new category of device – the Tablet. In just two and a half years, more than 100 million iPads have been sold. For comparison, the largest library in the world (Library of Congress) only has 34.5 million books.

Along with these new devices, we have become just as smitten with new apps and services. In less than four years, the Apple has sold 35 billion iPhone & iPad apps from it’s App Store. Google has sold 25 billion apps through its Android apps store in roughly the same time period.

In less than a decade – we have all fallen hard and fast for “The Future”. We are fully caught up in the wonder that these new devices bring, along with the potential that they bring to our lives.

While it may be Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder on my part, I can’t help but be concerned that our feeling of wonder when it comes to new technologies may be preventing us from keeping track of what’s important. We consumers tend to focus more on what these new devices can do for us, and not enough on what they may be doing to us. We are eager to sign up for the newest service so we can gain a new convenience, but we don’t spend enough time thinking about what we may be giving up.

The goal of this site is to hopefully get those in the Christian Church past the point of wonder when it comes to technology. To get beyond the “gee whiz/that’s so cool” initial response, and begin to thinking critically about how these new technologies are impacting our relationship with Christ and each other. Posts on this site will be directed at provoking thought and discussion about the direction technology is taking both the Church and society. We also hope to look at the impact these new technologies are having on the Church’s ability to fulfill its mission.

I hope you will join us…