Knowledge vs Wisdom

It's difficult finding wisdom in today's AI world.  Thanks to AI we can find the answer to almost any question in about 3 seconds. With the internet and social media, we have instant access to more information than ever before. AI is going to unleash a deluge of knowledge n a way humanity has never had to contend with. Access to more information was supposed to make us wiser, but for a lot of us it has made us more shallow. We think we know a lot, but we really only know a little about a lot.

In Genesis, verse 6 we learn about the tree at the center of the garden of Eden that we have come to call the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. The serpent promised that if Adam and Eve ate the fruit of it, they would be like God, knowing good and evil. The serpent tricked them; they got more knowledge, but no additional wisdom.

It's the same today. We are left with ample information but inadequate discernment. Our knowledge has been growing more quickly than our wisdom ever since that fateful day in the garden. The internet and social media have opened up so much knowledge to the average person that we have had a corresponding plummet in mental health. We don't have a clue how to handle all we know.

AI is going to unleash even more of the knowledge of God without more of the wisdom of God. It's a key reason we feel so overwhelmed and can't keep up with everything happening around us. We were not designed for it. Only God is omniscient (and omnipotent and omnipresent) - not us. 

And if the deluge of information wasn't enough to overwhelm us, an additional challenge is that we are not even all getting the same information.

AI-powered algorithms are the invisible system deciding what we see online - your social media feed, your video recommendations, your news - and it is different than my feed or other people's feeds. The algorithm learns what keeps you scrolling and serves up more of it. And what keeps people scrolling? Generally speaking: Anger. Outrage. Fear.

So rather than getting other viewpoints and rational discussion, we are just seeing more of what we  tend to believe. If you ever wondered why people have become more polarized in their views on just about everything, this is why.

Social media and AI ethicist Tristan Harris puts it this way:  "A handful of tech companies steer the thoughts and feelings of a billion people every day." In other words, technology is discipling you and pretty much everyone else.

Being discipled is a Christian concept, but at its root it means "to be taught." You and I are not merely consuming content. We're being reshaped and remade and not considering where this transformation is coming from.

Author and pastor, John Mark Comer says it this way:  "What you give your attention to is the person you become. The mind is the portal to the soul, and what you fill your mind with will shape the trajectory of your character. In the end, your life is no more than the sum of what you gave your attention to."

The average person now spends seven hours a day online. When you compare that with how much time the average Christian spends reading the Scripture or attending church, the algorithm is winning the discipleship fight. 

What are you consuming, and how is it shaping you? How do you know what you see or hear is true? We talked a bit about this in Bible study yesterday morning... Sometimes we don't know or understand but we can still believe because of faith. Remember that all wisdom comes from God. Maybe try to gain more of God's wisdom instead of just knowledge and pray for discernment on all that we see, hear, and learn. 

A final thought... and this is something that I often think about. I do spend a lot of time online with the majority of that time is with Scripture, devotions, trying to learn more about God, and a lot of Christian music. Even if we realize that the digital world can be a good forum for reflecting the immanence of God, a place where you can gain more information about faith, we need to remember that we cannot download what our soul craves or needs. We were made to be social creatures. In-person worship with others offers glimpses of the transcendence of God that the online world never can.