Seeing through the eye
This life's dim windows of the soul
Distort the Heavens from pole to pole,
And leads you to believe a lie
When you see with, not thro' the eye
- William Blake
Ravi Zacharias, in response to this poem from William Blake, said, "We are intended to see through the eye, with the conscience. Instead, the visual media, especially the television and movies, manipulates us into seeing with the eye, devoid of the conscience, whose role it is to place parameters around what we see."
Indeed, it is so true as I reflect upon this simple statement. The advent of television, and subsequent visual media such as movie and even today, with the usage of iPhone, iPad and smart devices, the availability of internet streaming broadcast has made it easier for us to access contents visually. When used appropriately, this enhances understanding of our current world. However, one wonders how media today plays around with our perceptions, influencing our thoughts towards the world.
Putting Ravi Zacharias' critique on the visual media towards reasoning and faith aside, this is also happening throughout other areas of our lives. I remember during my university days, we watched some historical documentaries about the events we were studying. One particular documentary we watched featured our lecturer but he mentioned to us that the final edit cut out a lot on what he had to say and they only selected what the producer wanted to show the audience.
In the days when most of us are increasingly being idiotised sitting in front of the screen, one has to ask if we are able to reason and be critical in the contents we receive. Or do we simply take in what we see in the movies and absorb the values into our system? Ask ourselves honestly, how much of our values we derived from watching films and visual contents? I have stopped watching television since my NS days but movies I still watch and youtube I will still access. I continue to be critical and weigh my own value system against what is being presented to me but I cannot deny myself that influence from the past remains and waits to be resurfaced. Are we losing our ability to reason as a result, I would ask myself. A quote from Ravi Zacharias (again) gives me some clue and food for thought in this issue:
Such is the peril of modern technology. Ironically, this post is typed using a Macbook Pro...
Distort the Heavens from pole to pole,
And leads you to believe a lie
When you see with, not thro' the eye
- William Blake
Ravi Zacharias, in response to this poem from William Blake, said, "We are intended to see through the eye, with the conscience. Instead, the visual media, especially the television and movies, manipulates us into seeing with the eye, devoid of the conscience, whose role it is to place parameters around what we see."
Indeed, it is so true as I reflect upon this simple statement. The advent of television, and subsequent visual media such as movie and even today, with the usage of iPhone, iPad and smart devices, the availability of internet streaming broadcast has made it easier for us to access contents visually. When used appropriately, this enhances understanding of our current world. However, one wonders how media today plays around with our perceptions, influencing our thoughts towards the world.
Putting Ravi Zacharias' critique on the visual media towards reasoning and faith aside, this is also happening throughout other areas of our lives. I remember during my university days, we watched some historical documentaries about the events we were studying. One particular documentary we watched featured our lecturer but he mentioned to us that the final edit cut out a lot on what he had to say and they only selected what the producer wanted to show the audience.
In the days when most of us are increasingly being idiotised sitting in front of the screen, one has to ask if we are able to reason and be critical in the contents we receive. Or do we simply take in what we see in the movies and absorb the values into our system? Ask ourselves honestly, how much of our values we derived from watching films and visual contents? I have stopped watching television since my NS days but movies I still watch and youtube I will still access. I continue to be critical and weigh my own value system against what is being presented to me but I cannot deny myself that influence from the past remains and waits to be resurfaced. Are we losing our ability to reason as a result, I would ask myself. A quote from Ravi Zacharias (again) gives me some clue and food for thought in this issue:
"When one studies the viewing habits of the young and considers the thousands of hours spent unthinkingly in front of a TV screen or iPhone, it is easy to see why the power of abstract reasoning has died since the advent of television and, in the words of Jacque Ellul, we are living with the humiliation of the word. The loss of reading has also reduced the individual's capacity to write. "Enlightenment" has a whole new meaning now, each person in front of his or her own screen deciding for himself what is truth and what is fancy." - Why Jesus: Rediscovering His Truth in an Age of Mass Marketed SpiritualityRelated to this, I read an article published by Today today on how 'screens' have affected our social life. Evidently, this is pervasive in our lives. Even during LG, one can see people texting people over Whatsapp and God knows what. I myself am sometimes guilty of that. The fact of the matter, as the writer argues, is that we lost our ability to relate when we begin to rely more on smart devices. We can sit on a single table but each one of us is playing around with our phone and iPad. Such is the peril of modern technology. One joy of life, I have realised over the years, is in the interaction between human beings, face to face. Interacting with another person as God's creation, not as a face on Facebook or a name we see on our contact list.
Such is the peril of modern technology. Ironically, this post is typed using a Macbook Pro...
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