THE NUMERATI
Earlier tonight on Book TV C-SPAN 2, I heard Stephen Baker, a writer from Business Week talk about his recent book THE NUMERATI. http://www.thenumerati.net/ It's about the unknown multitudes who gather data on people -- all kinds of data -- and use it to make generalizations about the population, predict trends, and sell their findings in the form of research. Listening to him could almost make you never, ever, ever fill out another survey or questionnaire of any kind. Little pieces of information standing on their own, without a context can be misleading.
My dad was fond of saying that a lot of folks "had just enough information to make them dangerous." I didn't understand what he meant for a long time. And I don't know exactly when it was that I understood how true that oft repeated saying of his really was. Thinking we know more than we really do can make us act in foolish or reckless ways.
Actually, I think little bit of knowledge, besides being able to lead us to false conclusions, can also act as an innoculation against greater knowledge. If I know just a little bit about theatre or opera I can hold my own in conversation at a party and not appear to be uninformed; but no one would want me to write a review for the Times. Or if I know a little bit about major league baseball, I can enter a room where the game is on tv and make a few appropriate comments about the team, or the season, or the inning and likely no one would know how little I really know.
In baseball, or opera, or theatre, unless we're trying to influence people our little bit of knowledge is likely neither fair nor foul... such knowledge has no lasting significance. In the light of eternity (sorry baseball, opera and theatre fans) our knowledge or lack thereof doesn't make a hill of beans of difference.
But I was reminded this week of the importance of being humble and careful as we share our little bit of knowledge about the character of God--or what we portray as speaking on God's behalf.
My goal in mentioning this is not to squelch religious dialogue, but to send us more than ever before into the pursuit of the knowledge of the Holy so that when we share its more than... misleading little pieces of information taken out of context... rather that we might truly be "prepared to give an answer for the hope that is in us."
We learn these 'answers' in Scripture, in silence, in community, in seeking. The answers never stop coming if we continue our pursuit. What we learn doesn't make great party conversation (often it can stop party conversation dead in its tracks)! But seek to find more answers anyway.
Its not likely that the Google,Yahoo and Facebook numerati are going to collect bits of information about our knowledge of God anytime soon. But we know that there is One who is the real Author of Numerati who does care and Who desires to teach us more each day. Blessings and Joy, THE CELTIC MONK
My dad was fond of saying that a lot of folks "had just enough information to make them dangerous." I didn't understand what he meant for a long time. And I don't know exactly when it was that I understood how true that oft repeated saying of his really was. Thinking we know more than we really do can make us act in foolish or reckless ways.
Actually, I think little bit of knowledge, besides being able to lead us to false conclusions, can also act as an innoculation against greater knowledge. If I know just a little bit about theatre or opera I can hold my own in conversation at a party and not appear to be uninformed; but no one would want me to write a review for the Times. Or if I know a little bit about major league baseball, I can enter a room where the game is on tv and make a few appropriate comments about the team, or the season, or the inning and likely no one would know how little I really know.
In baseball, or opera, or theatre, unless we're trying to influence people our little bit of knowledge is likely neither fair nor foul... such knowledge has no lasting significance. In the light of eternity (sorry baseball, opera and theatre fans) our knowledge or lack thereof doesn't make a hill of beans of difference.
But I was reminded this week of the importance of being humble and careful as we share our little bit of knowledge about the character of God--or what we portray as speaking on God's behalf.
My goal in mentioning this is not to squelch religious dialogue, but to send us more than ever before into the pursuit of the knowledge of the Holy so that when we share its more than... misleading little pieces of information taken out of context... rather that we might truly be "prepared to give an answer for the hope that is in us."
We learn these 'answers' in Scripture, in silence, in community, in seeking. The answers never stop coming if we continue our pursuit. What we learn doesn't make great party conversation (often it can stop party conversation dead in its tracks)! But seek to find more answers anyway.
Its not likely that the Google,Yahoo and Facebook numerati are going to collect bits of information about our knowledge of God anytime soon. But we know that there is One who is the real Author of Numerati who does care and Who desires to teach us more each day. Blessings and Joy, THE CELTIC MONK
Comments
Post a Comment