Integrating Reason, Faith, and Tech

Technology continues to change how we live, but these changes often go unchecked.

In his recent article, our friend Luke Burgis breaks down the power struggle between three influential forces in modern life—reason, faith, and innovation—using the cities Athens, Jerusalem, and Silicon Valley as symbols to represent them.

Burgis argues that the three cities must learn how to communicate and integrate, and that ultimately, they must examine their respective understandings of anthropology, particularly how they answer the question—“'What does it mean to be human?'”

Burgis claims that “...there is a broader and fuller vision of humanity that we can recover” by allowing the unique perspectives of each city to inform and challenge each other.

So, what does this have to do with us today? Burgis points us specifically to Silicon Valley and its effects on modern life.

We can start by examining how our humanity is influenced by the city, both symbolic and literal, of Silicon Valley—especially as entrepreneurs and business leaders.

If you’re a business leader, Silicon Valley’s utilitarian philosophy exerts tremendous influence on you just by its very existence and proliferation. Under the pressure of our productive, innovative, and success-driven society, we often aren’t thinking about what matters most.

This week, take a personal step to ask those bigger questions.

Any machine can be productive. Why is your humanity essential to your work? How are you nurturing those aspects of your work that draw upon your humanity?