Sunday, September 27, 2026
Sunday Reflection: The beauty of books
I'm a believer in books. My friend Bob Darden says that books change the world, and he is right. In fact, I am on sabbatical right now, working on a book. (My friend IPLawGuy, a prodigious reader, has said I write more books than I read, which is kind of an exaggeration).
While books and the printing press were not a thing yet, Jesus lived in a sub-culture of literacy and learned study of texts. The Bible, a book, has been the principle focus of Christianity for centuries. The faith (as we know it) has spread and been defined by books and reading.
Is it a bad thing that many people read or watch short-form posts or videos on their phones rather than read books now?
I do worry that it leads to a few dangers. One is that the algorithms that determine what is in a persons feed is so prone to manipulation and misinformation-- and there are actors who want to define what people believe by what they see on their phone. The second problem-- and many of us teachers see this already-- is that attention spans seem shot. Professors no longer assign whole books because students can't complete the task of reading them.
AI, of course, will accelerate all of this, as people can complete tasks without reading.
Are we in trouble?
