Habits of the High Tech Heart: Living Virtuously in the Information Age (Updated and Expanded Edition)
Available December 2024
Author: Quentin J. Schultze
Foreword by Martin E. Marty
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Total Pages: 376
Price: $30.00
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DESCRIPTION
In this updated and expanded edition, Schultze and invited guests consider the moral and social costs of today’s sophisticated technology, arguing that the benefits of a cyberculture can be better appreciated by refocusing on the traditional Judeo-Christian values of discernment, moderation, wisdom, humility, authenticity, and diversity. Contributors reflect on Schultze’s original offering —first published more than 20 years ago—and evaluate its arguments in light of today’s fast-paced, ever-changing technological landscape. Contributors suggest ways in which Schultze’s original arguments and critiques offer continued hope and a clear path forward in digital environs filled with personal and institutional burdens. Theoretical connections between past and present are explored, while daily communication practices to help cultivate faithful Christian engagement are put forth. Students of technology and culture will delight in this book’s timeless insights that transcend platform-specific architecture and the latest digital advancement.
ENDORSEMENTS
“What a delight! On every page I found insight, depth, and compelling thought. With moral and ethical integrity, Schultze cuts through the Internet hype and vapid online culture. Next time you’re stressed out by your computer, refresh yourself with a chapter from this book.”
—Clifford Stoll, author of Silicon Snake Oil
“‘Luddite!’ ‘Reactionary!’ I will not be surprised if such abuse is hurled at this important book, but the hurlers will have entirely missed the point. The point is that putting excessive hopes in a computer upgrade may degrade our humanity. The point is that the techno-utopian promise of a global village may lead to a globe of village idiots, especially moral idiots. To really get the point, get, and read, this book.”
—Richard John Neuhaus, editor in chief, First Things
“Schultze has written extensively on the intersections between religion and media, covering both old media and new media. In contrast to the typical issues-oriented approach to cyber-ethics, Schultze offers a richly researched and elaborated virtue ethic for the information age. This book is highly recommended for all levels, especially faculty, students, and information technology professionals.”
—J. Gresham, Choice
“Distracted by our high-tech skills, we can fail to note that they do not make obsolete our negligible human, moral values. Quentin Schultze’s book is a guide to doing what we can do, not irresponsibly but responsibly—which means virtuously, with patience, kindness, and the hard work demanded by wisdom, under God.”
—Walter J. Ong, S.J., author of Orality and Literacy
“What are the new information technologies ‘doing’ to us as human beings? Quentin Schultze’s exploration of this question has amazing breadth and offers profound insights. This is a virtuous book about cultivating the virtues in an information age.”
—Richard J. Mouw, president, Fuller Theological Seminary
“This book is an open-eyed, mind-boggling, soul-piercing look at what we do to ourselves when we are not alert to our society’s informationism and the symbol brokers’ cyber-myths of progress. Quentin J. Schultze asks all kinds of faithful, wise, crucial questions—and thereby offers gifts of humor, contemplation, cultural and historical memory, integrity, true justice, hope, and the right kind of fear to help us ‘fall into humility.’ This book is a must read for those who love, resist, or merely use technology.”
—Marva J. Dawn, Teaching Fellow, Regent College
“Technology promises virtually anything and everything. This same technology endangers virtually everything it touches. Quentin J. Schultze’s wise and comprehensive assessment provides essential Christian discernment as we negotiate this glittering and danger-fraught landscape.”
—Eugene H. Peterson, translator of The Message
“This book is quite a tour-de-force. Its subtitle says it’s about living virtuously in the information age, and that’s right. It’s a critique to jolt us out of technological complacency and to rethink our priorities. Habits of the High-Tech Heart speaks to an audience that should perhaps know better—it’s a warning; yet in the best prophetic tradition, Schultze identifies with the audience, seeing himself as one who’s deeply involved in the very world he questions.”
—David Lyon, author of Jesus in Disneyland
“The World Wide Web is both glorious and fallen—like the rest of God’s good creation—and Schultze has produced a provocative, balanced, witty look at both sides of that equation. A must-read for church leaders and others who want a sane guide in this minefield.”
—Terry Mattingly, columnist, Scripps Howard News Service
“Schultze is one of those rare bilingual authors who is such a pleasure to read—a master of both the digital life and the life of goodness. With wall-to-wall argument and dazzling research, we’re shown the path of moral discernment. This book’s luminous wisdom shines a spotlight on our bandwidth envy and lights up our minds and hearts at the same time.”
—Clifford G. Christians, Research Professor of Communications, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
“Firmly based on a well-informed diagnosis of our technological times, Schultze’s book is likely to be one of the most important published in the year 2002. Woe to those who ignore its message.”
—Lewis B. Smedes, author of Forgive and Forget
“Rapid technological change is wonderful, scary, liberating, confining, upsetting, and enabling—all at once. What is the responsible Christian to do in the face of such bewildering change? For a start, read this book by Quentin J. Schultze, and it will be a lot clearer what we should welcome, what we should oppose, and why.”
—Mark A. Noll, University of Notre Dame
“An important, measured response to the hysterics of cyber-utopianism. Schultze deftly maps out the tricky new terrain and helps us to begin shaping a new morality for our fast new world.”
—David Shenk, author of Data Smog
“This is a book worth listening to as we enter a broader discourse about technology that permeates our lives as much as the air we breathe. It raises important questions about what we should welcome, what we should oppose, and why. Habits of the High-Tech Heart is neither the ramblings of a Luddite nor a paean of wild-eyed utopianism. It is, rather, a well-written call to name and tame this latest development in the march of human inventiveness, before we are made into the image and likeness of the machines we have created.”
—John Freund, Theology Today
“Well-informed and sobering. Schultze’s book serves as a thoughtful companion on the kind of contemplative journey he advocates, and this book goes a long way toward the goal he sets for all of those who would minister in the cyber-age. He implores all of us to find ways to serve responsibly and to enhance relationships with others, both online and off. Certainly, these are virtuous goals for any age.”
—Lynn Schofield Clark, University of Denver
“Technology marches forward, but the nature of the human heart remains the same. This anniversary edition puts Schultze’s classic text in conversation with various contemporary scholars, providing updated commentary on topics that have proven to be timeless.”
—Derek C. Schuurman, Professor of Computer Science, Calvin University, author of Shaping a Digital World: Faith, Culture and Computer Technology
“Quentin J. Schultze is gifted with a dynamic and engaging presence, whether it be in a classroom of undergraduates, among a group of fellow scholars, or on the written pages of one of his many inspiring publications. In this lovingly curated, twentieth-anniversary edition of Habits of the High-Tech Heart, that presence still inspires and informs despite social, political, and technological changes that few could have foreseen at the time of its initial publication. In this edition, the authors who reintroduce each chapter show how Schultze’s steady and prescient moral compass can guide us today, even as we enter new frontiers of artificial intelligence and algorithmically fueled disinformation.”
—Kevin Healey, Associate Professor of Communication, University of New Hampshire
“In the twenty years since Quentin J. Schultze published Habits of the High-Tech Heart, the digital world and its accompanying technologies have refashioned our culture and our habits. This new edition, with commentary from Christian scholars throughout the U.S., rejoins the cultural discussion about our habits and how we live.”
—Paul A. Soukup, SJ, Professor of Communication, Santa Clara University
“Habits of the High-Tech Heart was well ahead of its time when first published. Now, more than two decades later, it remains as relevant as ever. Quentin J. Schultze reminds us of our moral heritage, which is more than adequate for responding to the challenges of a technological society. This book is a must-read for anyone seeking to live virtuously amidst the amoral tendencies inherent to our mediated age.”
—Nicholas R. Pertler, Assistant Provost for Academic Studies, Point Loma Nazarene University
“For more than twenty years, teachers and students have resourced Schultze’s Habits of the High-Tech Heart for ways to think, communicate, and live Christianly in our digital world. This new updated and expanded edition continues in that way by providing thoughtful case studies and new content to illuminate virtuous, faithful praxis. Two decades of technological advances and momentous sociocultural changes have presented new challenges and opportunities for those who would follow Christ. Leviathan has wrought tumultuous (digital) seas. Thankfully, Schultze’s insights have put us in the right ship and point us to the correct bearing.”
—Chase Mitchell, Associate Professor of Media and Communication, East Tennessee State University
“Much has changed in our world since Quentin J. Schultze first wrote Habits of the High-Tech Heart. Despite some notable benefits, communication technologies have grown increasingly pervasive and intrusive, with profound and often harmful effects. In this updated and expanded edition, Schultze and his contributors invite readers to examine the implications of our cyberculture for individual well-being and society by posing questions such as, ‘What are the personal costs of and what do we sacrifice in our pursuit of digital and social self-identities?’ ‘What are the costs of inauthenticity and disinformation to society, community, and democracy?’ Schultze challenges us by arguing that the most important question to ask should be, ‘Do our cyber-practices make us better persons and our society more civil and democratic?’ He urges us to refocus on communicating virtuously.”
—Denise Edwards-Neff, Affiliate Faculty, LCC International University
“In today’s world of social media and artificial intelligence, Quentin J. Schultze’s book insightfully addresses the crucial needs of our time: moral, character, and spiritual development. The ideas and perspectives Schultze presented over twenty years ago are even more critical today.”
—Geraldine E. Forsberg, Senior Instructor, Western Washington University
“Schultze’s Habits of the High-Tech Heart was a powerful word of wisdom when it was first published in the aftermath of the popping of the first internet investment craze. The hubristic, almost messianic techno-enthusiast culture that this book addresses is still with us today, even as the technologies themselves have changed and grown. The continuing relevance of Schultze’s measured, balanced, and insightful critique is illustrated by thoughtful engagement of a community of scholars today. In an era dominated by artificial intelligence, we still need the very real Christian virtues that this book focuses on.”
—Kevin Schut, Game Development Program Lead, Professor of Media Communication, Trinity Western University
“In the age of sequels, prequels, and back-to-the-beginning origin stories, here comes Habits of the High-Tech Heart 2.0—a sequel as good or better than the first, a return to reflection, and a rereading worthy of your reflection and recognition, even if you missed the first installment in the series. Turn off notifications, put the dumb smartphone in a different room, make yourself a cup of organic chai decaf javanutrino with oat milk, and set yourself up for a ten-week liturgy of reading one chapter per week. You won’t be disappointed by this book if you can but find the time, solitude, quiet, and peaceful environment in which to read it.”
—Read Mercer Schuchardt, Associate Professor of Communication, Wheaton College
LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS
Introduction: Kevin Healey, University of New Hampshire
Chapter 1: Geraldine E. Forsberg, Western Washington University
Chapter 2: Nick Pertler, Point Loma Nazarene University
Chapter 3: Chase Mitchell, East Tennessee State University
Chapter 4: Derek Schuurman, Calvin University
Chapter 5: Denise Edwards-Neff, LCC International University
Chapter 6: Read Mercer Schuchardt, Wheaton College
Chapter 7: Paul Soukup, Santa Clara University
Chapter 8: Kevin Schut, Trinity Western University
AUTHOR BIO
Quentin J. Schultze is Professor Emeritus at Calvin University, Department of Communication, where he received the Presidential Award for Exemplary Teaching. He has written many articles and books, including Communicating with Grace and Virtue, An Essential Guide to Public Speaking, An Essential Guide to Interpersonal Communication, and Communicate Like a True Leader. Dr. Schultze was one of the founders of the Gospel Communications Network, which created the online Bible Gateway. He serves on the Board of Directors of Baker Publishing Group. He is a Senior Fellow at the Christianity and Communication Studies Network (theccsn.com). He leads teaching, publishing, and faith-integration seminars at universities and seminaries.