May 1, 2022
‘Continuous Partial Attention’: The Impact of Smartphones on Us, Our Kids, and Our Faith
By Tyler McKenzie In a punchy scene from Gulliver’s Travels, the Lilliputians (the little people) think Gulliver’s clock is his god because he keeps checking it. After interrogating him, the Lilliputians conclude the following: “And we conjecture it is either some unknown animal, or the god that he worships; but we are more inclined to the latter opinion, because he assured us . . . that he seldom did any thing without consulting it. He called it his oracle, and said, it pointed out the time for every action of his life.” Already, in 1727, author and Irish clergyman Jonathan
