According to several recent books and articles, however, it is not only our lives that have changed; our brains have changed as well. Clicking through Internet links, multitasking in multiple media, interrupting our train of thought to check our e-mail—these activities have been steadily rewiring the neural pathways of our brains. Neuroscience has confirmed that we are losing our capacity for sustained attention, contemplative thought and deep engagement. We risk other losses: we could lose our ability to become absorbed in long, complex books; we could staunch the creativity that flows from contemplation; our capacity for empathy, some fear, could weaken.
Recent books about the Internet's effect on our brains don't say much, if anything, about the implications of these changes for religious life. But our capacity for sustained attention, as Simone Weil once put it, is what makes us able to pray and to be present to others. Back in 1994, Birkerts predicted that as our capacity to read diminished, we would turn to religions for narratives in which to find a place for ourselves. But if our capacity to pray and be present to others diminishes, what will we find when we turn?
By the way, Tim Schmoyer recently hosted a conversation on how Facebook is changing teens' relationships and faith. Make sure you check it out.
