Humility in the Information Age
Why now, more than ever, we need people to embrace gratitude and humility
Good morning!
How often do you know just how much you don’t know?
In our world full of modern technology — one in which you could say, “Ok, Google,” and ask your phone a question, receiving an answer to almost any query within seconds — it’s sometimes difficult to determine how much somebody actually knows.
Because the sum of all human knowledge sits constantly at our fingertips, we feel like we are in control, that we have power, that we know what’s going on in the world around us. But does that mean we know all that we think we know?
See, there’s a huge difference between the knowledge gained from a 30-second Google search versus knowledge instilled through years of training or education; I may be able to tell you how nuclear reactors work in theory, but I wouldn’t be able to either rebuild or even just run one.
Now more than ever, we are living in a world where — thanks to computers, laptops, and smartphones — the general population feels like it’s just as smart as the experts on all sorts of topics, challenging the establishment, wanting those who’ve earned their posts to once again prove themselves, tested by the younger generations for a variety of reasons.
In the midst of this, I believe that there is both cause for concern and a call to humility; while there are tons of concerns about the new internet age — such as the idea that if all electricity permanently went out, we’d be crippled and unable to fix anything, thus getting stuck in the stone age — I do also believe there’s a call for gratitude and humility.
The truth is, most of us do not work day and night tirelessly on farms anymore; we live in the information age, and we do accept the fact that it is often times comfortable. However, in order to avoid a major fall/collapse brought about by our own egos through thinking we know everything just because our smartphones tell us whatever we want to know, I strongly believe this is a time when humility and gratitude are in greatest demand.
In my experience, I’ve noticed that a thankful heart is the number one defense against pride and arrogance of heart; you can’t think you’re better than someone at the very moment that you are genuinely thanking them for something. If we adopted a culture of humility and gratitude, allowing ourselves to be taught by more than just the internet’s online sources, we could perhaps even take on life somewhat better than our predecessors.
God bless you, have a great day!
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