Facebook made a few waves recently when it announced it will be changing its name to “Meta.” The announcement signals much more than a simple rebranding; it points to a technology gold rush that has deep implications for the future of humanity.
We invited Carl Youngblood to our podcast studio to talk about this fast-approaching reality. Carl has spent most of his life helping to build and operate technology companies and has done a lot of deep thinking and writing about how technology is shaping our reality and our future—including how it will affect what it means to be human.
Digital technology companies, including Facebook, are staking their futures on pushing the boundaries of virtual reality and artificial intelligence. Their project is to create a new reality for human beings—what has come to be called the metaverse.
We brought Carl on to talk about what all this means. What are the implications for our families and institutions? What are the implications for our faith? How might the theology of the restored gospel inform how we move into this new reality?
And what about technologies that may offer the possibility to dramatically extend our lifespans? What does a faith that honors the centrality of God’s creation and that honors death as an essential part of a foreordained plan have to say about these matters?
These are huge and sobering questions, but they’re also exciting to explore. Bill Turnbull, one of the founders of Faith Matters, also joined us for this fascinating conversation.
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For more perspectives on modern technology in the Church, check out this article on youth and social media and this podcast discussing gene-editing technology.
