The AK47 Podcast Season 1: Episode 19

Aaron and I talk about the books that have been most influential to us.  This discussion brought up issues of suffering and being authentic with God, Christian's responsibility in changing culture, apologetics, and personal struggles.  We gave some thoughts on C.S. Lewis and Timothy Keller as well.

Listen to the episode here.

Books mentioned in the episode

To Change the World by James Davison Hunter

The Reason for God by Timothy Keller

A Sacred Sorrow by Michael Card

The AK47 Podcast Season 1: Episode 9

Aaron and I are back together to record.  We talk about our experiences studying philosophy in university and graduate school.  What were our universities like?  What is Talbot like?  Should you do it?  What are the benefits and risks of getting a formal education in philosophy?  Will Christian students in secular colleges encounter hostile professors if they take philosophy?  Will Biola and Talbot make you cry?  Check it out.

Listen to the podcast here.

Video Game Addiction and Good Uses of Time

Gaming Addiction

There has been a lot of news about The World Health Organization's classification of excessive video gaming being an addiction or disorder.  Some of the links that I provide also give responses to the studies, saying that it is premature or that the research done on the subject is poor, so I am hesitant to believe the studies.  My goal here, however, is not to argue for or against the studies, but to talk about the thoughts this kind of study brought up in my mind when I heard about it.  Namely, I want to talk about video games and wise use of our time.  I will do this by talking about my own experience playing games.  This is mostly a personal story, but I hope it will be helpful to readers as well.

Time Well Spent

Here's a picture from my Steam account

This is showing the total number of hours that I have put into this game.  739 hours is roughly equivalent to a month of my life spent playing this game.  This doesn't necessarily mean that the World Health Organization's criteria for what count as video game addiction apply to me.  I do not neglect work or friendships because of video games, I do not spend several hours a day playing video games, and I have not experienced "withdrawal symptoms" when I get off of them.  These 739 hours are also spread out over a two or two and a half year span of time.

Despite this, I think it is clear that playing this game was not the best use of all of those 739 hours.  I can't help but imagine how I could have spent all of that time.  Imagine the kind of skill or strength I could have developed if I had spent 739 hours practicing something or exercising.  Imagine the expertise I could have in an academic subject if I would have spent those 739 hours reading and studying that subject.  Imagine the kind of job I could have if some of that time went to working towards a career.  There are things I could have done that wouldn't have just been beneficial or edifying for me, but also helpful for others as well.  Studying a particular subject can help make me a better apologist, making me more able to bless others by teaching.  I also could have spent a lot of that time volunteering for a charitable organization that helps people.  When I think back at the time I spent playing this game, I can't help but wonder what might be true of me now if I didn't use all of that time playing this game.

This doesn't mean that I think it is always bad to play video games.  There is nothing necessarily immoral about entertainment.  Video games also don't strike me as any more of a time waster than binge watching a T.V. show or spending a Saturday on a Lord of the Rings or Marvel movie marathon.  Despite this, I think a guy like me can learn how to exercise more wisdom in how he uses his time.

I strongly suspect that what is true of me is also true of others.  What do you think?  Do you feel the same as I do, or are you better at balancing entertainment with more productive uses of time?

Do Not Dismiss What Someone Says Simply Because of Lack of Experience

This article was originally featured on ResistanceTV.

The Internet Dismissal!

Something that I have noticed in this age of online discussion and debate is that people often dismiss what others say because of certain facts about them, whether that’s facts about their race, life experience, gender, or other things.  If you have experienced something in your life that is persistent and at least sometimes very difficult to deal with, such as infertility, depression, singleness, unwanted pregnancy, divorce, unjust discrimination, or a myriad of other struggles, it can be easy to dismiss the wisdom, advice, or arguments of people who have not gone through what you have gone through.  In this tense political and racial climate, I often hear people dismiss each other’s arguments because of their race.  Some black Americans will dismiss anything a white person says about racial injustice.  In the abortion debate, it is common for women to dismiss pro-life arguments because the arguments are coming out of the mouths of men.  I certainly understand this mentality and see where it comes from. As someone who has been single for a longtime, it can be easy to dismiss the things people who have been married since their early 20’s say to me about singleness. One one hand, it makes sense, since they have not experienced the particular trials of long-term singleness and don’t understand what it is like.  Personal experience does give a person valuable insight into the circumstances they have experienced, so it makes sense to think that the lack of that experience means that the person also lacks that insight.

I don’t, however, think that people should always be dismissed if they do not or have not personally experienced certain circumstances in life. Just because someone hasn’t experienced something you or I are struggling with doesn’t mean that person has nothing good, true, helpful, wise, or valuable to say. There are a couple of reasons why I think this is the case.

Don’t be so hasty to Dismiss out of hand

One, there is often overlap of experiences between people who are dealing with different struggles, life stages, conditions, and other things. A couple struggling with infertility struggles with at least some similar things as the single person, since both desire a really good thing that is just not coming. They have both experienced the wait, unfulfilled longing, and disappointment of each thing, so there can be an understanding between them even though they are going through different things.

Second, when you have been dealing with something for a really long time, you often become very emotional about that thing. Those emotions can often cloud your ability to see your trial from a different perspective or see all of the facts of the situation. A person who has never gone through what you’ve gone through likely does not have that emotional clouding, so he may be able to see facts or perspectives that are valuable, but you cannot see.  So, while someone being an “outsider” about a certain struggle is often used as a reason to dismiss anything that they say, I think the fact that a person has not experienced a certain trial in life actually gives one reason to at least listen to and consider what the person says because they may have a perspective on the situation that the struggler does not have.

What I’m saying is that if you are struggling with a particular thing and an “outsider” about that struggle gives their insight, it is worth at least considering what the person says to see if it is true or helpful.  Don’t automatically dismiss the wisdom, advice, or general thoughts that they give simply because they’re an outsider. They may actually be getting at the truth.