The overall concept of The Soul in Cyberspace is a warning. Douglas Groothius, a provocative Christian author, gives everyone a weighty charge to question everything in this world. He calls us to be wise skeptics because we live in a fallen world and we are fallen leaving us without the ability to completely predict all the effects of a new "mode of life." The fact that we live in a fallen world means that everything has a fault to it, even down to the pen with which you write. Ink can be deadly and so can the sharp point. Here is a chapter by chapter response to the book.
The Postmodern Soul in Cyberspace is best summed up by the quote... "We simply bless the chaos, countenance the confusion, give up on knowing who we really are, and embrace a truth-less, perpetually uprooted existence." Cyberspace allows us to create our own selves. We are permitted and even encouraged to formulate our own worlds ba sed on how we would like reality to appear. Groothius cautions us on the dangers of a postmodern worldview hopelessly encouraged in cyberspace. God calls us to learn who He is more fully because then we will know more of who we truly are. Cyberspace can be a major stumbling block to this because it encourages the faceless person. Groothius speaks of a cyber affair where a man (Avram) went online as a woman (Allison) and was engulfed in an affair for years. The affair eventually ended but Allison is a part of Avram that will never go away.
Disembodied Existence in a Digital World is best summed up by the quote... "Much of the technological imperative finds its restless energy in the desire to lessen or eliminate the agonies of embodied existence in a world so resistant to the yearnings of the soul." Groothius describes the desire of humans to leave the physical world, to slough off their skin and enter into cyberspace. Cyberspace has been described as a place to escape the awkwardness of human life and all its limitations. Person to person contact is not valued in cyberspace and Groothius takes issue with this.
The Book, the Screen, and the Soul is best summed up by the quote... "When information is conveyed through cyberspace, the medium shapes the message, the messenger, and the receiver." Groothius exemplifies this in his "library without walls" also known as cyberspace. He believes that we should value books and libraries and the community and person-to-person contact that they facilitate.
Hypertext Realities and Effects is best summed up by the quote... "The more "interactive" the computer technology, the more indeterminate and fuzzy the meaning of texts tends to become." Cyberspace gives surfers the ability to cruise over massive amounts of information without seeing where that information came from. A reader loses the depth and context of information when it can be found by a simple point and click.
The Fate of Truth in Cyberspace is best summed up by the quote... "Diversion [in cyberspace] serves to distract humans from a plight too terrible to stare in the face, namely, our mortality, finitude, and sinfulness." How many times do we escape the "harsh" realities of the world through the medium of technology? Many people seek refuge in the comforts of their recliner in front of the television or playing a video game or surfing the net.
Cybersex: Eroticism without Bodies is best summed up by the quote... "Physical appetites seek gratification [in cyberspace] unencumbered by the drag of the physical body." Sexual pleasures away from marriage are a major temptation and stumbling block for many. The last thing a fallen people needs is a readily available source of sin. Groothius warns us that cyberspace allows sexual needs to be "filled" without the danger of disease and commitment.
Technoshamanism: Digital Deities is best summed up by the quote... "Technoshamanism attempts to sacralize the silicon, to find mystery in the works that our hands have made." Groothius tells of occultists who hold seances online and who claim that cyberspace heightens their experience. Technopagans worship their own creations and cyberspace is a very effective platform for their creations. God commands us to have no other gods before Him; cyberspace is no exception.
Exploring Virtual Community is best summed up by the quote... "I may "connect" with terminals around the globe but know nothing of the pains, joys, and mundanities of the souls next door." I have seen people talk over instant messenger to many others around campus and yet they do not even know their neighbors. Community has been corrupted by cyberspace. People spend more time on their computers conversing with "virtual" people rather than speaking face to face with one another. Groothius cautions us that virtual community is not what humans truly desire or need.
Virtual Community: Trust, Deception, and Infection is best summed up by the quote... "...trust does not reside in integrated circuits or fiber optic cables. Although it involves an exchange of information, trust in not reducible to information." (Francis Fukuyama) Trust in a community requires physical presence and knowledge of the other in human form rather than in virtual form. Many people have been easily fooled online by gender impersonators. Groothius finds trust to be an essential point to a solid community and cyberspace does not foster the trust that a true community of humans needs.
Online Christianity? Is best summed up by the quote... "Finding the appropriate conditions of sentience for the communication of the Christian worldview should be an ongoing challenge to those committed to representing the Word of God faithfully." Groothius encourages witnessing over the internet if that is the only way to speak with someone but if there are alternate options, like person to person, he suggests that they should taken. Typing, "God loves you" to someone comes across with different sentience then expressing that to someone face to face with expressions and intonation.
I think this is a great book for anyone who desires to wrestle with philosophical issues and who will take on the challenge to be wise skeptics in the world. I feel that this was a well-needed warning about technology for a world so wrapped up in its man-made glories. After all, nobody ever likes to see the faults in their own creations. Groothius is not a Luddite and after reading this response it might seem like he has nothing good to say about cyberspace and technology, but he does. He wants users to enjoy technology to the fullest and I believe he feels that by warning people of the negative sides to it, they will respect its good qualities more and be better stewards of its capabilities.