Shane Hipps :: The Power of Electronic Culture

Shane Hipps is positing an interesting social theory based on his book The Hidden Power of Electronic Culture. He opens with the notion that the linear construction of the printed word in mass-produced books ratified the nature of the human imagination. Assembly lines, symmetric city blocks, and even church pews, he argues (though somewhat loosely), are the results of the ability to mass produce books. And his resulting question is, what happens in the digital age with content? Coupled with this question, Shane folds in the proliferation in our culture of the image, which usurps the power of the word.

The sentence "The boy is sad" is usurped by an image of a crying, malnourished African child. "The reason this image is more powerful than the sentence is the same dynamic that my presentation can't be done with smoke signals." The sentence, for anything powerful to occur, requires the abstract thought of the reader to extrapolate. But the image appeals to the right brain. This reduces, Hipps argues, the need for abstract thought, whether you think it's a tragedy or not. Because image is driving culture primarily through our advertising and media, it's fundamentally changing the expression of our religion. Linear has been replaced by circular. Big institutions have been replaced by organic communities. In other words, the medium becomes the message.

As Christians, Hipps calls, we need to be more nuanced about our medium as we clarify our message. They are one, and culture expects them to be one.