Update on Me, and Some Thoughts About Technology

Wow, it has been a month since my last posting. Between getting over the tragic death of my cousin, travelling to Spain to see my daughter, and a lot of catch up on work at church and for Insight, life has been crazy. But I am back in the blog spot saddle. Hopefully you will consider this a blessing!
I came across some interesting research on just how much we as Americans are involved with techonology. With all of the talk about Twitter, MySpace, and Facebook, it turns out that less than half of Americans (48%) use any one or more of these computer social networks. Only 16% of adults who have a MySpace or Facebook account update their page daily. Only 5% of American currently use Twitter (even I don't get the appeal of Twitter. I really don't care to tell you what I am doing or thinking about throughout the day, nor do I think my life is that important that you care to read my tweats, nor do I need to know what you are doing all of the time). 74% of 18-34 year olds have an account on Facebook or MySpace, and 24% of those 55 and older have an account. This information comes from our friends at the Harris Poll. I wonder how much of their information came through one or more of these social networks?
Turning to video games, a study by Iowa State University finds that three million American kids, ages 8-18, may be addicted to video games. Lead researcher Doug Genile found that 8.5% of all kids who play video games show multiple signs of behavioral addiction. Quoting Gentile, "It becomes an addiction when it starts damaging multiple areas of your life." Even more alarming to me is an observation by Kurt Bruner, co-author of the book Playstation Nation, "It's unlike TV, it's unlike other things that might be a waste of time, because video games actually become a replacement for real life."
What is the source of real life, not artificial life? Let me quote a carpenter from Nazareth, "I came that you might have live, and life abundant."
Blessings,
Dr. Paul