Participants:
Series Code: LI
Program Code: LI200469B
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00:01 Welcome back to the Liberty Insider.
00:02 Before the break, we were in a technological buzz. 00:06 Deep discussion. Yeah. 00:08 Let me tell you something, 00:10 I haven't mentioned on this program before. 00:11 This is the moment to repeat it. 00:13 I had an epiphany. 00:16 A few decades ago 00:17 when I came back from Australia 00:19 to work at a publishing house in Boise, Idaho, 00:22 large publishing house for the Adventist Church, 00:24 a couple of hundred employees. 00:26 They've moved under some duress, 00:28 financial duress from the Bay area 00:31 near Silicon Valley. 00:33 And things have become so expensive. 00:36 And after the move, and I arrived, 00:39 I think a week after 00:41 they made it to the new plan, things were in disarray, 00:43 and the equipment seemed to suddenly aged 00:46 because of the move. 00:47 I think, in some ways, 00:49 the move did sort of highlight the need to upgrade 00:52 and they just spent about 200,000 00:55 to upgrade the typesetting equipment 00:59 and when we repackaged it and put it together. 01:02 It was ancient, didn't have flexibility. 01:04 It was on its way up. 01:06 And we made a choice 01:08 that we just had to dump it start from scratch. 01:10 And amazingly for one whole year, 01:13 we produced everything 01:14 on a IBM basic home PC 01:20 with 300 dot Apple laser printer. 01:24 And nobody sort of noticed, it's amazing, 01:27 but I remember the type guys will get there. 01:30 You know, they see this like an ink splotch. 01:33 So a number of us had to go around 01:35 and check on technology. 01:38 And in the middle of all of this, 01:39 we decided to reprint the, 01:41 I think 9 volumes of the Ellen White Testimonies 01:46 that had been done 01:47 on hot metal type decades earlier 01:49 and was getting worn out. 01:50 We need to go electronic, 01:52 we're not up and running on desktop. 01:55 So we hunted around and Ray Kurzweil, 02:01 electronics guru, 02:03 known by many of the young people at the time 02:05 was the guy that did the music synthesizer, 02:07 but he had developed the tech scanner. 02:10 And the first model was something like $5 million, 02:16 I think, a lot of money. 02:18 And we debated whether we would buy one 02:23 because we needed to, we couldn't typeset it 02:25 and errors would have been introduced. 02:26 Well, we didn't have $5 million, 02:28 but while we were looking it went down to 500,000. 02:32 Oh, it's pretty good, but we decided in the end, 02:34 we would contract with a company that had one. 02:37 And as I remember we paid $30,000 02:39 to have this whole set scanned in. 02:42 By the time we've done the job, 02:44 a tech scanner that was much better 02:47 had been developed by the Kurzweil 02:48 that was down to about $5,000. 02:51 And I'm telling you today, if you go to Walmart, 02:54 an inkjet not an inkjet... 02:56 Yeah, an inkjet printer, 03:00 will have a scanner built in, and a tech scanner 03:03 and a much better one than we had back then 03:05 maybe $30 to $50. 03:08 I got news for you. 03:10 I have an app on my phone 03:11 that I can just take the picture... 03:12 That's true. 03:14 And it will just copy the text over right off the bat. 03:17 So we've come and now it'll mix fonts 03:20 and even languages and all the rest, right. 03:22 Yeah, exactly. 03:23 So I saw it firsthand the logarithmic progression 03:28 of this development. 03:32 I've said it many times, you know, in school, 03:35 at least when I was in school, 03:36 we used to study the Industrial Revolution, 03:38 which over about 100 years revolutionized the world 03:41 settlement patterns, employment, 03:43 social restructuring. 03:45 We've gone through a far more radical shift 03:47 with the computer revolution in a shorter time 03:51 than the Industrial Revolution and it's not stopped. 03:54 And Ray Kurzweil has become a futurist 03:56 and I know he has a theory now. 03:59 I'm sure he's wrong on the time 04:01 that this curve will reach infinity. 04:05 In other words, it'll be a vertical curve of development 04:07 around the year 2035, 04:10 I think this is year, the point of singularity. 04:13 Not sure will be, 04:15 but the principle is there and it's also a principle 04:17 you can apply it at the national debt, 04:19 another things like that. 04:20 But in actuality... 04:21 Knowledge as the Bible says is going to explode. 04:24 It will, but that's an understanding 04:27 of knowledge of Bible prophecy, 04:29 but technologically wise 04:31 things are beginning to plateau right now. 04:34 On certain areas like the silicon chip, 04:36 they've reached the physical limits... 04:38 I mean, even iPhones, 04:39 the latest developments, they're not like, 04:41 "Wow, got to have that." 04:44 Drones for the drone technology. 04:46 They have all this locked in, 04:47 you know, when I fly that drone, 04:49 there's 19 satellites I'm locked into, 04:52 and there's certain fields. 04:54 I was flying it last week 04:55 through our big metropolis of Jefferson of 2000 people 04:59 and I couldn't fly over the jail. 05:02 I was downtown, it stopped me 05:04 and it said that there's a jail there. 05:06 And I couldn't go there. 05:07 So technology today is, it's a benefit, 05:11 but then at the same time, 05:13 like with the latest Apple 13.5 update, it is... 05:17 That's an automatic login when you do that 05:20 that you're logged in for this... 05:22 Well, we're clearly in this Kurzweil, 05:25 I haven't read his stuff in the last few months, 05:27 but he's probably regrouping of it 05:28 because yeah, because interrupted, 05:31 it's not gone backwards, 05:32 but there's a consolidation stage. 05:34 And clearly, the chips in the computers 05:38 have reached that they need a new medium. 05:40 The silicon chip has reached almost the limit, 05:42 although we're already in multiple cores 05:45 where they're getting the same sort of thing. 05:46 So one way or another, there is an onward and upward 05:49 and no one can predict, 05:51 but it's what you can safely predict 05:53 it's massively changing the norms of our life. 05:57 Everyday. 05:59 And so you can't counteract it, 06:00 but I think it needs to be factored in 06:02 when we're talking about 06:04 how a person of faith reacts to a world. 06:08 It's not the old world, 06:09 you need to realize the complications 06:12 that are coming our way and the oversight. 06:15 And just like Daniel, 06:17 you know, the king tricked, 06:21 you know, lay down the law that, 06:22 you know, if you pray to anyone but him, you're dead, 06:25 but Daniel goes into his room and prays as normal. 06:29 Fine, if that's your commitment, 06:32 that's how you should act, 06:34 but don't think that the things are done 06:35 in secret anymore. 06:36 No. 06:38 And for us, we've got to be as bold as Daniel was, 06:40 without having any fear, to be able to just stand for... 06:43 And that's really... Thank you. 06:44 You've got it to my... 06:46 I think this is the time to really show your colors. 06:49 Yeah, well, the real Christian stand up today. 06:51 Yes. 06:53 And rather than fade back in back to 06:56 what in another program really troubled me. 06:58 This is not the time for half-heartedness 07:01 to sort of retreat and think you can wait to that. 07:04 But if you stand, 07:06 then you're being socially awkward. 07:10 You're not being normal, you're not complying. 07:14 So is this really the time to stand? 07:17 Or is this still the time to sit down 07:19 and quietly stand? 07:21 I think it's the time to stand. 07:23 That's my bottom line, 07:25 but everyone has to move by conscience 07:28 as they're compelled to, 07:31 but I think in a time of great stress, 07:34 a time of great falling away of faith, 07:37 this is the time to rediscover or discover God and faith, 07:42 and then live up to it in a maximum way 07:45 not be half-hearted Christians. 07:47 It's never been good, 07:48 but I do believe 07:50 and, you know, we speak to people of all faiths, 07:52 but speaking as a Christian and what I read in the Bible, 07:56 I can see that God is merciful, 07:58 not willing that any should perish. 08:00 I think in easier times, people of good intention, 08:05 but not strong, overly strong faith 08:10 probably always have been saved, 08:12 but I think in a time of great stress, 08:15 it will take a greater faith 08:16 to not that God needs a greater faith to road, 08:20 but it will take a greater faith 08:24 to give your self some interference 08:26 on these delusions, 08:28 like even the health message in the Adventism, 08:30 you're not saved because you eat 08:32 or don't eat certain foods, 08:34 but if you eat certain bad food 08:38 or indulge in certain bad activities 08:40 that dull your perception, 08:42 you certainly can be lost 08:44 because you can't see the difference 08:46 between truth and error. 08:47 So you're saying that 08:49 I can't eat my way to heaven now. 08:50 No. You know, I had all this wrong. 08:52 I am saying that. 08:54 Yeah, that's exactly right. 08:55 But a lot of people haven't sort of grasp that. 08:58 So yes, God's not going to damn you for that, 09:01 but you may damn yourself in a very difficult time. 09:04 When times get straighter, the need is, 09:07 as the Bible over and over again, 09:09 Old and New Testament, it says, this calls for perception. 09:12 This calls for understanding. 09:15 The onus is on the person of faith 09:17 to see the difference between right and wrong, 09:19 and the need for action and interaction. 09:21 It would be interesting to see if you could actually look in 09:24 and take a poll of the thoughts of people 09:26 during this shutdown where everybody stayed at home. 09:30 Were they deeper into the Word of God 09:33 or they deeper into social media? 09:37 I think the latter, which, 09:39 and maybe we need to have another program on it. 09:41 I think it's not coincidental that social action activity 09:47 is that suddenly is a desire to do that 09:51 rather than spirituality and talk about God 09:54 and His wonderful love. 09:56 It's a Catch-22 09:58 because someone that's highly motivated 10:00 for spiritual godly things 10:01 should have a sensitivity to social action, 10:04 but that's not the main game. 10:06 Jesus said, "The poor you will have with you always." 10:08 Yeah. 10:09 And that's not the actual nature of people 10:12 to want to do that too. 10:14 Right. 10:15 Interesting times, 10:17 but I thought of anybody that I know 10:19 to talk technology with you would make sense. 10:21 And I know you see it, now I haven't even realized, 10:23 as you said, with your, with the drone that 10:26 now it's got its own inbuilt inhibition 10:29 against going certain places 10:30 interacting with other software. 10:34 And it's all put in there by the manufacturers 10:37 that even airports. 10:38 If there's an airport nearby, you can't go up so high, 10:41 you can't even go near that field. 10:44 It's... 10:45 So the days of the guy caught at 30,000 feet 10:48 in His lawn chair with balloons, 10:50 remember that story? 10:51 Those are over. Those are the analog days. 10:54 You could still do that by popping a balloon. 10:56 Yeah. 10:57 Well, so where do you go with your drone now 11:01 and with your faith, what do you think is the next? 11:04 I mean, I have to 11:06 during this time period that we have right now, 11:08 you've got to be focused in. 11:10 For me, I have to study more. 11:13 I have to know 11:14 because in order to be able to stand, 11:16 you got to be able to know what you believe, 11:18 to be able to stand. 11:22 A few years ago, 11:23 as part of a presidential election, 11:26 a fairly well-known comedian decided to run 11:30 as a gag candidacy for President. 11:33 And I will remember him standing up 11:35 as part of the preliminaries on television on a comedy show, 11:40 but still it was a pseudo campaign. 11:42 And he said with a very serious face, 11:44 which he normally had anyway, and he said, 11:49 "Lies have been going around, 11:52 rumors have been going around, 11:54 rumors of the very worst kind, 11:58 true ones." 12:00 We live in a time of misinformation. 12:03 And yet ironically, 12:04 we live in a time when information 12:07 and facts and figures and descriptions 12:09 are just flowing around us as the water in a stream. 12:14 As the Bible said, "Knowledge will be increased 12:16 and men run to and fro." 12:19 What we need to make sure 12:20 in this time of electronic over information is that 12:24 we are connected with the divine 12:26 and that we operate with integrity and honesty 12:29 in all that we do. 12:32 For Liberty Insider, this is Lincoln Steed. |
Revised 2020-08-14