True reality is not found in the mere visual. “For we walk by faith, not by sight”. Christian imagination enables us to experience hoped-for things as substantial, and things not seen as if they are evidentially present (Hebrews 11:1). Biblical imagination actually prioritises words over images. It focuses on the meaning of words, particularly God’s Words.

To prepare our children for a life that will likely involve vast amounts of time on the internet, we have to warn them about what is addictive and destructive. No one begins a practice and hopes to end up enslaved by it. The nature of addiction is a voluntary surrender to more and more mastery by a pleasure some habit. Therefore, we have to point out the danger before they walk into it.

On the internet, that addiction is the pleasure of novelty. The web offers a non-stop array of links to click, messages to check, apps to open, likes and comments to view. The architecture of the web is built upon our love of the new and the alluring. Films such as The Social Dilemma have well-documented how much of this was designed by those familiar with brain chemistry and psychology. The addiction to social media and to the web in general is no accident. It is a design feature that enriches some as it enslaves others.

In the meantime, not only does an addiction to continual checking of our phones or apps grow, but something is lost. That loss is the brain’s ability to focus without distraction. The habit of needing the dopamine hit for checking email or WhatsApp or some other notification literally trains our brains to want that “relief” after just minutes of concentration. We think we are just “multi-tasking”, but we are actually addicted to distraction.

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