Hello fellow educators, welcome to podcast number 44. Today we continue the discussion about Informationalism and how this new “…ism” is changing the way we think and educate. This podcast is dedicated to those who seek to bring a discipleship based approach to Christian education. We are still sending out free copies of my book “Discipling this Generation for a Digital World” to any one that asks. Details to follow at the end of the podcast.

Epistemology, this is the fancy philosophical term that categorizes what is at the heart of the issue we are facing today in the classroom and ultimately in our culture. Probably one of the best introductions I have found for this term is, well, should I say it? in Wikipedia or at least today’s edit on Wikipedia, but we will come back to that point in a minute, Here is the definition:

“Epistemology…or theory of knowledge is the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature and scope (limitations) of knowledge. It addresses the questions: "What is knowledge? How is knowledge acquired? What do people know? How do we know what we know?" Much of the debate in this field has focused on analyzing the nature of knowledge and how it relates to similar notions such as truth, belief, and justification. It also deals with the means of production of knowledge, as well as skepticism about different knowledge claims.”

David Nobel, the Christian apologist and author of Understanding the Times, calls Epistimology, “The study of the authority of knowledge.”

This became the great the debate of the modernist culture. Take any controversial belief or theory for the last 500 years and you will find that the debate always goes back to epistemology. By what authority do you hold your ideas to be true? Christianity was able to stand tall in this debate because we base our knowledge and belief on historical events. We were able to build massive amounts of evidence for Jesus’ existence, his influence and even his death and resurrection. We have been able to substantiate the scriptures as authentic. We can trace the authorship directly to the apostles. We have the well developed science of textual criticism that can get us to the earliest and best documents from the times of the old and new testaments. Add to this the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the mountains of archaeological evidence and we have a convincing argument.

The problem is very few people really care about these types of epistemological proofs. Most of our up and coming generation are tired and suspicious of the scientific sounding, rationalistic approaches towards making an argument. They would just rather vote and get it over with. Thus we have a democratization of information. If most people believe a thing to be right or authoritative then it must be true. The internet has become the leveller for all information. If something is worth knowing then it will show up in the first or at least the second page in a Google search.

I have frequently tried to make the case that in previous times when new communication technologies were introduced into culture they had a transforming effect upon culture. In the classic case of Gutenberg’s printing press we see the entire restructuring of European culture. The access to new ideas eventually undermined the basic authority structures of the Roman Catholic Church and the feudal Aristocracies. The free movement of ideas became the catalyst for the modern age, much of the renascence and ultimately western style democracy. The key area of change was and is today in how we view authority. Authority on every level and perhaps there is something very fallen and rebellious in our pursuit of free expression. We need to ask the question but rarely do, is this going to be ultimately good for our lives? The unbridled pursuit of freedom from authority, whether that be in a political sense or in a theoretical desire to freely express ourselves, indicates we have at the very root of our nature a rebelliousness.

The new internet technologies are creating and fuelling a post-modern phenomenon. We are rebelling from our parent’s rebellious way of thinking. One of my favourite TV shows in the 80’s was Family Ties with Canadian actor Michael J. Fox. He was the son of two former hippies and rebelled against his parents rebel 60’s lifestyle by being an ultra conservative. Post-modernism feels somewhat similar, it is an ideology of rejecting modernistic cultural ways of thinking which at one time was a rebellion of the Middle Ages way of thinking.

Nevertheless we are fast approaching a time of wholesale rejection of the pre-internet way of thinking. Informationalism will give our children access to any and every name, date and place on the planet. Arguably it has already done this. Neal Postman warns us, in his prophetic book Technopoly, of the relationship of information and authority:

“The relationship between information and the mechanisms for its control is fairly simple to describe: Technology increases the available supply of information. As the supply is increased, control mechanisms are strained. Additional control mechanisms are needed to cope with the new information. When additional control mechanisms are themselves technical, they in turn further increase the supply of information. When the supply of information is no longer controllable, a general breakdown in psychic tranquillity and social purpose occurs. Without defences, people have no way of finding meaning in their experiences, lose their capacity to remember, and have difficulty imagining reasonable futures.”

Interestingly, Postman wrote this in 1992, before the advent of the public’s access to the internet. In this book he also details how the printing press first deconstructed the control systems in western culture and eventually replaced them with new systems of control. The Church and the King were not only the religious and political authorities but they also provided the framework for all information and knowledge. Over time the printing press changed access to information and the framework in how this information should be used and understood. Science and Academia emerged as the new priests and democracy took the place of the King. These became our authorities of how we use and understand the information so freely given to us through the library of books and knowledge made available to us through our beloved printing presses. In last week’s interview with Pippa she talked about the getting to the right “authorities.” We have determined an authority on any given topic to be based upon the amount of education the author has. We have assumed that if the author is being published by an established Publishing House there must be credibility to that author thus we can assume he knows what he is talking about. Our epistemology has been structured in such a way as to place great value on the printed page. I encounter people all the time that place a much higher emphasis on who I am when they see my books even though they have been self published. Wow, you’ve written a book? Immediately I have a epistemological currency.

This is all changing.

I remember listening to a preacher talk about ways in which his message became believable. He referred to the big screen as a medium that gave him credibility with the youth culture. He could talk all day long across a pulpit, one of the key platforms for credibility to the modern generation, but until they saw that he had been featured on a video screen he wasn’t anybody special.

Technology has changed how we deal with information. Even the old forms of publishing are changing. In the five years I know ten people who have self published their own books. That is not an exaggeration; I have helped half of them do it. Because the computer and office software has made all the front end editing so easy the author is doing all of his own typesetting and cover design. All the printer is doing is reproducing and binding. This has made the cost very economical. Printing a few hundred books is within reach of a few thousand dollars. But this is the old medium.

The internet has given us a platform for publication that is virtually free to the person with a laptop today. And the publication mediums are far more sophisticated than what we were using just 20 years ago. We have the option of publishing our own books online. Something I did in 1997 with a book that I couldn’t get the traditional publishing companies to look at. My book, The Mystery of the Three Days and Nights, is used in Bible schools and referenced in internet articles all over the world. I receive emails all the time from people who either love or hate what I wrote. We can become our own television producers today with YouTube. We can write a blog or start a website in any area we want to set ourselves up as an authority. You are listing to a podcast from “The Christian Educator.” Now, honestly this sounds a bit ostentatious. I, Greg Bitgood, is The Christian Educator. I didn’t have a commission of Academic Associations set this up. I didn’t get anybody’s permission. I went to a domain name registry found a name I liked and registered it. I downloaded some free recording software and had one of my former students help me with the website and setting up the Itunes links.  Before you know it I am broadcasting worldwide and am frequently featured on the Educational Itunes Website. Anyone, anywhere at any time can hear my broadcast as long as they can connect to the internet. No one “discovered me.” I didn’t go through the rigor of academic tenure. I didn’t become famous for some great accomplishment, although some of you are listening because of our leadership in online education. I don’t have a publishing company sending me on a book tour. Everything is here because I put it up myself and positioned our website and podcast to get a little bit of notice. Now I show up on search engines and Itunes. What did I really do here? I am one of the first in our genre to podcast. That’s it, that’s all it takes to become The Christian Educator.

Our very idea of what is an authentic authority about any topic, area of research or essential truth is being deconstructed.  This is happening so quickly that our culture is beginning to start to crumble on the edges. Let me repeat Postman’s prophetic warning; “When the supply of information is no longer controllable, a general breakdown in psychic tranquillity and social purpose occurs. Without defences, people have no way of finding meaning in their experiences, lose their capacity to remember, and have difficulty imagining reasonable futures.” There are two forces feeding on each other that are making this deconstruction possible:

First we have Postmodernism – this has become an overused word in our circles today and can be an excuse to show our disdain for anything that smacks of change. Certainly no-one would argue that there is a deconstruction of language going on which ultimately finds its way into our epistemology. We are becoming far more tolerant of relativistic ideas. In fact, tolerance has become the most important character trait in the new culture. Take the word God. This has come to mean many things to many people. Some consider this word to mean the classical monotheistic idea of a personal creator where others redefine God to mean a pantheistic force. I don’t think that this has changed over the last 50 years but what has changed is our unwillingness to argue about our own definition. I would argue that God cannot mean a pantheistic force that permeates everything. The very etymology of the word for God always denotes personality. But why is this the case? Because in our western modern culture this is what we have come to believe the word means. In a more tolerant Post-modern culture we find ourselves far more subjective about our language and experience.

Now let’s put this together with our second culture changing force, the internet. In this Post-modern atmosphere of subjective truth and ideas we have created the most accessible medium in all of human history. This medium is uncontrolled by any publisher and nearly every government. It is global and accessible to anyone with an internet connection. Not only has the ability to read, view, and interact with any knowledge, truth or belief available to me instantly for free; but I can also self publish any idea, text,  photo, artwork, movie or personal identity online.

Postmodernism and the Internet are altering the foundations of our Epistemology. As Christians we have had a significant place at the table in the development of our western culture since the fourth century. I still think we have a role to play. I believe we must hold the line when it comes to ideas like absolute truth, God and many of our theological and metaphysical perspectives.

Last week I promised we would start to talk about the use of Wikipedia and its offspring ideas but we will have to take this up next week. I also want to tackle a common phrase that we hear in educational circles that goes almost completely undefined that is: we have to teach our students how to think critically. What does this really mean in a world of changing authorities? I want to include some of your thoughts on this next week. We would love to hear from you and I deeply value your comments. If you would like us to mail you a free copy of my book, Discipling This Generation for a Digital World, simply send an email to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it and let us know what type of an educator you are, home schooler, classroom teacher, school administrator, or interested parent. Please let us know how you heard about the podcast and, of course, please include your mailing address. Thank you for listening and thank you for your commitment to discipleship-based Christian education.