Thomas Edison and the light bulb - was God rooting for him?

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Ian
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Thomas Edison and the light bulb - was God rooting for him?

Post by Ian » Mon May 06, 2013 3:36 pm

I`ve read varying figures for how many failures/dead ends Thomas Edison had before he invented the first commercially viable light bulb - from 1,000 to 10,000 times. Either way, an awful many!
My question is this:
The light bulb has of course proven immeasurably beneficial to Mankind. Notwithstanding the fact that he was not a professing Christian, was God rooting for Edison during his (what must have seemed to him endless) experimentation?
Was He on his side?
I`d rather leave out now as to why I should want to ask such a question. I`m interested to know your thoughts though. Thanks

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steve
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Re: Thomas Edison and the light bulb - was God rooting for him?

Post by steve » Mon May 06, 2013 7:31 pm

We have all benefitted from modern technology—and we have also suffered from it. It is not clear that, on balance, technology has proved to be more of a boon than a bane. Since it is here, we exploit it for the kingdom of God. However, the apostles did a pretty good job of getting the gospel out without such advantages.

The light bulb has allowed us to increase our productive, waking hours. Before it was invented, most people went to bed shortly after nightfall, and awoke with the sun, getting more recuperative rest than any modern person is likely ever to know. The light bulb has allowed factories to work around the clock, stores to remain open late, social events to continue into the wee hours, etc. It is not clear to what extent this has enriched our lives, and to what extent it has made them hectic and stressful.

When we turn our consideration to automotive technology, the same considerations apply. How many traffic fatalities were there when horse-drawn carriages were the mode of transportation used by most who weren't walking or riding horseback? We can get places much faster than before, but that only means that we expect (and are expected) to do so. We can fit much more travel into a day, and into a lifetime, than was possible throughout most of history. We get there in a hurry, to be sure—but then, it has also created much more "hurry" in our lives, since others expect us to fit far more miles into our day than anyone was expected to do 150 years ago. Though we cover more miles in a shorter time, we nonetheless spend more hours sitting behind the wheel in an average week than ancient people did in an average month.

When we add digital technology to our list, we find that we have easy access to other people and to data, along with the stress of information overload. While this technology (like all technology) has incrementally increased the convenience of performing tasks that no one, for the first 6000 years of human history, regarded as necessary to perform, there has been a downside as well. Digital communications and computer technology have deprived us of all privacy. They have drawn our youth away from productivity to a world of texting, computer games, and unlimited music and movie downloads. They have made our pool of knowledge a mile wide and an inch deep. They have stolen our children's souls.

Then, of course, military technology, which is the ultimate fusion of all of the above, must be considered. Hateful men have always been able to harm other men, since the time of Cain and Abel. However, it awaited the advent of modern technology to allow hateful or power-hungry men to destroy, from the convenience of their desks, whole populations of anonymous victims for sport or for profit.

Thankfully, good men and women have seized the opportunities afforded by technology to make commensurate gains in the promotion of good. But might this just be seen as making the best of a bad thing? Probably, technology is morally neutral. The people who use it are not. Technology empowers all people who have access to it. Since there are more evil people exploiting the gains of technology than there are Christians doing so, the net results may be seen as evil.

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Ian
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Re: Thomas Edison and the light bulb - was God rooting for him?

Post by Ian » Tue May 07, 2013 5:57 am

Thanks for your well thought-out post, Steve.
They have made our pool of knowledge a mile wide and an inch deep
Brilliant!

I brought up Thomas Edison because of the anecdotes about the number of times he tried and failed. It`s often used in motivational books as an example of persistence.
Your comments about the mixed benefits of even the invention of the light bulb are noted. However they might not apply to more indubitably beneficial advancements, like in anaesthesia for example.

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steve
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Re: Thomas Edison and the light bulb - was God rooting for him?

Post by steve » Tue May 07, 2013 9:49 am

That is true. I left out medical technology from my consideration. This is a very great boon to many people. Believe it or not, I think that, even in that department, there may be some drawbacks resulting from some of the advances.

The ability to prolong the lives of folks who would naturally have died and faced God at an earlier point seems good, but it may give man a false sense of virtual immortality. There is something to be said for the spiritual benefits of seeing oneself "in the hands of God" with reference to being healed and/or surviving mortal illness. To be in the hands of the medical system may improve our chances of living a longer, pain-free life. This is probably the highest priority in life for many people. It has now come to be viewed as a basic human right. This attitude may have undesirable spiritual ramifications upon a society. Health and longevity have become for many an virtual obsession—one that earlier generations did not have the luxury of entertaining.

In the hands of wicked people, the pursuit of long, healthy life can result in diabolical human experimentation (such as that conducted by Nazi doctors in concentration camps, or the research that depends upon aborting fetuses). Those in power may hope that they can indefinitely prolong their own lives through research gained at the expense of human Guinea pigs. The early mental asylums in this country were virtual hells of cruelty, conducted in the name of scientific experimentation on the mentally ill. "Medical research" is a label that can be used to justify almost any indignity forced upon the sick.

I shouldn't say much about any drawbacks I perceive in some of the advances that have been made in medical science, since I have not had much occasion, as have many, to depend upon its benefits. If I was in chronic pain (as I know you are, Ian), I would thank God every day for the invention of Anesthesia.

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mattrose
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Re: Thomas Edison and the light bulb - was God rooting for him?

Post by mattrose » Tue May 07, 2013 10:13 am

As an aside... Greg Boyd shared a video blog today about his struggle with chronic neck pain and his thoughts on pain medication
http://reknew.org/2013/05/greg-shares-h ... onic-pain/

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Ian
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Re: Thomas Edison and the light bulb - was God rooting for him?

Post by Ian » Tue May 07, 2013 10:40 am

Thank you both, and God bless you both.

I had stopped trying to come off my medication but food for thought, Matt. Maybe I gave up too easily.

Re Greg: can the world cope with him being even more alive than he was before!

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Re: Thomas Edison and the light bulb - was God rooting for him?

Post by steve7150 » Tue May 07, 2013 3:04 pm

The light bulb has of course proven immeasurably beneficial to Mankind. Notwithstanding the fact that he was not a professing Christian, was God rooting for Edison during his (what must have seemed to him endless) experimentation?
Was He on his side?







Yes i think so because God made the material universe with the amazing raw materials available for his human creations to discover. Obviously God knew that humans would eventually figure out how to use these materials in ever more advanced methods leading up to technological creations which if used wisely would greatly enlarge the kingdom of God and the goodness in the universe.
Clearly as has been said the issue is whether man has the wisdom to use these technologies beneficially to grow spiritually and strengthen his relationship with God. Up to now mankind clearly gets a failing grade but the testing period is not over and i am hoping that when the fat lady does indeed sing, humanity will have learned what was meant to be learned and everything pans out in the end.

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Re: Thomas Edison and the light bulb - was God rooting for him?

Post by Paidion » Tue May 07, 2013 11:07 pm

I`ve read varying figures for how many failures/dead ends Thomas Edison had before he invented the first commercially viable light bulb - from 1,000 to 10,000 times. Either way, an awful many!
Evidence for the persistence of the man! He didn't give up. The man, considered a failure at school, was a genius! He filed 1093 patents for inventions.
Many of his inventions (or their offspring) are used daily in our world. The light bulb is only one.
Here are just a few others:

1. The phonograph.
2. The first commercially practical incandescent light bulb.
3.The first electric motor to operate on 110-120 volt lines.
4. The carbon telephone transmitter "button".
5. The means to send mutiple telegraph messages over a single line.
6. A system of wireless telegraph.
7. The first motion picture camera.
8. Edison introduced the first "talking" motion picture.

One of his failures—a means of operating simple household machines by means of the power from women's voices.
Paidion

Man judges a person by his past deeds, and administers penalties for his wrongdoing. God judges a person by his present character, and disciplines him that he may become righteous.

Avatar shows me at 75 years old. I am now 83.

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Ian
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Re: Thomas Edison and the light bulb - was God rooting for him?

Post by Ian » Wed May 08, 2013 10:54 am

Before it was invented, most people went to bed shortly after nightfall, and awoke with the sun, getting more recuperative rest than any modern person is likely ever to know.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-22209818

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steve
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Re: Thomas Edison and the light bulb - was God rooting for him?

Post by steve » Wed May 08, 2013 11:09 am

Interesting story!

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