Restless Devices: Recovering Personhood, Presence, and Place in the Digital Age

Song, F. W. (2021). Restless devices: Recovering personhood, presence, and place in the digital age. IVP AcademicFelicia Wu Song is a cultural sociologist who studies the place of digital technologies in contemporary life. She holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Virginia, and MA in Communication Studies from Northwestern University and a BA in History from Yale University.She begins with Mary Oliver, "The patterns of our lives reveal us. Our habits measure us." This quote reflects her thesis which is that "technological and institutional structures of our contemporary digital lives are fundamentally shaping our imaginations." This book is organized into two parts: Part 1 explores how our "digital compulsions are driven not merely by our lack of willpower but by powerful external forces that act on us." Seeing technology as progress we often fail to question the unintended consequences of its adoption and use over time. The history of technology including its intentional design to garner our attention is described highlighting how the design reinforces our viewpoints and biases through personalized searches, recommendations, and algorithmic curation. Alienation, distraction, and addiction are possible outcomes from our technology overuse and adoption. In Part 2 she posits how "sustainable digital practices [can] lead us toward living." She proposes that a theological anthropology [rightly understood] presents a "vision of who we are as human beings and what we think we are doing here." The way and how we spend our time is a spiritual practice influencing us in often unquestioned ways. Instead, she suggests that spiritual practices, untethered from technology, have the potential to activate the "Christian imagination" - that facet of our humanity reminding us that we "are created to commune and to inhabit time and space in the fullness of our embodiment and presence." Rituals and liturgy practices mysteriously work to change us in a "surprising sort of grace." She incorporates The Freedom Project, a three-part exercise, designed to change our digital habits. This book is so well researched, she interjects questions with the text leading the reader to consider the implications and consequences of the research. This would be a wonderful book for those interested in culture, technology, and spiritual practices.I didn't know when I purchased this book that Part 2 would draw upon a biblical perspective. Her ideas were refreshing - about what it means to be human and how we find spaces for grace and presence. I found myself questioning my technology usage and how often such usage is "unquestioned." She said: "If we accept that our digital practices are often mis-forming our desires and our capacity to enter into communion with God, then it makes sense to consider how intentional spiritual practice can be adapted and directed to the particular challenges we face in cultivating a soul life that is open and ready for encountering the spiritual realities in our lives." This is a timely reminder that our practices truly do drive our attention, our sense of embodiment and presence. Such a good book.

This is excellent. So helpful. I will be recommending this to everyone I can!

The author successfully reveals the poison of social media and our ever-present devices, but then she offers solutions that seem to not be up to the danger posed by this new reality.Also, her theology of the Trinity is technically heretical. No doubt, it's an honest mistake by a well meaning layperson but her pastor or theological proofreader should have caught this. Yes, there is a relational dynamic in the Trinity but the Trinity is NOT three separate beings/persons. There is *distinction* between the persons but never separation.

Dr. Felicia Song does an excellent job at unpacking how companies engineer social media (and tech in general) to keep us on line and dependent on our devices. She also is clear that we have hard choices to make in order to better serve our time, mental health, and relationships.

Restless Devices is exactly what I have needed as I anxiously raise teenagers with technology. I so badly needed the mix of research and wisdom I found in this book, and it has helped me and my teens begin to identify and take control of the ways we want our lives to be shaped by the technology we use. What an empowering and encouraging message the author shares, that we can knowingly shape the way we use our electronic devices instead of being helplessly used and shaped by them. It is informative, encouraging, readable, and hopeful. I will be returning to this book and it’s toolset time and time again.

Felicia Song is wise and wants the best for you. If you have concerns about how digital devices are affecting your soul, this is a great place to be challenged and encouraged.

This is the best book I have read about technology, and I have read a vast number. I first became interested in social commentary about the digital world in 2013, alarmed by rapid changes in my peer group and wanting to better understand what was happening. Over the past decade, I have been intrigued to see how discourse surrounding technology has changed, especially as more people realize that technology is not neutral, and that responsibility does not solely lie with the user to use it correctly. As Felicia Wu Song explains near the beginning of this book, even though the alarmists in the 1990s were wrong in many of their assumptions, optimists about the Internet are having to face harsh realities about how much of our privacy, relationships, and emotional lives we have given up to technology companies that prioritize moneymaking over any sense of their users' well-being.Insightful and Holistic"Restless Devices" summarizes relevant history, provides incisive social commentary into pressing issues, and provides ideas for how Christians can recover fuller lives through the resources inherent in their faith. This book is particularly powerful because Song is not arguing against or in favor of digital technology. This book is not a screed against Silicon Valley, and nor is it a defense of how we will all be fine as long as we take occasional media fasts. Instead, Song addresses the core questions that people need to ask themselves related to their use of technology. What is technology making them, and who do they want to be?"Restless Devices" is very insightful and highly readable. Even though this is an academic book, Song communicates complex ideas clearly and well, also weaving in practical exercises to help readers reevaluate their relationship with technology and make gradual changes. Song writes about some of the reasons why it is so difficult for people to achieve lasting changes in their digital lives, but she provides positive, holistic ideas for how people can move forward.The second half of the book focuses on how the Christian story and the spiritual resources within the Christian faith can help counterbalance the secular liturgies of our digital tools, and Song makes a strong argument for how recapturing a holistic Christian perspective can counteract struggles with fragmented attention, loneliness, community breakdown, and idolization of productivity. However, she also writes in a way that is welcoming and inviting for people of other faiths, and I would recommend this to anyone interested in the subject, regardless of their belief background.ConclusionThis book is very timely and thoughtful. Because I have already read so much about technology and spiritual formation, not much in this book was new to me, but "Restless Devices" will now be my go-to recommendation, since it combines so much that I have read from multiple different sources. This is a wonderful resource for people who want to better understand and manage their digital lives, and I would highly recommend it to adults and to teenagers who are equipped for the book's reading level. This would also be an excellent selection for a book club or church discipleship group, especially since working through this material in community can help people experience deeper perspective shifts and create lasting changes.