Is the Internet Quietly Shaping Who You Become? – Highlight Episode 382

Algorithms are increasingly shaping how people think, desire, and spend their time, often without them realizing the spiritual impact. The guys discuss how social media systems learn behavior patterns and then feed content that fuels comparison, fear, consumerism, and distraction. The guys explain that these digital patterns can function as unintended discipleship, subtly influencing priorities, relationships, and identity while encouraging dissatisfaction with everyday life. They highlight how areas like dating, parenting, and personal fulfillment are being reshaped by algorithm-driven content rather than grounded community and biblical wisdom. The conversation emphasizes that algorithms themselves are not inherently evil, but without self-control, they can easily amplify sinful tendencies and weaken spiritual focus. The guys encourage believers to intentionally reorder their habits by prioritizing Scripture, prayer, and real-life fellowship before engaging with screens, reminding listeners that spiritual formation requires discipline and purposeful attention.

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Learn more about the hosts of this podcast.
Ray Comfort
Emeal (“E.Z.”) Zwayne
Mark Spence
Oscar Navarro

Transcript

Attention Engineers And Casino Tactics

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Tristan Harris, he is a former Google design ethicist. And he said social platforms hire attention engineers who borrow design tactics from casinos to keep users hooked. Wow. Right? How you didn't sign up for a discipleship program, but when you woke up this morning, you're you're part of a discipleship program, right? And oftentimes we reach for our phones before we reach for the Bible. Or we may say the Bible is on our phone, so we're gonna reach for our phone as an escape away, right?

SPEAKER_00 0:29

You mentioned that algorithm causing you to want something in a harmless way by referencing a chocolate chip cookie, and in some ways that's true and that's totally fine, but where it becomes harmful is where it it forces us to become dissatisfied with life. And that happens.

SPEAKER_03 0:47

Isn't the algorithm just something uh that's been around for many years? I mean, we talk about wanting our attention, and that's exactly what advertisers have done for you is billboards, television advertisers. They want to make you feel discontent with that which you've got. Um dissatisfied with life.

SPEAKER_00 1:01

It's just omnipresent now. They've added technology to it.

Setting Spiritual Priorities First

SPEAKER_03 1:04

Yeah, they added it, it's just gone on steroids, but it's not really wanting our attention, it's wanting our pocketbook. That's what's behind the wanting the attention. They want your attention to get your money because the love of money is the root of all evil. So nothing's really changed. It's just it's the tenth commandment being violated.

SPEAKER_01 1:18

So, first of all, right, priority. Um determine that you're going to do what's most important first, or even sometimes the thing you want to do least. It doesn't mean you hate it or it's, you know, it just means that you know, as an example, the word or prayer or devotions or whatever. You know that spiritually, you know, the spirit is welling the flesh is weak. You know that's the area where you're gonna be drawn uh away uh toward other things. So you just say, uh that's gonna be first. Before I watch TV, before I start surfing, before I start going down the I have a problem though, Easy.

The Pull To Check Notifications

SPEAKER_02 1:52

And it's it's generated. Maybe you could help me with it. And it's this is honesty. I go, all right, so I'm going to get inside the word first before I go to social media. Yeah. And then I open up and I read a verse, and all I'm thinking about is checking my email. So all I'm thinking about is going to that post to see how it's performing.

SPEAKER_01 2:14

And I've done the same thing, Mark, and here's what ends up happening because that's how I reason it. Oh, yeah, yeah. Because I'm so anxious, I'm thinking, I'll go do that and then come back, then I could have peace of mind. It hardly ever works. I go there and I'm hooked.

SPEAKER_02 2:26

Yes, and it becomes almost legalistic, though, right? And I I said I set myself up almost for failure. I I did it the other day. I got, I'm I'm going to read the word of God first before I do anything else.

SPEAKER_03 2:38

Just say this for 10 seconds.

SPEAKER_02 2:39

I'm going to do this for 10 seconds. Lower the 10 seconds. Right. So, but but how do we? I want to start. I don't want to do that. I don't want to get caught inside that rut. I want to know there is no, and do you you guys recommend a sabbatical, perhaps, from social media? Is that a good idea? Yeah. Just have an air off.

Brain Chemistry And Micro Rewards

SPEAKER_00 2:59

I think it's important to recognize here what's going on in our brains and why that's happening.

SPEAKER_02 3:05

Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 3:05

Um, because here's what's what's going on is as you mentioned earlier before, we we now know that these engineers design social media. They designed our phones essentially to feel like a casino experience. And and what that is, what that's happening is your brain is that your brain is having serotonin levels. Chemical responses fire off, telling you that you've accomplished something, telling you that you've been satisfied with something. And there are these small little short hits. Now, God designed our brains to give us those serotonin kicks, those dopamine kicks when when and only after we've worked hard to accomplish something. God gave that gift to you so that you know what it feels like to accomplish a thing. What your phone is now doing is manipulating that. You accomplish nothing, but it gives you micro doses of dopamine and serotonin every time you see that you got 15 new likes and four comments and three followers, and you're just trying to read your Bible.

SPEAKER_03 4:11

Izzy, can you think of any online platforms where mums are given good godly advice?

SPEAKER_01 4:18

Oh, um, there's one I came across years ago called Joyful Mothers. Wow. It's spectacular. Rachel Zwain, my wife Ray's daughter. Um, yeah, it's been amazing. She's getting, I think she's at almost 100,000 followers between Instagram and Facebook. And um she got a book coming out.

SPEAKER_03 4:38

It's been amazing.

Renewing The Mind By Slowing Down

SPEAKER_01 4:39

Yeah, working on a book just about. She's getting invitations to speak, which is wonderful. It's been amazing. Because Oscar, that is such a great point. And I think it is good to put in a little caveat, and that is that there are there are good and bad influences in that rank in that realm. As an example, like the you know, the dating world. I've known a number of people that have met their partners on on that. But same, but what's the motive? What's the purpose behind it? Some actually use it as just a you know social fun thing.

Algorithms Are Tools, Not Masters

SPEAKER_02 5:04

Romans 12 2 says, do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind. So how can the mind be renewed when it is constantly distracted? Uh I I think that the answer to that is is very simple. It's to slow down. And if we were to speak uh almost in a pragmatic way to move forward, set a timer on your phone. You know, look at the magnifying glass on your friends or your whoever around you on their page, right? Because that that search feature shows what that person is into, right? And it shows you what you're into. Yeah, that feed it, it feeds it, right? So I think that we can kind of slow down and kind of reprogram uh our our minds by just taking a timeout, putting ourselves in a in a timeout. Algorithms in them in and of themselves, they're kind of their amoral, right? I mean, I utilize algorithms when solving a Rubik's Cube. A Rubik's cube, there's only, I mean, there's less than 50 algorithms, I think, to solve a Rubik's Cube. But you can solve any Rubik's Cube, no matter how messed up it is, with seven algorithms. Seven moves, you can solve the entire Rubik's Cube. Consider the basics, pull it into what you're dealing with right here, right? You can kind of get out of this rut by implementing a couple simple algorithms.

Structure Your Life For Growth

SPEAKER_03 6:27

I think easy nailed it with the whole self-control thing because algorithms are here to stay, phones are here to stay. So we use them for our growth, not for our destruction. I mean, what do you do on your phone? If you want to grow in Christ, you go to places where you can grow in Christ. If you want to want to read the word online, that that's a great thing, especially with what you're talking about. You know, that before stuff that we just didn't have ten years ago, we can grow in Christ and just get to solid teachings and listen to them. I often do that.

Discernment, Self-Control, And God’s Glory

SPEAKER_01 6:55

Paul Trippy said, we don't just think our way into wrong living. We live our way into wrong thinking. We live our way into wrong thinking. In other words, we we structure our lives in such a way and surround ourselves with voices that lead us to that wrong thinking. I mean, it begins with with the actions we take, the places we put ourselves, the time we spend, what we interface with. That then begins to affect and impact our thinking. And here's my biggest fear of all it's desensitization to what's happened to us. Like we don't realize it. We we don't even we don't even know that it's happening. And so we we we are less prone to break out of the cycle.

SPEAKER_03 7:37

So the conclusion of the matter is that algorithms aren't evil, but we've just got to be discerning and disciplined so that they don't pervert us into moving away from the things of God. That's right.

Highlights Wrap And Full Episode CTA

SPEAKER_01 7:50

Self-control and being God-oriented in everything that we do, like getting back to the habit of running everything through the filter of Lord, does this please you? Does this please you? Whether, you know, eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Amen. And there needs to be that examination. Thank you for tuning in to this week's highlights from the Living Waters podcast. Friends, we value your time. So we've created a bite-sized version of our podcast for listeners who want to get equipped without the jokes and fellowship. Be sure to check out the full episode every Thursday where we dive deeper into the topic. Until then, you can watch the full podcast episode available now on livingwaters.tv.