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Pope Says Technology Causes Confusion Between Reality and Fiction

Posted by samzenpus on from the where's-the-reset-button dept.

Pope Benedict XVI has warned that people are in danger of being unable to discern reality from fiction because of new technologies, and not old books. "New technologies and the progress they bring can make it impossible to distinguish truth from illusion and can lead to confusion between reality and virtual reality. The image can also become independent from reality, it can give birth to a virtual world, with various consequences -- above all the risk of indifference towards real life," he said.

15 of 779 comments (clear)

  1. Hmm by OhHellWithIt · · Score: 5, Interesting

    "New technologies and the progress they bring can make it impossible to distinguish truth from illusion and can lead to confusion between reality and virtual reality. The image can also become independent from reality, it can give birth to a virtual world, with various consequences -- above all the risk of indifference towards real life."

    That's funny. It's arguable that the same could be said about the Bible. How many thousands of pages have been written about the workings of the Divine, or of the afterlife, when no one has truly seen either?

    --
    "Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past." -- George Orwell
    1. Re:Hmm by Pojut · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Uh...actually, if anything, the bible proves free will doesn't exist either. god's supposed omnipotence makes free will an impossibility.

      If someone already knows what you are going to do, how is it a choice?

      --
      Living With a Nerd
    2. Re:Hmm by MyLongNickName · · Score: 5, Insightful

      So if I Tivo a soccer match and replay it, then the players have no free will? Essentially that is the Christian concept of God. He exists in the past, present and future and knows how everything will turn out.

      Granted, I have a problem with free will but choose to believe in it because I was predestined to....

      --
      See my journal for slashdot ID's by year. Mine created in 2005. http://slashdot.org/journal/289875/slashdot-ids-by-year
    3. Re:Hmm by pushing-robot · · Score: 5, Funny

      Well, those are translation problems. You have to read it in the original Klingon.

      --
      How can I believe you when you tell me what I don't want to hear?
    4. Re:Hmm by stubob · · Score: 5, Funny

      I really don't want to read the new version:

      "And God was like 'Moses, dude, you totally need to kill your son.' And Moses was all "WTF?" but then he goes "Meh, F it." So God's all "LOL, dude you were totally gonna do it. I pranked you good!'"

      --
      Planning to be moderated ± 1: Bad Pun.
    5. Re:Hmm by OhHellWithIt · · Score: 5, Funny

      I'd call it slash-fic, except there isn't enough sex in it.

      You missed all the begatting.

      --
      "Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past." -- George Orwell
  2. That's funny, because by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I can't distinguish the pope from some loony old guy who keeps talking weird stuff

  3. If you see the pope ... by 6031769 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ... tell him he owes me a new irony meter.

    --
    Burns: We're building a casino!
    McAllister: Arrr. Give me 5 minutes.
  4. This is just red meat for the /. crowd by nysus · · Score: 5, Insightful

    OK, when you're done ripping on the pope, stop and consider his point of view and what he has to say. Whether you agree or disagree, his point deserves some honest thought and debate.

    --

    ---Technology will liberate us if it doesn't enslave us first.

    1. Re:This is just red meat for the /. crowd by Target+Drone · · Score: 5, Informative

      The actual article seems like a troll as it only reports a couple of snipits. Here's a better one with the full quote I found via google. The Pope was actually talking about the way modern media reports the news.

      Today, for example, the world of appearances has an increasing weight with the development of new technologies; but if on the one hand this has doubtless positive aspects, on the other, the image can also become detached from reality , it can give life to a virtual world, with diverse consequences, the first of which is the risk of indifference to the truth. In fact, new technologies, together with the progress that they bring, can result in what is true and what is false becoming interchangeable, it can lead to confusing the real with the virtual. In addition, reporting of an event, happy or sad, can be consumed as entertainment and not as an occasion for reflection. The search for ways to authentically promote man then disappears into the background, because the event is presented primarily to arouse emotions. These issues are alarm bells: an invitation to consider the danger that the virtual distances us from reality and does not stimulate the pursuit of what is true, the truth.

    2. Re:This is just red meat for the /. crowd by Mongoose+Disciple · · Score: 5, Insightful

      With respect to the specific issue of being able to tell fantasy from reality?

      Absolutely.

    3. Re:This is just red meat for the /. crowd by MoonBuggy · · Score: 5, Insightful

      That may be true, but there are plenty of very good reasons to be mistrusting of Pope Benedict, religion notwithstanding. He's a powerful leader who pushes policies which cause significant harm to people's day to day lives (discouraging the use of condoms, shielding paedophiles from the accusations of their victims, perpetuating an intolerant attitude to homosexuality, and generally attempting to interfere with people who are attempting to privately live a happy life). More or less all of his public suggestions and ideas, regardless of the stated reasoning, would have the effect of increasing the power of his organisation were they carried out or taken literally.

  5. Scientist Says Religion Causes Confusion by mrvan · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Scientist (well me, in any case) Says Religion Causes Confusion Between Reality and Fiction

  6. Re:Guess he never saw the Creation museum... by supersloshy · · Score: 5, Informative

    Just so you know, the Catholic church welcomes scientific explanations for the origin of mankind besides "Creation Science", including the theory of Evolution, so long as that science is used in a non-misleading way (for example, Evolution is fine so long as you recognize that there was a God that started it in the first place, but superstitious "mind science" like New Age theories are obviously false, assuming that you believe all of the other Catholic doctrines). You're thinking of fundamentalist, Protestant churches and denominations which take a rather extreme biblical literacy approach (which the Catholic Church hasn't had for well over a thousand years).

    --
    "Our country is not nearly so overrun with the bigoted as it is overrun with the broadminded." -Archbishop Fulton Sheen
  7. Re:Wait... by Gorkamecha · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You're not supposed to have free time - Any time that you're not working in the fields for your King/Leader/Authority figure you should be spending in contemplation on how awful a person you are, and begging for forgiveness for that. At least that's my understanding of the situation.