I was reading recently about a young marketing graduate who set up an online English language and cultural course which has gained more than 12 million regular viewers. “English with Lucy” offers such videos as: “Common English grammar mistakes” or my personal favorite: “Three ways to sound more British”
This popularity points to a new form of learning where the curriculum is shaped by questions from followers from all around the world. It offers a knowledge which is highly-tailored to consumer demand and firmly sets itself against more traditional courses.
In a globalized and digital age, it strikes me that this is yet another signal that old institutions are not as trusted as they once were – whether they be educational, political or religious – and it's clear that the status quo has taken a knock.
As a growing section of global society turns away from traditional ways of learning and gathering information, we seem to have created a new breed of armchair-experts, which transfers the responsibility onto us to determine whether what is being shared with us has any accuracy or authenticity.
In the age of “fake news,” we are called to reconsider the question Pilate put to jesus: “What is Truth?” (John 18:38) But perhaps, the new world order is less about truth and more about discernment. How do we know whom to trust?
Frankly, Jesus didn't show a lot of confidence in traditional or institutional leaders who, on occasions, he denounced in pretty strong language. Today we have more choice about where we learn and get our information from than ever before, and surely that's a good thing, so long as we have the right tools of discernment.
If human history is anything to go by, it's quite conceivable that in these times, which are seemingly moving ever into the new and unknown ways of receiving and sharing information, we will eventually find ourselves rediscovering some of the things we thought we had left behind, so long as we continue to discern how to listen and learn with love.
Get involved!
Comments