The Information Age

Over the past thirty years, America and much of the developed world have experienced rapid increases in technology and information. The “information age” as we know it has led to rapid increases in the flow and availability of information. Devices that far exceed the imagination of Chester Gould’s 2-Way Wrist Radio and TV owned by Dick Tracy, the cartoon police detective character, are now commonplace. Personal computers, emails, texting, iPads, cable or satellite television, and the internet are now the norm and within the budget of many consumers.

The advent of such remarkable technological and communication device advances brings exponential increase in the amount of information stored and transmitted. In 2008, Americans consume information corresponding to over 100,000 words and 34 gigabytes per person per day. Stored information totals the equivalent of 400 billion CD-ROMs, enough to form a stack reaching substantially further than the distance from the earth to the moon.

In contrast to today’s exceedingly abundant information, society suffers greatly from a dearth of wisdom. Selfish decisions, crime, divorce, unemployment, greed, and other societal ills reflect attention placed on the wrong priorities. God’s book of Proverbs, however, continues to offer the one solution: true, abundant, and eternal wisdom. Proverbs expresses “the writers’ concern that we order our lives according to God’s own order in the world. Those who choose to despise this divine wisdom and discipline are bluntly labeled fools.”

The book of Proverbs provides pithy statements that are easily remembered and clearly enunciate practical issues of daily godly living. King Solomon serves as author of a number of proverbs and assembles others “alre...

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