“The Quaker practice of corporate discernment can provide a crucial moderating force within the frequently polarized public debates about technology. On one side, champions of ‘accelerationism’ celebrate the benefits of technological advancement, emphasizing speed and innovation without sufficient regard for potential social or ethical consequences. On the other side, staunch opposition to technological change can highlight legitimate concern over displacement, dehumanization, or environmental harm, even as these arguments primarily serve to legitimize a diffuse and unexamined fear of change.” 

“For me, being a ‘whole person’ includes physical embodiment, emotional engagement and intimate relationships with family and friends, and in the physical place where I am. I therefore by definition cannot be a ‘whole person’ in social media. You only see a small (and to me relatively unimportant) part of the wholeness of body, place and relationships that is me. And in particular you only see the intellectual, rational, language-limited part of me…”

“For me, being a ‘whole person’ includes physical embodiment, emotional engagement and intimate relationships with family and friends, and in the physical place where I am. I therefore by definition cannot be a ‘whole person’ in social media. You only see a small (and to me relatively unimportant) part of the wholeness of body, place and relationships that is me. And in particular you only see the intellectual, rational, language-limited part of me…”

“We should face up to the fact that some of our old ways worked well for some people, but did not work well for others. Zoom has opened some new ways to include people, and enable more variety in how we do things. And we absolutely need to make sure we find ways that include people who don’t find Zoom works for them, too – there’s a balance.”

“Over Zoom, there is a new intimacy to the gatherings. Faces and expressions are on full display. ‘I really see that they are deep in worship,’ Joan Malin said of her fellow Brooklyn Friends. ‘There’s a vulnerability when someone is doing that, and here they are putting it onscreen for us to witness,’ she said. ‘It helps me get there, too.'”

“We can connect to God and other people regardless of how close we are or how much technology is between us. When we’re ready to connect with the Holy Spirit and… we enter into worship, knowing other people are worshiping at the same time matters.”

“Quaker worship is not exclusively an activity of the rational, disembodied mind (albeit it is easy to receive this impression in some meetings). Our physical presence is not irrelevant to our participation in communal worship. Worship is the response of our whole being to the presence of God – a response which involves our bodies and the physical presence of our fellow worshippers at least as much as our words and thoughts.”

“Quakerism allows us to remove ourselves from the cycle of quicker work: making more work for the sake of more work, with productivity as king. What I’ve learned working in a Quaker environment is the real power of reflection, of silence, of taking time to discern. I feel like when I do so, decisions are more thought-through, more grounded in reality, and more inclusive of the voices of others.”

“What ChatGPT can do is a marvel. We are at the dawn of a new technological era. But it is easy to see how it could turn dark — and quickly. A.I. systems like this make the production and manipulation of text (and code and images and eventually audio and video) functionally costless. They will be deployed to produce whatever makes us most likely to click. But these systems do not and cannot know what they are producing. The cost of creating and optimizing content that grabs our attention is plummeting, but the cost of producing valuable and truthful work isn’t. These are technologies that lend themselves to cacophony, not community. I fear a world in which the business models behind them run on our attention or profit off our anger. But other worlds and other models are possible….”

“It is a blessed thing to possess a cool, well-balanced, pure, healthy mind. But, it may well be asked, who does enjoy this noble possession? None, we may boldly affirm, by nature; for nature sends us perpetually streaming out on the surface of things, and wandering for the gratification of our senses by the way-side, where we are sure of being taken captive by every passing thought and thing.”

“No clear impressions, either from above or from without, can be received by a mind turbid with excitement and agitated by a crowd of distractions. The stillness needed for the clear shining of light within is incompatible with hurry.”

“It is becoming clear that the exponential growth in the power of AI promises not only extraordinary wonders but serious dangers as well. These include complex ‘wicked’ problems and perhaps even existential threats just as significant as climate change, the sixth great extinction, and nuclear war.”

“What does it look like for us to build a capacity for silence? What does it mean for us to exercise that muscle, to not be afraid to be bored, to let our minds wander without having input constantly? How could that shape us and help us to feel better, to be able to focus better, and be able to be present with ourselves and with one another, with the Spirit?”

“When it comes to tech, billions of lines of code have been open-sourced. The same cannot be said of the decisions that led up to them. What might a Github for choices and insights look like? How much better would actors act if they knew others could see — and how much more would we trust if people could see the inner workings of why, not just how, technology works as it does?”