The Tower of Babel

You remember the Bible story about the Tower of Babel ( Genesis 11:1-9) don’t you? This is an origin myth meant to explain why all the world’s people speak different languages. According to the story, following the flood there was a crowd of people all speaking the same language gathered around a tower they had built, a tower tall enough to reach heaven. God, seeing this, changes their speech so that they can no longer understand each other and are forced to scatter throughout the world. So today when there is a cacophony of sounds, of many voices speaking, we say it sounds like the Tower of Babel.

This reminds me of a ZOOM meeting or a FaceTime chat. In both of these instances, as well as any other virtual get-togethers, if people are interacting freely, there are bound to be several voices speaking at once... meaning no one is being heard. This happens far more that would be the case if we were meeting in person. And I found myself wondering why. What is lacking in the virtual meeting that is present in an in-person interaction?

In a virtual meeting the participants are looking at their screens all the time. This never happens in an in-person meeting. There we often avert our eyes from the speaker while listening to what is being said. When we want to add to the conversation, we look up to signal our desire to participate. As an introvert I have spent many meetings examine the floorboards in order not to be asked an opinion!!

As the people in the story of the Tower of Babel are presented with a new reality that required them to live a different life, so too are we presented with a similar reality. Our interactions with others will remain virtual for the foreseeable future. Perhaps it behooves us to take the lesson of the author of the book of James to heart when they said “My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry”. (James1:19) a

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NUDGINGS: a journey into the unknown

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