I don’t think I reviewed the first Andy Crouch book I read, which was part of my reading binge on culture making, but I recently read his new book and thought it would be a good one to share.

Subtitled: Reclaiming Relationship in a Technological World, Andy Crouch makes the case for how to be more human in an increasingly technological world. In one sense, this isn’t new ground – there’s been lots of books, both Christian and non-Christian, that talk about this subject. But what I appreciated about this book was that it walked the line between warning about the dangers of technology and staying hopeful about it.

There were a few points that I particularly liked:

• The difference between personal and personalised. Technology today tends to be very personalised but it’s not personal.
• We have an innate longing to know and be known. So while our personhood can never be taken away, it is most fully felt when we are in relationships with people who recognise us for who we are, not what we can offer. Hence, what we need is to build a community of recognition.
• “Love calls out the best in us—it awakens our hearts, it stirs up the depths of our souls, it focuses our minds, it arouses our bodies to action and passion. It also calls out what is most human in us. Of all the creatures on earth, we are by far the most dependent, the most relational, the most social, and the most capable of care. When we love, we are most fully and distinctively ourselves.”
• Technology can be divided into devices and instruments. Devices are things that diminish our capabilities to be human, that demand more from us than they give us (I think people who have been stuck in a doomscroll, me included, can resonate with this), while instruments are things that help us to focus and enhance our capabilities. I thought this was a good way of looking at technology rather than pure optimism or pure pessimism.

Thinking about it, the message between The Life We’re Looking For is straightforward. If you’ve spent time in the tech space, especially (if you are like me), you have spent time reading about all the warnings about the dead internet, the problems with the filter bubble, and all that sort of thing, you probably already have a sense of what is wrong with technology today. And perhaps Crouch’s solution – to build communities that know one another and focus on instruments rather than devices – will seem a bit too obvious to you. But I thought that was the strength of the book; I finished this feeling hopeful that solid relationships could be built without having to become and find other hermits in the woods.

And this is why I wanted to share this book with you. Crouch is a Christian writer, but I think a lot of what he says about our need for relationships and to be known will resonate with non-Christians as well. More importantly, if you’re also relooking your relationship with technology and/or social media, I think this book will provide a hopeful note in the books that you may or may not be reading in your quest to rethink your relationship with technology.