I learned in church today

[wuapinmon]

I often let my mind wander and play "what if" on historic things, technology, etc. Something I've been thinking about lately is the impact of the Dark Ages. 800 years of technology backsliding / dormancy. From Roman aqueducts to squalor. Think of where we'd be with those 800 years of advancement.

The Romans relied heavily on slave labor. Imagine the innovation that could've come forth if they didn't have all those sentient beasts of burden to lay their burdens on.

The Dark Ages was a political force, and not a decay of technology. The Arabs kept much of the Roman tech alive.

[Omaha 680]

I'm don't know as much about medical advancements, but from an engineering perspective, the advances since the end of the 18th century are staggering. I realize the principles that made these advances possible were discovered much earlier, but still...from wind and horse power to landing on the moon in less than 200 years is pretty amazing.

[Dwight Schr-ute]

I'd say he is a pretty good kid.

For now.

[Moliere]

Good point. I'm mainly talking about the acceleration in advancement, and it does seem that each major advancement leads to a zillion smaller ones.

I'd argue the acceleration in advancement has not increased at all. It's called exponential for a reason. I believe we'll look back on this time in 500 years and wonder why we were so slow in advancing up until 2312.

If god really wanted computers to be invented for genealogy he'd have invented them, or something else, to record people's information in an orderly fashion back in the days of Adam. As it is now, we are stuck looking at records that rarely go beyond 1700 so there are still millions of people that won't have their work done even with computers.

[Dwight Schr-ute]

Me: Elder So-n-so is getting transferred out of the ward.
Wife: Which one is he again?
Me: The gay one.
Wife: Be nice.
Me: Did you know who I was talking about.
Wife: That's not the point. You shouldn't call the missionaries names.
Me: I'm not calling him a name. I think very highly of the kid. He's a fantastic missionary. He came out when he was 24 and already into his career. But every interaction I have with him reassures my initial impression.

One of my best friend is a missionary that I serve with. Never companions but served in the same zone several times. He is gay and decided to serve several years later than most of us. We never discussed it while in the mission field but he's admitted several times since that the biggest blessing of his mission was that he went two solid years without stressing about his sexuality which was something he hadn't experienced to that point or since returning home.

Totally random post. It is just something that has been on my mind this afternoon.

[Dwight Schr-ute]

If god really wanted computers to be invented for genealogy he'd have invented them, or something else, to record people's information in an orderly fashion back in the days of Adam. As it is now, we are stuck looking at records that rarely go beyond 1700 so there are still millions of people that won't have their work done even with computers.

Unfortunately, God also wanted to invent indexing.

[Moliere]

Unfortunately, God also wanted to invent indexing.

Indexing has no use for the millions of people that are stuck in the spirit prison because they were born before good records were kept and preserved. Those poor spirits that just have to sit and wait

I don't index no matter how many times I'm told I should be doing it. I've got better things to do than index.

[TripletDaddy]

Ward/stake activities must end by 8:30PM

This can't be true, can it? Stake dances go much later than that.

The RS is having an activity on Thurs and the woman organizing it was stressing a bit to us during a convo at the park this evening. The activity will take place at the same park and this woman told us that she wanted to bump the start time back from 6:30 to 7:30 to allow for the sun to set a bit more and cool things off. The RS Prez dropped the hammer and said that Church activities had to end by 8:30PM.

My wife and I were puzzled, this was news to both of us. Is this localism gone amok or is there any teeth to it?

[jay santos]

There are so many places to go with this....

Not trying to be a dick, and I've heard this before, I might have even repeated it before. But you look at the church's growth right now, and compare it to other religious movements throughout history, and I'm not sure what it really means to say that technology is enabling the church's mission.

[Dwight Schr-ute]

Ward/stake activities must end by 8:30PM

This can't be true, can it? Stake dances go much later than that.

The RS is having an activity on Thurs and the woman organizing it was stressing a bit to us during a convo at the park this evening. The activity will take place at the same park and this woman told us that she wanted to bump the start time back from 6:30 to 7:30 to allow for the sun to set a bit more and cool things off. The RS Prez dropped the hammer and said that Church activities had to end by 8:30PM.

My wife and I were puzzled, this was news to both of us. Is this localism gone amok or is there any teeth to it?

This sounds pretty bunk to me. I have a feeling that despite starting at 6:30, this Relief Society event will still run over past 8:30. Having said that, the closin prayer may get offered at 8:29, but my wife is never home from these things before 9:00. And she's anti-social.

[UtahDan]

Not trying to be a dick, and I've heard this before, I might have even repeated it before. But you look at the church's growth right now, and compare it to other religious movements throughout history, and I'm not sure what it really means to say that technology is enabling the church's mission.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_bicycle

I'm not trying to be a dick either but people who are not aware of how the history of the bicycle mirrors the restoration need to educate themselves.

[LA Ute]

What technological advances have furthered the church's mission?

I am surprised that so many want to argue about this. It's really pretty simple: As a believer I look at:

• Missionaries' ability to travel by train, and later by auto, then by aircraft, and and now by jet aircraft.
  
• Same for the ability of GAs to get to meetings with members (David O. McKay commented on the latter as a great blessing for the church.)
  
• The doggone telegraph and telephone.
  
• Television, including satellite and internet transmission now.

And I think, well, those advancements sure do make it easier for the church to seek to bring souls to Christ.

That all these advances are happening in what we call the Dispensation of the Fulness of Times adds to my own belief that there is a divine hand in them. We are big believers in the notion of God preparing the way for His work to be done (e.g., the BofM prophecies about the establishment of America, the D&C statements about the establishment of the Constitution, and so forth).

Again, this is just my own view of the matter and it isn't really that complicated. What is it about this that bothers you?

[myboynoah]

I am surprised that so many want to argue about this. It's really pretty simple: As a believer I look at:

• Missionaries' ability to travel by train, and later by auto, then by aircraft, and and now by jet aircraft.
  
• Same for the ability of GAs to get to meetings with members (David O. McKay commented on the latter as a great blessing for the church.)
  
• The doggone telegraph and telephone.
  
• Television, including satellite and internet transmission now.

And I think, well, those advancements sure do make it easier for the church to seek to bring souls to Christ.

That all these advances are happening in what we call the Dispensation of the Fulness of Times adds to my own belief that there is a divine hand in them. We are big believers in the notion of God preparing the way for His work to be done (e.g., the BofM prophecies about the establishment of America, the D&C statements about the establishment of the Constitution, and so forth).

Again, this is just my own view of the matter and it isn't really that complicated. What is it about this that bothers you?

You forgot the ability of BYU Fans across the globe to watch BYU sports on BYUtv. From gathering in ward houses on Saturday afternoons 20 years ago to watching from our iPads in the comfort of our own homes, we live in a day of miracles.

[LA Ute]

You forgot the ability of BYU Fans across the globe to watch BYU sports on BYUtv. From gathering in ward houses on Saturday afternoons 20 years ago to watching from our iPads in the comfort of our own homes, we live in a day of miracles.

Yeah, that too.

[YOUTUBE]ZCbuU14cB_c&feature=player_embedded[/YOUTUBE]

[myboynoah]

Yeah, that too.

[YOUTUBE]ZCbuU14cB_c&feature=player_embedded[/YOUTUBE]

And another example: YouTube!