No Coincidences

Tag: technology

  • Do Miracles Exist Today? 

    Do Miracles Exist Today? 

    In his talk, “Has the Day of Miracles Ceased?”, Elder Donald L. Hallstrom provides some interesting thoughts on miracles.

    Elder Hallstrom discusses what defines a miracle. In his talk he says,

    “Often we describe a miracle as being healed without a full explanation by medical science or as avoiding catastrophic danger by heeding a clear prompting. However, defining a miracle as “a beneficial event brought about through divine power that mortals do not understand” (encyclopedia of Mormonism 1992) gives an expanded perspective into matters more eternal in nature. This definition also allows us to contemplate the vital role of faith in the receipt of a miracle.” 

    This led me to think about miracles. Often as I read the New Testament I wonder, where are the modern day miracles? Where are people having devils cast out, cripples walking, the blind seeing? Have miracles ceased? Elder Hallstrom’s talk is a reminder of something important: Miracles have not ceased.

    What a fascinating thing that during the age of constant miracles, we think miracles have ceased. Glasses make those with terrible eyesight see. Lasers are used to treat poor eyesight. Giant tubes with propellers fly people across contintents. Emergency personnel have extraordinary equipment to save lives.  We travel at unbelievable speeds, seeing the whole world in days. We talk to and see someone on the other end of the globe like it’s no big deal. Have miracles ceased? We are surrounded by miracles.

    These obvious miracles through technological advancements can sometimes distract from something even more profound. That is that every single breath we take is a miracle. When is the last time you pondered child-birth? Really thought about it. Two people love each other, unite with each other, and then a child grows from nothing in the belly of a woman who carries that child. That child has a mixture of DNA from their parents. That child enters the world and within months is breathing, eating, walking, and talking. We call it “the miracle of child birth” but when is the last time you really thought about it? What a miracle this life is. We’re surrounded by miracles, every moment is a miracle.

    Which leads to this thought: Faith proceeds the miracle. Why? Because faith sees the miracle. Faith is the recognition of the miracle. There is no miracle without the faith.

    “A beneficial event brought about through divine power that mortals do not understand.”  What do we really understand about our ultimate benefit? 

    In his talk, Elder Hallstrom talks about the family of a man who survived a hiking accident. All rational medicine and scientific data said he should have been dead. Elder Hallstrom said, 

    “I had a profound impression—a spiritual witness—that Holly and each of the five beautiful children who sat in the living room around their parents have such faith that they could have accepted whatever the outcome might have been that day and they still would have spiritually prospered.”

    Is that not the miracle? That something so tragic could occur and a family could become stronger and grow and become better from a heart-wrenching trial?

    What if that man survived because of the faith of his wife and children? What if he could have died and it wouldn’t have impacted any of their faiths? What greater miracle than this: Hope and peace.

    Miracles come after the faith – why? Because faith makes the miracle. The miracles aren’t that someone is healed but that whether or not they were healed, it would be for their ultimate benefit. Do we have faith not to be healed and to trust God in all things?

    “Neither at any time hath any wrought miracles until after their faith” (Ether 12:18).

    Faith IS the miracle. And miracles are recognized by our faith.   

    Stop and look around you. This life is a miracle. Thank God every day for it.  

  • San Junipero

    San Junipero

    I really enjoy the show Black Mirror on Netflix.

    For those who don’t know the show, each season includes independent episodes that usually (but not always) have a futuristic, technological theme.

    One of my favorite episodes is called San Junipero.

    I don’t love this episode for its ending. I love it for how it makes me think. Funny enough, I watched the episode a second time, 7 years after the first viewing. Usually when something really makes me think, I pull out my phone and start writing down my thoughts.

    In 2025 when I rewatched San Junipero, I pulled out my phone to take notes. I found notes I took 7 years prior. I didn’t remember taking those notes. But they fit exactly what I thought 7 years later watching the episode a second time. Good to see I’m consistent. Typing those thoughts out led to this blog post.

    In the show, San Junipero is a virtual reality where people can upload their consciousness to live and experience life much like in the real world. In San Junipero, people can eat, drink, laugh, dance, and do seemingly all of the things that you can do in real life.  

    The main character is named Yorki. Yorki meets a character named Kelly (I hope it goes without saying that there are about to be spoilers for the episode).

    Yorki and Kelly start a romance in San Junipero. In San Junipero, everyone is young and vibrant. We learn that in the real world Yorki is an old woman who was paralyzed at the age of 20 and has spent her entire life in a coma-like state. Kelly is an old woman who was given 3 months to live 6 months ago.

    We learn that Kelly was married for many years to a man named Richard. Kelly and Richard… well, I’ll let Kelly tell the story.

    The episode comes to a climax when Yorki is trying to convince Kelly to stay with her in San Junipero.

    This leads to one of the most powerful monologues I’ve ever seen on television. In exasperation and frustration at Yorki’s request, Kelly exploded (you can watch the exact clip on YouTube HERE):

    “49 years. I was with him for 49 years. You can’t begin to imagine. You can’t know. The bond, the commitment, the boredom, the yearning, the laughter, the love of it. The *expletive love. You just cannot know. Everything we sacrificed. The years I gave him. The years he gave me. Did you think to ask? Did it occur to you to ask?

    “We had a daughter, Allison. Always difficult, always beautiful. Died at 39 years old, bless her heart. And Richard and I, we felt that heartbreak as one.

    “You know when he was dying, Rich said to me, when they offered him this, to pass over, pass through, spend eternity in this *expletive graveyard you’re so in love with, he said, ‘How can I? When she missed out, how can I?’ And so he went. And I wish I could believe he’s with her now, that they’re together, but I don’t. I believe they’re nowhere. Just like you said. Gone…

    “And now you give me some sales pitch about how *expletive peachy forever could be. You want to spend forever somewhere nothing matters? End up like Wes. All those lost *expletives at the Quagmire trying anything to feel something, go ahead. But I’m out. I’m gone.”

    The episode goes on. You see a coffin being lowered into a grave next to Richard’s tombstone. You think that’s the end.

    Black Mirror is known for its twists. I love it for its twists. I hated this twist.

    Kelly is back in San Junipero with Yorki. She decided not to “pass on.” She stayed in San Junipero. The show plays background music of Belinda Carlisle’s Heaven is a Place on Earth.

    While this may seem like a happy ending, the broader implications broke my heart.

    Obviously, I’m going to take this from a perspective of faith.

    There’s a lot to unpack here and a lot to consider. It’s why, despite my dislike for the ending, it’ s still one of my favorite episodes.

    Kelly could have “moved on” and spent an eternity with her husband and daughter. Instead she decided to stay in an artificial world.

    What is the lesson here?

    Her husband Rich had a particle of faith. Just a mustard seed of faith, you might say. Kelly couldn’t exhibit even that. She said herself, “I wish I could believe he’s with her now.” Wish. She Wishes. She hopes, probably. But she couldn’t believe it. She couldn’t even give real honest effort. She could only wish and hope but she couldn’t believe. According to Kelly Richard didn’t believe, but clearly he tried to. From a faithful perspective, what did Richard get? An eternity with his beloved daughter. What did Kelly get? An eternity in a fake and counterfeit world.

    Kelly took the guarantee in front of her. She took what she knew. She chose earth. She chose an existence of “trying to feel alive” over eternal life.

    Kelly’s monologue makes mention of a place called the Quagmire. The definition of quagmire is: “a soft boggy area of land that gives way underfoot.” A land that gives way underfoot = unsteady, uncertain, unsure. A sandy foundation.

    The Quagmire was a disgusting, sad, pathetic place where people in San Junipero went to party. It was all grotesque acts, cage fighting, drugs – all the worst of the world. Why did so many people in San Junipero go to the Quagmire? A hell-hole of debauchery? Kelly in her monologue pointed out the reason the living souls of the dead in San Junipero went there. Why would they go to somewhere so horrible? Just to try to feel alive.

    This is another eternal point to consider. The Quagmire clearly represented hell. Hell is a lack of progression. Hell is a lack of purpose.

    What is life without purpose? What is your purpose?

    Kelly chose a fake world. Will her life there be happy? Maybe. It might even be amazing, from an earthly perspective.

    We know that people really will make this choice. When some die, they can’t enjoy an otherworldly experience because they are too attached to this world. It’s the reason Jesus said to leave all earthly things behind and seek after eternal things. There is so much in store for us if we can just seek it out. Some will choose this world and this life because they can’t garner the faith to hope for something so much more.

    For those that want a greater blessing, there will be an eternity of love and joy, and things we can’t even begin to wrap our minds around – amazing, spectacular, fantastic things. But if we get too stuck in this world, we’ll miss the opportunity for that so much more.

    The fictional Richard hoped for so much more. He wished for so much more. He believed it just enough that he received it. A blessed existence for eternity with his daughter.

    I so wished the show would have taken an “eternal perspective” for once. But alas, it is a show of the world.

  • Creation – Artificial Intelligence

    Creation – Artificial Intelligence

    Humans create.

    They have children – procreate.

    They think and build. They imagine and construct. They design and fashion. They draw and fantasize and daydream and reconstruct and deconstruct and type and scribble and connect and disconnect and… create.

    As I type, I create. This blog post likely never existed before and likely will never exist, exactly as it is, again (or will it..eternity..brain explode..I don’t know, move on).

    We create so much.

    Isn’t it fascinating to watch humans create?

    I just got sucked into the rabbit hole of AI technology: where it is now, where it could go (spoiler – we have no idea), what it’s doing, what it could do (spoiler – we have no idea).

    At least one brilliant mind is seriously concerned about the fate of humanity over this new creation.

    We’ve all seen Terminator, right? Artificial Intelligence gains self-awareness. Humans try to deactivate it. Artificial Intelligence, in defending itself, launches a nuclear holocaust on humanity. Seems far-fetched, right?

    Well…

    Look at all the creations of humans.

    We create and we create.

    And yet, we can’t figure out how to get along. We can’t agree. We can’t govern ourselves. We can’t take care of each other. We are flawed. We create and we create. And in our creation, there is so much destruction.

    I’m pondering the bigger picture.

    By all historical accounts, humans should not be allowed to create. Or at least, very few should.

    This life, this world, is a testing ground, a sandbox, a play area. We can thrash around and create and destroy and try our hand at being God and see how horribly it goes.

    We will exist for eternity. What if what we’ve seen here, on earth, shows what we could do (if allowed to do so) in an eternity of our creation? So long galaxies, humans have arrived and we’re here to destroy.

    What an experience this life is, to see what we create.

    To see if we can be trusted.

    To see what we do with power, and thought, and imagination.

    I brought up AI because here is another thing we have created. Will it destroy us? It seems so crazy, until it’s not.

    J. Robert Oppenheimer knew too well, too late, what he had created.

    We have no idea where artificial intelligence will go. It is becoming increasingly realistic that it could destroy us. Science fiction becomes our reality every day.

    I have some beliefs about how this world will end, but the details are fuzzy. Humanity will attempt to destroy itself. Through greed and selfishness, hatred and violence, we will self-destruct.

    What role does our technology play in that?

    I heard a near-death-experiencer recently talk about his experience when he died in the mid 2000s. One of the key warnings he was given was to be careful with technology. Control it, don’t let it control you.

    Already today we see a generation becoming controlled by technology. Don’t believe me? Walk outside. How many people are enjoying the weather, “unplugged”? How many have earbuds, wires, phones, screens, devices protruding from their ears, eyes, heads, and hands?

    Technology is wonderful.

    Technology is dangerous.

    We have a limited time in this life to create.

    Many of us won’t play key roles in developing AI technology or shaping the world in (seemingly) grand ways. Still, you create.

    What do you spend your time on?

    What do you create?

  • Faith in Our Ears

    Faith in Our Ears

    I’ve written about what we put our faith in and what we can trust and believe before.

    See –

    Faith of an Atheist – Bouncing Atoms

    and

    Faith

    for examples.

    This seems a timely moment to remind everyone, especially in the world we live in today, you can’t always believe what you see or hear.

    Seeing is no longer believing.

    A guy I work with recently left work abruptly. It wasn’t until later we learned he was victim to a kidnapping scam.

    For those who haven’t heard of this, it was exactly this:

    News story

    The guy I worked with received a call, heard his daughter’s voice crying and asking for help, and then the “kidnappers” claimed if they didn’t receive money soon, she would be dead.

    It wasn’t until much panic had ensued that they learned the daughter, in the case of my coworker, was safely at school.

    In case you missed it, I’ll make this clear: what my coworker heard on the other end of the phone was his daughter crying. Whoever was calling him had used audio, somehow attained (Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, who knows?) to make it sound just like his daughter.

    Artificial Intelligence is causing the lines between reality and fiction to be blurred.

    I sometimes wonder what it will be like when Christ comes down from the sky. I wonder if most people will think it’s some technological spectacle and brush it off.

    We see UFOs daily and no one cares.

    Seeing is no longer believing. We can no longer trust what we hear.

    What do we put our faith in?

  • The Social Dilemma part 2

    The Social Dilemma part 2

    I am worried about the youth today.

    I don’t have a Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, how many etceteras do I need nowadays?

    I’ve really tried to follow the advice I wrote about from my first post on The Social Dilemma (Netflix).  For a while I turned off suggested videos in YouTube, but I found the blank pages and the difficulty in finding what I was looking for to be too much to deal with.  Instead, I only go to YouTube with a purpose and try as best as I can to watch only the video I go there to watch. As of this writing the suggested videos in my YouTube has ballooned to 273 (273 videos!) since I’ve stopped looking at suggested videos. That’s a little red 273 on my phone home screen. That’s 273 times YouTube has said, “this video is just right for you.” That is countless hours (or hours I don’t want to count) of video footage YouTube has suggested to me. Yikes. I’m going to continue to avoid those videos and see how ludicrous that 273 number can become.

    I’ve also tried not to use Google which I’ve found to be way harder than I anticipated.  There’s a reason Google has the best search results, and that reason is they don’t care about your privacy.  With my job in IT support, I’ve found it impossible to use other search engines.  I still have the Qwant extension installed in my Google Chrome but find myself searching through Google anyway. 

    Like YouTube, I avoid Facebook as much as I can. As I write this, checking my battery usage, Facebook is still 11% of my total battery used.  When I do get on Facebook, the worst thing that can happen is I watch a video.  It’s the same reason I avoid YouTube as much as possible.  Facebook I find to be much worse than YouTube, at least for me.  Let me explain what happens when I get on Facebook and if I watch a video:

    1. I stumble upon a video title that I can’t avoid watching.  Something like, “The reason Donovan Mitchell will never win a championship for Utah.” 
      • Now I’m stuck.
    2. That video ends and is followed by, “I gave $1,000,000 to a stranger on the street!”
      •  I’m losing my free will.
    3. Next video, “I bought 10,000 black widows and put them in my mom’s bathroom!” 

    I’ll emerge from a sequence of videos like the above hours later and think to myself, “what just happened?”

    The above is only a slight exaggeration.

    The disconcerting, uncomfortable, and completely frightening truth is – once I watch that first, then second, then third video that has clearly been sent because they know it catches my attention – it’s really difficult for me to get away.  I’ll feel it happening.  Like, I’ll be on minute 6 of a 9-minute video and think, “after this one I’m done.”  Then as minute 8 starts to end I get this feeling, this urge.  Like – I have to watch another one.  I’ll feel this urge.  I’ll fight it.  And somehow, I end up watching another video.  I may sound dramatic, but it’s truly terrifying.

    Am I the only one?

    Beth and I have gotten into a routine with Ivy’s sleeping where I’m usually up briefly with Ivy around 11pm and Beth is up with her briefly around 4am. 

    Every once in a while (not often), I wake in the morning to a 4:15am text from Beth with some video or article.  I realize that, in a stupor, she was drawn to her phone.  This likely happened while she was lying in bed watching the baby monitor, waiting to see if Ivy would fall back asleep so she could go to sleep.

    Recently Beth took a picture of Ivy and I together on the couch.  I watched Beth open Facebook to share the picture.  I watched Beth somehow end up finding herself watching some video.  10 minutes later, talking to herself, Beth said something like, “what was I doing?…”

    I told her she likely looked at her phone to post a picture.

    “Oh yeah…” was her reply.

    I’m not the only one.

    Beth and I aren’t the only ones.

    Back to the first sentence I wrote for this post.  I am AFRAID for the youth today.  How do they survive in a world where advertisers know what they want to see, then put it directly into their hand over.. and over…and over…..and over……

    Something needs to be done for our youth, but I’m not sure what.  It’s too easy for them to be completely enveloped in this digital world.  We are frighteningly close to a Black Mirror-esc existence where kids only exist in their phones.  Maybe the only way we can help our youth is leading by example.

    I try to only be on my phone to read the scriptures. I’m not even great at responding to messages, as some of you know.  I read physical books.  I’m aware of Facebook’s and other social media companies’ pull on my attention, and I try to fight it.  I think it’s important we teach our kids the same thing.

    This must be the way we can help kids today. Lead by example. Read books. Show that the phone can be set aside. Go on day trips where the phone is not allowed to come. Set a requirement where there are no phones after dinner. I don’t know, anything! Something needs to be done and this is the first place to start.

    Otherwise the below picture is every family’s future. And that is a sad future.

    *Credit to photographer Eric Pickersgill who took these pictures depicting people with their mobile phones and devices removed from the photo.