Welcome to the iWorld

First there was the iPod, then the iPhone, and now the iPad. But what is the iWorld? Is it Apple’s bid for utter world domination? Not quite, but not so far off either. Author Dale Kuehne believes that “the best way to describe and understand our present moment is to call it the ‘iWorld’”. He goes on to explain why: “Steve Jobs and the people of Apple Inc. have brilliantly understood the spirit of our age – a spirit of unfettered individualism and freedom – by marketing many of their products by using the prefix i … product names that capture the very essence of the age in which we live.”

I find that a very helpful way of describing the world we find ourselves living in. This individualism is more than the selfishness that has characterised human behaviour and society since the Fall. What is different is that this individualism is celebrated, so that the thought of someone criticising someone else’s life choices or behaviour is abhorrent. Instead, you can choose to be exactly what you want to be and – here’s the crucial thing – nobody else is in a position to say you’re wrong.

How do we begin to engage with such thinking? I’m no expert here, and I’d like to hear your suggestions. But we can at least begin with some questions: How do we know we mustn’t criticize someone else’s beliefs or behaviour? Who says? Won’t such individualism lead to desperate loneliness and insecurity? Don’t we long for something more – for fulfilling relationships? And why is that?