Discovering Tegu: The Next Generation in Blocks

I discovered a new toy: blocks!

When I was a kid, blocks looked something like this:



They were simple and easy to use. And. while we enjoyed them, we all knew Legos were better. In fact, as a kid, I remember think blocks were pretty boring and stupid (and not colorful and plastic).

So, why sell these boring toys? They'd been around for ages... kids played with them before plastic with all its wonderful colors was invented. Plus, they're hardy - they last a lot longer. Still. . . I was kid. They were dull.

Then, a few years ago, a lot of adult friends started purchasing... blocks! Ok, well, technically they're planks:

These are Keva planks. They look pretty awesome, right? The thing that made these different was precision. These planks are milled to be highly precise - perfect 90 degree angles, exact length and width for each one. This means they balance better. You can stack them end to end pretty high. It's impressive. A new take on an old toy.

Well, I thought that was about as innovative as plain old blocks could get. Until I discovered the newest version:

These are Tegu. Notice they're doing something blocks shouldn't be able to do? They're defying gravity! That's because they have magnets inside. Pretty awesome. They're also sold out at the moment.

So, what's the point of this evolution of blocks? It makes me think of the evolution of theology. First, we start out simple and plain. Then we add a little color, some nuances. Eventually, we refine it to a precise set. See, we couldn't do that before because we just didn't have the technology to cut it so precisely (the archeological, sociological, historical, literary advances that allow us to cut with more precision).

Now, it seems like we're learning how to put magnets in our theology. We're making it do things it never did before. It's kinda scary. And it goes against everything we think we know. It starts doing things like saying races are equal... and women can preach... and maybe homosexuals can marry. We're seeing theology developed to support things we never imagined it could.

I don't know where this takes us. Are Tegu magnetic blocks still blocks? Are they just re-defining how blocks act? How far do we have to go to lose the name "block"? Are Legos blocks? For my part, I respect what people are doing with theology. They're trying to keep the value and still make it work for our modern, media-distracted, plastic-toy loving society. Sure, sometimes we'll get it wrong. But at least we're trying.