Life in the Digitalized Era.....

 

At the dawn of the millennium came the news that the whole world is now more a global village with the advent of the WWW. It was once in a lifetime revolution that spurred the digital era into its golden age. This fetish of staying connected… in a web ironically, is supplemented by the smart phone and associated gizmos.

Nowadays, it doesn’t matter if you are awake or asleep- but, if you are online or offline. 

I can sense that the greatest debate among the youth of today is the choice between Android, iOS or Windows.

I also wish to trace to roots of rural India where

A farmer can nowadays strike a deal with a multinational company with the press of a button,

A weaver in Pathamadai can sell his products on e-commerce platforms. and

A Fisherman in Toothukodi can assure a better catch with several weather inputs.

All of these are the gifts of a digitalized society.

Today in a world where Twitter has made everyone into a reporter, I can know what is happening on the other side of the world also…

India has decided to go electronic with its courts. I welcome this humongous initiative. Finally, the millions of cases will get heard and verdict delivered in short time cutting the now avoidable transport charges, printing charges and the carbon footprints associated in the whole process.

I can book a meal right from the comfort of my phone which prioritizes my gustatory delights based on my previous orders. I get it now, why is was named a ‘smart’phone.

Education through the Internet is really a boon for many students. E-books.. though they take away several joys of reading; are great as one may store as many as thousands of such books in a small phone. Earlier, people used to travel millions of km to far away universities to learn science and arts. But nowadays the professors of those universities are available with the click of a subscription!

Imagine how astonished Columbus would feel if I say that he can today navigate to literally anywhere on earth without getting lost! How would our dear Ramanujan today feel… as his theorems are getting proven by super computers within a fraction of a second…

…..or how would  CA aspirants would feel if I say that  all the calculative scrutiny of accounts that they need to do can be done with the help of a robotic assistant. And that too for free !          

                          Quite an amazing world we live in….!

While I’m all praises for this Digitalized lifestyle, let me on the offset remind you of how it has re-shaped our mode of living.

I sense that most of us are de-evloving !  …Right now many are with hunched backs like our great apes!

Not to forget how we forgot meeting our friends face to face this pandemic.

Let me also bring in here a proposition that a large proportion of us are getting ‘virtually blind’. I see many people crossing roads with their heads facing their phones in hands.

I fear someday that those precious prayers to God might be sent to Him with the click of a button!

Or what if electronic agarbattis fill our rooms? Not to forget how youngsters are pleasuring themselves in digital media, while they must be out there exploring the world, anchored in adventure.

When was the last time you penned a letter? Ages ago?? I say with a slight profound insight, that we have lost the thrill of ‘waiting’ for a letter.

In a world where people already wear societal masks, I observe a rapid flux of emojis. So,

we merely ‘exist’ in a digital world. We don’t ‘live’.

Let us for once, feel the warmth of the sun rather than the heat of our phones.

If given a chance, I would support natural stupidity over artificial intelligence. I say this because I am of the opinion that in today’s world, Brains are becoming bigger, but hearts are becoming smaller.

Friends, I recall reading this somewhere..

“In case of fire, please leave the building before posting it on social media !” 

I get the joke now, with this being a necessary placard in many buildings across the world!

The digital economy which aims to be cashless, I feel, is good substitute for large transactions. But the idea of a fully digitalized economy is far from reach even to the so-called highly developed nations. I support an economy, where paper usage is largely reduced and recycled.

I understand the glorification of this digitalized era, but I am more concerned of its cons rather than its pros, because, the former, leaves a more profound impact in our minds and emotions, and if I may say, our bodies also.

I wish the computers don’t invade us in every sphere of life, as it cuts us from the union with other life, as one gets stuck in the world wide WEB. Let us start to think again and limit the computers from doing all the thinking for us.

To sum up..I see digital media as a fire. We can use it to light a lamp or to burn the house we live in. We must use it just as a tool for effortless living, not living in itself.

….Let me……. sign out…….. for now.