“It has become appallingly obvious enough that our technology has exceeded our humanity”~Albert Einstein.
Worldwide, nations are divided as either developed or developing nations. We know many developed nations possessing great powers and are the role models of other developing nations.
What would be the parameter of calling a country as ’Developed’? -Yes, advanced technology is one of the basic aspects that makes a nation developed and that is what every country works upon; good set ups, innovation, adequate facilities, productivity, quick completion of tasks and professionalised work.
But isn't human development one of the most important factors that nations must focus on? A nation is made up of its people and their development leads to its development. Even if this factor is already a part of the definition of development then it is ironic to see human and technology development go hand in hand.
As we approach the third decade of the 21st century, our lives appear more and more like the wildest sci-fi dreams of the previous millennium: we own pocket-sized devices and wearables that are connected not only to our friends, family and colleagues, but also to our refrigerators, radiators and home cameras. At our fingertips or voice commands we have access to a library of infinite human knowledge and even at the remotest locations we can accomplish most of our tasks.
Today we use technology in our everyday lives. Moreover, it has become an undeniable part of our lives. We depend on them for everything, whether it is cooking, washing, cleaning & communicating etc. We have come far away from the time when women used to spend hours to complete a household chore. Technology has proven to be really beneficial in saving time and increasing productivity but the overuse of it has somewhere depleted an element of hard work, patience, discipline and the whole of our life energies of humans. It is apparel to see youngsters spending hours scrolling down on social media, this continuous scrolling down makes one lose his concentration power.
Habit of getting things done at a click has made humans lazy and has degraded their creativity.
Google, the pocket guru, is used to find answers to every small to big question, where is our thinking power, our intellect leading then?
This Advanced technology can rightly direct us to any destination, can make us aware about the worldwide happenings, can impart lot of knowledge, can help us talk to our friends sitting in another corner of the world but it is costing us too much as humanity is degrading because we have been taught how to use of technology but not HOW MUCH TO USE THE TECHNOLOGY? We are exploiting it by overusing and not realising that technology should depend on us, not we, who should depend on it.
Technology and innovation was to save our time and energy, improve our quality of life and well -being. Making technology our habit has depleted our potential, intellect and our health as well. Digitalization of the workplace has been cited as a common reason for the decrease in employees’ energy levels, and terms such as “techno-stress”, “tech-invasion” and “digital fatigue” have entered the vocabulary. More complex illness comes to hearing these days which people were unfamiliar with as they were not common like it is these days. Every second house has a member of it taking medicines. Health problems like cancer, obesity, mental stress, weak eyes and cervical has become so common because of less physical activity as most of us are stuck to the devices for long durations. Besides all this, technology in the wrong hands can be really dangerous for the society. Net connection have somewhere become the necessity for students as many of their assignments, projects are done using internet but there is all kind of stuff available on the net so it can be misused as inappropriate content is hard to control. This depletes ones values and therefore forms a part of person’s personality. If pondered over, the cost of modern technology is really high. Today we don’t care about the person sitting next to us because we are busy chatting with the person far away.
Though imagining our lives without technology is ot possible in today’s world otherwise we might lack behind so it is really important to understand how much to use technology, to understand what’s and when is the right time. Let not the time come when technology will surpass human interaction.
Life is what happens when the cell phones are charging.
-Muskan Kwatra
Kamala Nehru College