What has technology done to you?

We live in a society where, whether we realise it or not, we have embedded into our lives various forms of comfort through technology. From the warmth of a water heater after a hard day’s work to the cold comfort of the air conditioner in the middle of the night under cozy silken blankets, all that technology offers we take for granted. And with the advent of the new age, the dependency on technology has only increased to a tremendous amount. As days and years pass us by, we see the underlying need for sustenance keeps increasing. In the beginning of mankind, the only need for sustenance was food. And with the technology of the Stone Age seeping in, for it is technology too, their basic need for sustenance expanded to food, clothing and shelter. However their need for clothing was more directed towards warding off the climate, it slowly accumulated other necessities and has become the icon you see today. And at this day and age we have so many needs starting from food, clothing, shelter, internet, a phone, a vehicle, a substantial bank balance, a health insurance, a beach house in ECR, and so it goes on.

As you can see, not ten years ago, not all the elements listed before were a necessity. Technology has a much greater purpose in its existence now, to satiate the human ego. And this is a dangerous thing to be. We don’t respect a person who doesn’t dress impeccably, who doesn’t wear a Rolex or who doesn’t drive a BMW. Although, a person who does all these, no matter how rotten he is, attains the attention and respect and admiration of the people around him. If this is the trend that continues, it is not surprising that the current generation of young minds that I peer with has almost a headstrong desire borne into them that drives them towards materialistic success. He or she wants the highest pay package, he or she studies the curriculum provided by the college without understand why he needs to learn it, not questioning the system, he or she wants to be better than his friends and sometimes is even ready to pull them down to hoist themselves up.

In such a society where minds aren’t kindled, questions are left unasked and minds never explore, how will India develop back into what it had originally been?