Daily Times

Morris, Huxley, Ruskin, and Gandhi also advocated a dislike for machines and technology. They believed these were ugly and caused damage to humanity. These philosophers might have their reasons, but the technology that the 21st century offers humanity is a killer of humanity as well. There may be a counterargument that technology has eased the life of society, and there is no denying the fact. But equally, however, it has decreased the humaneness in humankind. Technology has the mainstay in man’s life because it raises man above his level. So, the culture, tradition, energy, emotions, feelings, and humaneness of the past become old, obsolete, classical, and so willingly acceptable. While technology has been stormily overpowering what used to be humane in us, we keep ignoring human beings’ basic genetic makeup, which calls for a few human-related activities without which man cannot be called man.

Today, the environment is dominated and claimed mainly by electronic technology, which has given birth to cell phones and the internet. This wave of electronic control is engulfing humanity almost around the globe in such a vigorous and robust way that technology controls human life, movement, and body. For example, the core destruction, the cell phone, has ripped apart humanity. Before cell phones and other relevant gadgetry, human being used to interact with each other in person, which involved physical proximity and sharing of emotionally led gestures that would go a long way in binding the bonding among human beings. It is possible now to send emojis in messages to express similar emotions, but they never convey the genuine feelings that can be witnessed in personal meetings. Similarly, the sharing of views, issues, and happiness while sitting on a cup of tea or a dish of food has also been replaced by electronic pictures of these things and is taking a toll on human beings on their humane side.

The wave of electronic control is engulfing humanity almost around the globe in such a vigorous and robust way that technology controls human life, movement, and body.

The same advances in technology have brought more fakeness in our life because primarily, the messages, pictures, appreciation, and love expressions don’t reflect our true nature. After all, technology hinders human beings from looking into each other’s eyes and facial expressions. We make the picture to share on purpose and select out of many the best pose we may use to impress others which may not be the case. So, the virtual world created with technology is primarily fake and devoid of genuine feelings and emotions. The display of beauty and love is tailored and transitory, killing these real emotions; hence, humanity is dying among humans.

Instead of populating the playgrounds and sports spaces, our youth is playing electronic games on phones and are absorbed in them like an addiction. This over-involvement without the company of other human beings boosts the control of technology in our lives and causes physical and mental isolation. Human beings are no longer interested in knowing their fellows’ pains and pleasures and instead would feel better reading messages in the inboxes provided by cellphones. Even if nature and the environment allow humanity to sit together for some time, everyone will remain busy with their gadgets. So, the values that make our society gradually give ground to further control of electronic colonialism.

Libraries are dying their death because lack of readership of precious books, and as a result, the PDF format of books is in the hands of everyone. But this easy access to books has depleted the amount of reading time because technology has provided many other ways of finding knowledge and information about books. Technology would help us find only a few sentences we may need for a particular project instead of gaining and absorbing it holistically. Technology would instead provide tools for locating, copying, plagiarizing, and pasting the material without a genuine understanding of what we are doing. The scholarship is now largely dependent upon selecting and joining multiple materials from multiple sources instead of creating knowledge. Consequently, genuine research, compulsory for humanity, is gradually depleting, and artificial intelligence is assuming empowerment.

Nonetheless, it is undeniable that technology has benefitted humanity in multiple ways by creating jobs, cutting down boredom, and making connections easier and affordable. It has also given job opportunities to a new breed of artisans who are not even jacks of the trade, what to talk of their being termed as masters of the work. Electronic technology has brought a virtual world into man’s pocket and instead has bartered with him his essential humanity. The technology of the day has made the life of humankind easier; it has equally deprived him of his society and humane values, which have proven their effectiveness and efficacy in making humans humane.

The writer is a professor of Englishat Government Emerson University, Multan. He can be reached at zeadogar@hotmail.com and Tweets at @Profzee