Months back, I was at a convention called the South Asian Diaspora Convention. After the 2 day event, the troupe of students I was with was waiting in line to go to the Singapore Art Science Museum as part of a complimentary gesture from the organizer.
And we wait, one of the students mentioned how amazing the speaker was as he described his invention that with just by placing your hand at the sensor, it will know what drink you want and serve you automatically. That student was awestruck that a machine could just do so much. And everyone agreed.
All except me. LOL. I said that it's pretty disgusting to see a machine doing so much. It technically replaces the human being in deciding what to drink. I added that having machines automate our daily tasks seems like a step into the future but no one can ever know how it will truly affect us. For example, the internet. Before the internet, communicating beyond borders was unimaginably difficult. Though a lot will say that the internet has further shrinked the world, we should not forget the other side; Of how the internet fastened the declining of face to face interaction. All around me, I see people glued to these tiny screens. Forgoing their paperback novels or papers and 'embracing' the step towards the future.
By moving forward, do we for forgo what got us so far today? What about the culture? The traditions? The moral values? The unrivaled code of conduct? Are our people becoming less smarter as we step towards this future?
Smarter people are those that involve a huge amount of information but selectively listen to construct, express and take action about their thoughts. Not those that let anything around them decide. Where's that human part of it?
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