Humans and Technological Evolution:
The Past, the Present, the Future
Physics states that each object in this universe actively tries to attain its most stable state- a state where the object is not in motion, but at rest, a state where it has achieved its least energy consuming state. It is my belief that this law is also applicable to the apex predator of earth- humans. Since the dawn of humankind (or the man –apes, according to the time period), the human has forever shown its dependence on technology- has given rise to glorious creations to make his life as simple and as stable as possible: be it the pre historic crude tools like a makeshift dagger, pointed rocks serving the purpose of knifes to hunt animals to gather food at a quicker rate than gathering fruits and roots; the medieval weapons like bow and arrow, crossbow, lance and cannons to conquer over the wild beasts with much ease and from a greater distance and other implements like the printing press, lifts and pullies, mechanical bridges; or even the modern day devices ranging from toasters to mobile phones to heat seeking target missiles.
The list is never ending and as the non-terminating arrow of the time moves forward, new technological advancements are conceived. We might think that the current methods or the current technology is at its pinnacle, but it may be evident that it is not the case. Could Johann Gutenberg ever imagine that his manually operated printing press would go completely automatic, or even that books would go electronic- become virtual? Had John W. Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert ever even thought in their wildest dreams that computers — which took the size of rooms would eventually fit in the palm of your hand? NO. The seemingly short but extremely sufficing answer for this question is no.
When we learn about inventions of the past we tend to wonder how life without that particular item was even possible. How could people live life without ever wondering about the crucial element that their life lacked? The answer to this epiphany is that these elements were never there in their life to begin with. The presence of the aforementioned new element caused people to go out of their way to include it in their (as they perceived to be) already complete lives. Think about it in this way: if you put a boulder in path of a river the rushing streams would go around the boulder, would divide at its face only to go around it and join again after crossing it, it will only be after a long interval of time that the river would corrode the base of the rock and it would then flow with the river. Another analogy for this can be: the baby boomers [people born from 1946–1964] never had mobile phones as a part of their day to day lives, but the generation z/ centennials [born 1996- present day] always had mobile phones as part of their daily lives- they are unable to imagine how their grandparents could live life as they know it today, without phones.
Thus it goes without saying that currently there might be things in our life that we are lacking and completely unaware of that the upcoming generations might perceive of the utmost importance- a truly essential part of life without which their definition of the world, their perception would completely change.
We can make unparalleled and completely daft assumptions and theories of what the future might behold, what it could be like. There is an equally likely probability that what we might think the future has for us is completely opposite of our expectations and desires. Therefore it should be our utmost priority to live in the present, not ponder about the utopian or as a matter of fact dystopian future. Time is a resource of finite magnitude, always going forward never stopping.
So burst the bubble of the perfect world you imagine, live in the present, work to solve its problems. You can’t bend time, just yet. (Just yet being the key word!)
If you have made it this far, that probably means that you haven’t been bored yet. If that is the case, I have a lot of things for you that will be available for you to read in the near future.
Have a pleasant day in these tiring times!
