Article 3 - Escaping from technology addiction

How we can escape from getting addicted to technology? I don't think who are already addicted to it won't be even interested to discuss such a topic. But at one stage they will realize they are missing some important and happy moments of their life which is blind folded by the mammoth growth of technology. In my previous article I had explained about the impact and those missing moments or sweet memories.

Majority of technology is in the form of internet in laptops, iPods, iPads, tablets, computers, smart phones and other upcoming future generation gadgets which are controlling the human race at a fast pace. Though we cannot blame the internet invention itself, we can at least try to escape from getting addicted to it.  Now a days almost are all are getting addicted to most of social networking sites and some even stay online chatting over weeks, updating statuses with out having any breaks, chatting to brothers and sisters who stay in the same house but in different rooms, chatting to some unknown persons whom you have never seen in your life etc..

Probably they can all shutdown their systems and go for a walk in the garden and listen to the songs of birds and enjoy the power of real nature in the form of sun, moon, rain or rainbow. It seems really disconnected when human face to face communication is overwritten by assembly languages, matrix codes and programming algorithms. Probably all can visit their old childhood friends who reside in native places, can share their experiences with friends who work in a different domain or probably meet the elderly people who have not even heard of face book ;)

We can teach those kids who are addicted to games in smart phones or Xbox to play some old games which are extinct or not even heard. They can play hide and seek in the twilight or dance to their favorite music or play cricket or football or any of their favorite out door games in the play ground under sun light which all adds up to their health in the form of exercise and immunity.They can play some word games with parents which improve their language pronunciation, communication and vocabulary. They can listen to the fairy tales and historical stories from their grand parents which will teach them history, culture, relation and affection. They can read some useful physical books, participate in sports,poetry, art or painting competitions or at least give it all a try in their own home and show their talents to parents or relatives or neighborhood friends. All these extra curricular activities are real fun and really motivates the children for their studies too.

 Its not only kids, even adults and elders are spending hours and weeks before their favorite smart gadgets without even giving enough time to sleep. May be we need to go back to a time period where there were no gadgets or no electricity and watch over those people who survived with basic needs. So many inventions had helped people a lot, but it had made them work less physically and mentally. For example, invention of two, three, four (or more than that) wheeler vehicles made people to travel to long distances with ease but at the same time they got addicted to it in such a way that even for nearest shop or house, they are making use of them only. May be they forgot the use of their legs or forgot how to make them walk :) They are not even able to make use of stairs in order to go to first floor from ground floor, as escalators and lifts have made their legs to rest in peace. As a result, I am not saying that people can participate in some survival of fittest reality programs or to live with out internet (may be electricity) for 1 week in order to save from technology addiction, but at least try to breathe some fresh air free of technology, gadgets etc and take a break and go on a tour to your favorite vacation spot. Always think that humans should control technology and know their limits and restrictions and it is not the other way around.

-- Siva Subramanian. 

Article 2 - Impact of Technology on Human Memory

Vanishing are those days where kids used to play sports out in the sunshine, where adults used to meet their friends every week, where elders used to attend family functions, celebrate festivals in their home towns, where people used to say hello or hi to their neighbors.Apart from the daily work life, technology of television and internet has completely acquired those good old days which are merely memories now. 

Instead of running for a competitive race in the playground, kids, adults, teens and even elders are playing Temple Run series in Tablets. Instead of observing the nature in silence with a little country side walk,people are rushing in peak hours to their destinations in polluted and populated roads over the weekends. Instead of listening and enjoying the music of real birds, all are playing Angry Birds in iPad.  Instead of realizing and enjoying the value of their own native place or country, people are raising their eye brows and admiring the beauty of far away places and countries  which they can only dream of visiting. Instead of learning their own mother tongue language and converse to fellow humans, people are interested in learning tons of programming languages to communicate with machines.Instead of calling close friends and relatives over mobile phone, all started chatting in Facebook over the same smart phone (Meeting them directly and talking had stopped long back).

Even for simple maths calculations and help on medical advice, people are relying only on Google search. Then what is the use of children memorizing all maths time tables in their school life. We are not able to even remember the phone numbers of father, mother ,brothers or sisters or best friends as all contacts are stored safe in smart phone and synced to cloud. Over all technology is not only affecting memory, but also restricting human body, mind and soul. So instead of humans controlling technology, technology is controlling humans. Emotions, laughter, happiness are all tied up with machines now which was expressed between humans before. Thus technology is leaving a trace of old time as a treasure of memories which we are gradually forgetting now....

Its better we start saving some sweet memories which live short now a days. So how we can escape from being addicted to technology in order to understand the human brain power?

Will be continued in my next article,

Siva

Article 1 - Evolution of Technology

Various topics on technology always peek through one of technology's child internet every now and then. To list a few:

a) Technology - is it a boon or ban ? 

b) How technology has changed human's outlook toward the world in the last decade or century?

c) Are humans becoming addicted to technology use ?

d) Will artificial intelligent robots acquire human era in the near future?

Also we have been seeing so many science fiction thriller movies ranging from 2001- A space odyssey, Stealth to i-Robot, Matrix and War of the worlds where technology tries to overtake human life, memory, body, soul and everything. Now a days, no body can imagine a day without smart devices like mobile phones, tablets, laptops which is inter connected by the source as internet. If these are the recent inventions, then the previous major inventions like electricity, transportation including two, three and four wheeler, trains, airplanes etc have become the basic needs of day to day life.

The truth is that the new inventions in information technology are made to forget about the old ones.Cloud computing, Sixth sense and Google glass will make us forget about external hard disks, pen drives, laptops which in turn had made compact discs, floppy disks and personal computers disappear. But now even smart phones are becoming transparent. In the near future, every one will have their data in cloud locked with a secured account and password online.

If you want to meet some one 1000 miles away, your visual 3D or 4D projection can reach there in seconds and he will get a feel that he is talking to your clone. Every body is locating their destination in Google maps before they set out their journey now. But soon you can see the location route and destination point itself in front of you in a 3D projected satellite view like the scientists seeing island of Pandora in Avatar movie.

We cannot always predict how the technology will be evolving through out as the chain of inventions will never cease. Though these inventions are helping humans in various ways, they should not possess a threat to the humans.

Signing Off-

Siva

POEM 10 - COINCIDENCE

Rain, Rain, Rain, it always rain,

When you travel without an umbrella...

Rain, Rain, Rain, it doesn't rain,

When you travel wearing a rain coat holding an umbrella ...

Train, Train, Train, it always leaves at right time,

When you have reached one minute later...

Train, Train, Train, it is always late,

When you have reached half an hour early...

Bus, Bus, Bus, it is always the wrong one,

When you wait for the right bus in rush hour...

Bus, Bus, Bus, it is always the right one,

When you wait for an auto or taxi...

Phone, Phone, Phone, it always rings,

In your busy schedule from wrong numbers to credit card agents...

Phone, Phone, Phone, it doesn't ring at all,

When you expect a call or you are alone and free...

Money, Money, Money it is always not enough,

For a mind jumping from Landline to iPhone or Cycle to BMW....

Money, Money, Money it is always sufficient,

For a mind which values happiness more than money...

Time, Time, Time - you do not have enough time,

When you are in a hurry rushing to do things at the last moment...

Time, Time, Time - you always enjoy time,

When you have planned it well and execute things at the right moment...

Poet, Poet, Poet - you do not have one,

When you are breaking your brains to write one poem,

Poem, Poem, Poem - it always comes to the poet,

When the poet thinks everything else except writing a poem....

What a coincidence...

Panchatantra Punches Part 18

86. When the Gods of wealth, war, water and fire engaged themselves in a war, they all lost - For victory is neither in the hands of Gods or men !!!

87. The firefly looks like fire,
      The sky appears flat,
       Yet the sky and fly are neither this or that.

88. The false seems true and the true seems false, but appearances deceive, so think it through.

89. A ruler should first take fit and friendly advice and hear it more than once. Then think about it from first to last. Finally act and harvest fame and fortune, avoiding the absurd.

90. A friend is some one who understands what you do. A friend is someone who tells you the truth about yourself.

And here ends the mega series of Panchatantra Punches which I have been posting over months. I hope readers enjoyed each and every punch so far posted. It would have definitely provoked the thinking process of each and every one. If I get to know some thing interesting for another series , you can expect some parts of wisdom again. May be some poems and thoughts or messages will be circling around next in this blog. Until then.....

Signing Off,
Siva.

Panchatantra Punches Part 17

81. "It is by our education, good or bad, that the consequences are".. It is better to cling to a wise enemy than a foolish friend.

82. When the last hour arrives, that none however shrewd miss, a noble spirit serves his kind and death itself is bliss.

83. Wrong is wrong. The wise man will never try to justify a wrong as right, just as people avoid drinking gutter water, no matter how thirsty they are ...

84. When bit of royal land are lost, they can be won back easily, but the loss of a true and understanding friend is a deadly pain. He / She can never be replaced.

85. If we desire to survive and prosper, we should not leave alive father, brother, son or bosom friend, should they become a threat to us. Learn from anyone, who is wise, even if he be a mere boy.

Panchatantra Punches Part 16

76. Do these three things only once.

a) The word of a king once spoken,
b) A saint's speech,
c) A girl given in marriage.

77. Rivers end in the salty sea, family peace ends when women disagree, secrets end when traitors are not thrown out and families end through a wicked son.

78. Where the tongue is double, you may look for trouble. Every boastful traitor skillful in slander, brings about the ruin of all those in his clutches.

79. Choose a shrewd and upright man as your friend, but if a man be foolish and false, kick him out at the earliest.

80. Better plunge into the sea or fire or the deepest fit than associate with a dangerous fool.

Panchatantra Punches Part 15

71. Educating an useless fellow does not kill his pride, but increases it. Education is supposed to remove stupidity and pride, but if it encourages them, who can cure the educated man.

72. Rulers who follow the advice of mean and vicious fellow gets trapped in the cage of misadventure.

73. A king shines as a social being not as a solitary; whoever wishes him to be lonely is his adversary.

74. Kings should suspect no poison in harsh criticism, but in flattery they should see treason.

75. Only fools seek friends through treason, through humbug righteousness, property by cheating neighbors,
learning without labor and a woman's love through cruelty and pride.

Panchatantra Punches Part 14

66. By fleeing to a distant place, you are not commune from danger.  The long arms of fate will make the careless sinner pay wherever he is.

67. A reckless adviser bent on his petty purpose, threatens life and brings ruin to the king and kingdom.

68. The wise try four means to end a quarrel-

• Peace
• Shrewd intrigue
• Bribery
• Courage

69. A rogue cannot continue other's good work,  but can ruin it.

70. A good statesman should take into account 5 factors : 

• A proper beginning.
• Resources - human and material.
• Determine the place and time.
• Safeguards against bad luck.
• Finally successful accomplishment.

Panchatantra Punches Part 13

61. Accurate self critics are secure even in times of severe strain. Plan your effort, assess your strength, then your action will bring the desired fruit.

62. A well advised scheme to separate friends will work just like the constant pressure of water on a solid rock makes it split and give way for the water.

63. The man who studies every book and understands, but does not look to his advantage, learns in vain - his books are merely a mental strain.

64. Though your speech should be sweet as sugar, steel your heart, do not draw a doubtful breath or you will pay with death.

65. For the wise man, who wishes to hurt some one, pursuing selfish ends, should keep his plans a secret.