Whether technology raises human virtues?

Opinions are always divided. No two people see eye to eye! Each one possesses his own views about life on this planet. Hence it is difficult to convince people. In every society there are people who agree, who differ and who hold an eccentric view on anything. Hence there are always conflicts between different people in society! To bring consensus between different people has become the most difficult task for the coordinators!

It starts from the members of the family. There are rare families who subscribe to the views of the elders in the family. The reason is ego. Each one wants their opinion or suggestion counted. The youngsters in a family are more vocal in refuting the ideas of elders. They consider them as better educated and equipped to tackle problems. More than education and degrees, common sense and experience coupled with age stand solidly behind the elders. When the youth wants ‘quick fixes’ for problems, the elders leave the problem a little time to resolve by itself. They know by experience that certain problems are resolved over time. Instead of knee jerk reactions of the youngsters, elders always wait. Patience always pays.

The reasons for such differences, could be traced to ‘freedom of expression’ adopted by the youngsters. Neglecting age old traditions and cultures is the main reason. Westernization of the education may be one more reason. Today, we boast that the world has become a global village! To certain extent, communication tools are helpful. But depending always on information tools is bad for society since technology happens to be a double edged knife. We all know that ‘electricity’ is useful to society in many ways. But, one needs to be cautious in handling electrical instruments, switches and plugs. Ignorance is not bliss in science. Half knowledge is dangerous. If one is not sure, how to handle a particular gadget, he will get into greater risks of fire hazards, electrocution and other dangers. In the media, we often come across accidents caused by mobile phones which has become like an essential limb to one and all. Most users, due to urgency, make calls or receive calls while the mobile is under charging. Even those who are aware, simply remove the phone while in charging mode. They never bother to switch the plug off.

The companies who provide wireless connections swear that there is no harm caused by mobile towers. Sadly, this point is under constant debate. For healthy people, the towers may not cause much harm. But around 60% of the people in the world are suffering various unknown disorders due to pollution in air, water and atmosphere! How the mobile connection providers can assert that there is no harm due to radiation and it is within permissible limits?

Fundamentally, the culture and tradition are forgotten in the long run. In the present time, people appreciate the technological advances in the world scenario. No doubt, transport, air travel, communications, health care, education and agriculture got a boost due to scientific inventions of modern economical methods. But we cannot overlook the downside of such inventions. Ethics, morality and character are the first casualties in technology. In many villages in many countries, certain age old customs were adopted to prevent loose morals. Each village has a committee to oversee the affairs of the people. Especially movement of girls around was restricted. They were not allowed to mix with boys of their same age! This may seem too restricted or outdated, but such restrictions ensured the character and morals in society.

Today, we find that constant portrayal of perversions of society through visual and print media stimulated the minds of youngsters towards harmful recreations. Adultery, theft, cheating and violence are the results of exposure of young minds to depictions of negativity in TV. There is no use lamenting once we allowed our children to access mobile phones and internet.

Basically, all the created elements like earth, water, fire, air and sky are helpful to all lives. But the same elements are capable to destroy human habitats by the fury of nature. Not a day goes without reporting some major disaster in some part of the world. Especially deluge due to cloudburst affects one or more places during monsoon. If one area is deprived of rain, other area is flooded. Why there are such extremes in nature? The sole cause is the behavior of man everywhere! When man start to act as per the whims of his mind, he cannot avoid the results at any time. If you put your finger in the flame, it will be burnt. If you jump into a flooded river, there are chances that you may drown. Gales of wind uproot even strong trees. Hence, venturing out during such weather condition is folly.

God has granted human beings a discriminating power, thinking mind and choice making capacities. Hence before venturing into any act, first find out whether the intending action is good for one and all. When we judge our actions, we must do it in a selfless manner. If selfishness creeps in, our judgements fail miserably. When we use technology, it should help us to evolve as a positive and optimistic individual. Technology should never degrade our culture and tradition. Even while using the technology, we should utilize it for gathering wisdom. We should develop helping tendency and compassion towards all. This is possible when we browse educative websites which will give us wisdom and ensure cultivation of human virtues!

Human beings must adopt Truth, Righteousness, Peace, Selfless Love and Non-violence in order to remain as true human. Today, we find human forms but demonic behavior everywhere!