Technology is not enough

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Technology is not enough

Sunday, 23 December 2018 | Pramod Pathak

Technology is not enough

There is a very interesting observation in an Organisation Behaviour text that says — you can take the man out of the Stone Age, but you cannot take Stone Age out of the man. To many, this may appear a bit hazy, but for those who have the eye to observe it is a rather pithy comment. Going by technological advancement, it is true that mankind has come a long way since the time of the Stone Age. Those technological advancements have been largely effective in changing the lifestyle of human beings and the way they meet the external environmental demands. However, the fact is that we have hardly changed from within (our internal environment), that is the way we think. So, the assertion that human nature has remained fairly stable over all those ages is quite valid. This is precisely what Philosopher J Krishnamurthy observed some five decades ago.

He said that technologically, man has advanced incredibly, yet he remains as he has been for thousands of years — fighting, greedy, envious, burdened with great sorrow. His discourse on existence was based on what he found in the world — utter chaos, disorder, violence, extreme forms of brutality, riots ending up in war. If this does not make sense, let us examine what is happening, whether in the most poor and underdeveloped countries, or the most rich and highly developed countries. Ethiopia and United States have been facing indiscriminate violence. Throughout their existence, human beings have been violent. The twenty first century seems to be no better as far as human aggression and meanness is concerned. Why it is so may not be easy to understand because violence and aggression seem to be learnt predispositions. They are largely acquired rather than innate. Where do we learn these from? Is it ingrained in the evolutionary cycle which emphasises struggle for existence, or it is picked up gradually as we grow up and develop. The fact is that violence and aggression do persist. We need to ponder over why we are so violent. May be, we need to realise that our aggression is a result of our assumption that our pains and problems arise due to other people and they need to be punished. Or it can be that we want to corner everything for ourselves and sharing of resources is an unacceptable proposition. The emotions of fear, hate, and rage take the better of us.

Is there a way out from this Morass that we are sinking into? There certainly should be a way for the sake of larger interests of humanity. And that way is to create a Psychological Revolution. The technological revolution is not going to change humanity. It seems that we have defined change wrongly. If only technological change could bring about the desired transformation in human attitude, things would have been much better. But it has not and most human actions are still driven by envy, greed, hatred, ego and other such negative attributes. The problems in this world are more out of psychological disorientation rather than any genuine reasons. There is need to bring about a psychological reorientation in the basic thinking process so that rather than being driven by negativities, human beings are influenced by positive thoughts. Bringing about this psychological change is certainly a Herculean task. It is so because calls for a concerted and sustained effort. We must go from a mechanical life driven by a programmed thought pattern to the psychological revolution that brings a responsive and empathetic life. And this is possible.

Pathak is a professor of management, writer, and an acclaimed public speaker. He can be reached at ppathak.ism@gmail.com 

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