Man v/s Machine

Polarity is the principle which governs most of the things in the universe. Life and Death is one of them. What's the difference between life and death? Setting the medical jargon aside, a common man would say that Soul is the differentiating factor between the two. A person without a soul is a dead body and the same dead body with a soul is an alive person. Without delving into religious beliefs, using science, we can attribute soul as a form of energy. So, energy i.e., soul can neither be created nor be destroyed but it can be transferred from one body to another.

There's a reason why we stand at the top of the food chain. Humans have a superior mind besides body and soul which has the ability to think, question, explore, discover, invent, create or destroy life. Since the dawn of civilization, we have utilized our knowledge and contributed to many useful inventions & innovations in various fields. 

Our curiosity led us to explore into the macrocosm (space) and the microcosm (cell). In that sense, technological and medical advancements played a very important role in development of society.

Medical science which initially started as understanding symptoms and signs of a disease has greatly progressed. Now we have a clear understanding how a cell (the fundamental unit of life) works, how a disease develops and how a medicine works. Even people born with birth defects or those suffering from diseases can be surgically cured. We have artificial implants, prosthetics etc. complementing our human body and even accomplished the creation of life in a laboratory. 

Invention of wheel is considered as the most revolutionary invention of early man. The discovery of gravity is another such landmark in the history of scientific advancements. Today we have rockets and space shuttles which are the most advanced means of transport and even defy gravity.

Be it a boon or Bane, in the current era, we are very much dependent on machines which are deeply integrated into our daily lives. These were invented in the first place to aid us in our lives in improving our efficiency, to save time and money etc. The intention was good and desired results were also achieved initially. 

We were in control of these machines and were not entirely dependent on them. The next big leap in the modern era is Artificial intelligence (AI). Even in its incipient stage, AI has rendered us with many benefits. 

But as the saying goes that there are two sides to a coin, there is also a lot of damage being done in the background. These products backed by technological giants collect information of our preferences, likes and dislikes and ultimately influence us in many inconceivable ways. 

It's not a stretch to say that these things control us now in deciding even our basic needs i.e., what to eat, what to wear, what to buy, where to live, what to do etc. There are algorithms which even predict how we would react in a situation based on the information collected so far and that's just the tip of the iceberg. The actual threat would be in the distant future when AI has fully evolved.

Getting back to the concept of Body and Soul, we have designed robots based on human anatomy. Software was programmed into it to follow and execute certain commands. The "Mind " of these robots would be AI. There would be cyborgs initially. AI would take its own sweet time in collecting information about humans down to the minute detail. 

Then there would be androids equipped with AI, either equal to or even superior than human beings. Hollywood has made many movies based on machines taking over humanity. If all such information which is freely available in the internet, is fed into AI, it wouldn't be a surprise for AI to consider taking over.

This is not to discourage the ongoing technological developments but sometimes one should ponder about the consequences of their actions. In the past one would use his brain for simple calculations and would at least remember 2-3 contact numbers. Sadly, many of the current generation are unable to do either of the above-mentioned things. Flynn effect states that every new generation has a better IQ than its previous generation. 

This trend was seen initially but now many studies conducted on the Gen Z had shocking results ranging from an average attention span of 8 seconds, decreased concentration to increase in mental health issues like stress, anxiety, loneliness, depression etc. While there are many studies favoring both the Flynn effect & anti Flynn effect, there has been a substantial decrease in the Emotional Quotient (EQ) amongst the Gen Z. We have been successful in eradicating, eliminating many physical ailments but mental health issues have plummeted to an all-time high.

Sometimes it’s better to do things the old fashioned way or rather stick to the basics. It may be simply reading a book instead of scrolling through news feed, having a casual walk or sitting in nature instead of immersing in virtual or augmented reality, communicating with people face to face, at length instead of messaging, replying with emojis. To conclude, one should incorporate a hybrid approach in their lifestyle comprising both age old knowledge, practices and experiences and current scientific advancements, rather than digitalizing their entire lives.

                                    - Written by Dr.Manikanth Vivek