That now is an old and outdated story that man has evolved from the ape. If one talks about this theory of evolution one would be treated as obsolete.
Now the modern concept is — a robot replacing a man. Such wide-spread and miraculous changes and evaluations have taken place within the last fifty years that one only has to wonder and remain wonderstruck.
The world has entered the 21stcentury. We have lived through a century and have stepped into the new one. What has already been achieved has ushered a way to further and still further achievements in the new century.
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Information technology shall be the watch world of the 21stcentury. Already remarkable strides have been made in the field of computers and what seems to be a novelty today may turn into the out-of-date tomorrow.
The world would turn into really a globe of the size as being brought by the geography teacher for demonstration in the class. Space and time, which already have been reduced to a nullity, would have no existence at all. It would be like a magic world where one would reach thousands of miles in the twinkling of an eye — at least if not physically then on Internet.
Image Source: inferta.com
Sitting at home you will have all information, all charts, all situations, all locations on the website and the Internet. Already this advancement has been achieved to some extent in Andhra Pradesh in India. The cyber friendly Chief Minister could at the click of the mouse, have complete information about each tehsil, each taluka, each Panchayat of his State — its population — men, women and children; the fields of farmers — their dimensions how many irrigated, how many unrelated. No official could befool him with wrong information and data.
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So what is true of one State — Andhra Pradesh — can become true of all the countries; their towns, their rivers, their lakes, their mountains; their railways and their airways. It would not remain a secret how many nuclear arsenals what country has and what their potential is.
Iraq would not be required to be air attacked by US to destroy their underground arms and ammunition storages. Their location and their capacities would be known and would be visible to the eye on the website. Voluminous books would be transferred to the ‘floppy’ and preserved — it may be that instead of the bookshelves in the libraries there might be floppy shelves much space would get saved.
It may surprise us to know that the whole picture ‘Titanic’ presenting such hair- raising spectacle of the ship striking against the huge iceberg and wrecking into two with thousands on ship dying and huge fittings and furnishings washed away, was all a visual illusion created through computer managed show. How well and life-like it all appeared but that is what it was.
Computer controlled would be really a wonderful world. The achievements of today might turn into amusements for tomorrow. Computers would mean the extension of human brain — to what extents it will go one can only imagine and visualize.
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We are today concerned about the environment and its pollution and of other environmental hazards. In the new century even the environment might become man- controlled. Nature would turn into a slave at our beck and call-to do and perform whatever it be bidden to do. There might then be no droughts and no floods — even cyclones could be curbed and controlled. Deserts might become habitable and agriculturally viable.
Ships, trains, planes and cars might run with nuclear energy and our cry for the depletion of the natural sources of energy might get silenced. Even industries and factories may run with nuclear power. Production capabilities would increase and none would die of starvation and lack of nutrition.
The fatal diseases might also find cures and human life-space may increase — but will human-relationship — the mutual trust, love and family bonds — keep in tact or they would also get formalised into a machine or a cassette — that is still a matter of conjecture. But it would be a sad day if it so happens.
Man at least should remain human — whatever the shape the world at large may take, otherwise, with all the pleasures at our door and all our pains relieved, we shall turn into automatons with no feelings, with no attachments, with no bonds.
Even today with the present scientific developments and the micro-families living in large metropolitan cities, the family as such has grown very limited, still on festive occasions people do gather, meet, interact and feel a bond. But if everything could be happening with the help of computerised ways, what then would be the need to come together and be together. If with all advancements, the togetherness is liable to go, then life would hardly be worth living.
Of course, on the other hand, one welcome change can be expected — the political leadership in the form and shape as it exists at present, particularly in our country — India — may get replaced by leadership by scientists and technocrats and the corrupt political scene may get cleaned and the culprit could be caught and would not be able to get away with his nefarious ways. Social conflicts would stand avoided as everything could be detected and defined in the right proper manner.
In the family life, the parents would determine the gender of their to-be-born child and population may get controlled but at what level, one cannot conjecture.
Agricultural production is bound to increase with the improved variety of seeds and fertilizers but the concentration from agriculture may shift to industries and the rural population may remain purely rural no longer. Even villages may grow into a better shape and PCO at every nook and corner may not remain just a PCO but may be turned into a cyber cell on which a simple villager may also become cyber conscious and cyber friendly.
Even in cities, there shall be cyber clubs and cyber amusement parks on a large scale which will make children’s source of entertainment increase many fold.
This is a picture which can be visualized and may not appear just a dream world. This may turn into a reality as the present trend seems to be envisaging.
Once again, one needs to ponder over the basic elements of human life. If, with all technological advancements, men lose their basic elements and instincts of cordiality, familiarity and mutual goodwill, if tears would not roll down the cheeks at the sight of an afflicted; if the eyes would not brighten up on meeting one’s long time friend, then what use all this celerity? Let the world turn into a place full of all pleasure but no pleasure is greater than giving and receiving affection.
The dizziest elevation in life is to love and be loved in return’ — wrote R.L. Stevenson, the great English essayist. That alone is what makes life, a life worth living.