Friday, October 11, 2019

How technology relates to respecting your elders

Like today's written word, there was a time when the only things in someone's knowledge were the ones they heard from their elders.

Almost all the ancient world's literature was passed on from generation to generation in this matter. The only way to learn was to listen to your elders.

This is true not only for literature. Agriculture, cooking, prediction of seasons and all sorts of art, science and heuristics would have required learning from elders - relatives or respected people in one's tribe or village. Like ancient literature, other things too must have had a generation to generation passage.

And how do we make dal makhani today? Look up the recipe online! Wow. Where is the part when one calls their mom and asks what kind of tadka to do?

It feels that the more a society advances, the less respect for seniors is there. Not a bad thing, this means that instead a lack of respect, there is less need for guidance from seniors or elders.

I am sure there are a lot of other, better reasons for lesser respect to elders in today's world. But no matter how small, technology sure plays a role.

Sunday, October 6, 2019

Happiness And Suffering

Happiness multiplies when shared. We have heard so many versions of this quote. There is a similar sentiment that sorrows end on sharing. Or that sorrows get less. Or something like this. However, on looking closely we find that happiness and sorrows are totally, totally unrelated to sharing. In fact, most of the pain and suffering in this world is hidden from us. Most of our happiness in a so called connected world comes from materialistic things. The procurement and manufacturing of most of these materialistic things is the source of a lot of suffering. Mining, agriculture, horticulture, fishing/fisheries, shipping, manufacturing, and even in some cases the domestic help we use are full of suffering. This suffering usually manifests in the form of low pay, low time for leisure or even sleep, and in most cases even the choice to quit work is not there. Dignity, education, healthcare - these are not even afterthoughts. Thinking about these things becomes a burden after a while. Realising that the food we eat has led someone to forego education, that the jewellry we wear has led people being displaced, that the laptop I am writing my stupid thoughts was most likely at some point in the hands of multiple Chinese workers in an assembly line can not be easily ignored. The scary part is that in a couple of minutes I am going to watch some football, have something to eat and then completely get off this train of thought.