Are We, Humans, Becoming Redundant?

Noah Yuvel Harari's Homo Sapiens, Homo Deus, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, and now Nexus point to the evolution of the human person from being a creature of insignificance to becoming a creature of all importance, to eventually succumb to the very things that humans created to assist them. The question "Are we, humans, becoming redundant?" is not a rhetorical question, but rather one that carries pain, helplessness, and concern. Even as we navigate the stresses of modern life, we have become increasingly dependent on non-human actors rather than human ones. Hardly anyone turns to a human being to plan a trip, find a way, or even to write a paper. Our obsession with technology has made the majority dull and receptive rather than skilful and creative. Harari warns that artificial intelligence is no longer a tool but an agent. As long as science remained an instrument, humans had the power to decide how it was used; the moment it became an agent, it had the power to decide our lives. It can choose independently where it wishes to bomb, whom it considers a threat, who should be hired, whose name must appear in the voters' list and what content must go viral. There is little humans can do to regulate what happens in the world today. From banking to education, from defence to politics, we are at the mercy of machines rather than persons. Anyone who knows how to manipulate the machines can have the last word. Reading Yuval Noah Harari leaves one high and dry. There are no certainties, the future is unpredictable, and humans are at the mercy of their inventions. When humans become surplus and redundant, all meaning is lost. When meaning is lost, what else is there to hold us from self-destructing?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Tragedy of Macebeth

Image
Recently I was reading Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Macbeth.   The following dialogues are worth mentioning. "Stars, hide your fires! Let not light see my black and deep desire." Macbeth before murdering the king.  "Is this a dagger I see before me? I have thee not, and yet I see thee still." Macbeth's guilt is manifested in the form of a dagger. "Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?" Lady Macbeth washes her hand every quarter of an hour. She sees blood stains in her hand. Her guilt is manifested in this way. She again says: "Here is the smell of the blood still. All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand." It was a pleasant reading. There are a lot of things we can learn from this tragedy. There are Macbethian symptoms in our modern age. There are people who live in guilt and die of it eventually. Perhaps Shakespeare helps us to see the psychotic and neurotic tendencies that ...
Read more

வைக்கம் முகம்மது பஷீரின் பால்யகால சகி

Image
  எழுத்துகளில் தான் எத்தனை உணர்வுகள். கடந்து வந்த பாதை யாருக்கும் அவ்வளவு மென்மையாக இருந்துவிடவில்லை என்பது தான் எதார்த்தம். நினைவுகளின் அசைவுகளில் தான் வாழ்க்கை பல தருணங்களில் இனிக்கவும் கசக்கவும் செய்கிறது. நினைவுகளின் அன்புக்குரியவர்களோ நாம் சிறிதும் வாழ்க்கையில் எதிர்பார்த்திராதவர்கள். ஏன், நம்மால் துவக்கத்தில் புரிந்துகொள்ளப்படாதவர்களாகவுமே இருக்க செய்கிறார்கள். மஜீதும், சுகாறாவும் வாசகனின் கண்களை குளமாக்கும் கதாபாத்திரங்கள். பால்ய காலத்தின் நட்புக்கு ஈடேது! “நாம வளந்திருக்கவே கூடாது. வளர்ந்துவிட்டதால்தானா சோகங்களும் ஆசைகளும் உருவாயின”? என்ற சுகாறாவின் வார்த்தைகளில் எவ்வளவு அர்த்தம். “மனிதர்கள் எல்லா இடங்களிலுமே ஒரேபோல்தான் மொழியிலும் உடையிலும் மட்டும்தான் வேறுபாடு. எல்லாருமே, ஆண் பெண்... பிறந்து, வளர்ந்து,  இணைசேர்ந்து உற்பத்தியைப் பெருக்கி... பின்பு, மரணம். அவ்வளவுதான்!” என்று தேசாந்திரியான மஜீதின் மனக்குரலில் வெளிப்படுகிறது வாழ்வின் எதார்த்தம். அழகும் அமைதியும் பொதிந்த வாழ்க்கையென்று ஒன்றில்லை. வறுமையின் கொடுமையிலும் நினைவுகள் ஊடாக மகிழ முடியும், மகிழ்விக்க முடியும். வ...
Read more

Destructive Leadership Has a Cultic Face!

Image
Unprecedented is the word to describe the way TVK stormed into power  in Tamil Nadu  – some might even say crawled into it with the help of other parties in a post-poll alliance - supposedly a state with a progressive mindset, only in comparison with the dismal records of other states. While change is permanent and welcome, the aura built around an individual is a serious cause for alarm. What propelled him to power is not necessarily the misgovernance of the past government, but rather the cult carefully developed around him. Let me decode some of the traits of a cultic figure and impending disaster for all. 1. It’s all about me, and I can make no mistake This, in a way, is a variant of narcissism. Self-obsession and invincibility are dangerous traits in any leader. From the start, Mr Joseph Vijay has consistently manifested a narcissistic tendency in his dealings. He declared that people should consider him as if he were a candidate in all the constituencies. It was ridiculo...
Read more