Skip to content Skip to navigation

Technology - boon or bane!

The modern world despite all its technological innovations and inventions has not been successful in keeping human beings on earth together. We have the best gadgets, technologies and the rest of it but these have not been able to serve the purpose as the world is increasingly becoming a community centric place, each claiming their own place under the sun. Each nation is trying to assert their superiority and authority over others and the oddest side to this game is that these nations have communities inside them who too are seeking independence and sovereignty. The latest among them is United Kingdom (UK) where Scotland is going for a referendum this month to seek independence from the UK and add as a new country into the European Union (EU). If the September 18 referendum favors creation of Scotland as an independent state then Great Britain will certainly not remain as great as it is today. Britain, which ruled the world through its colonialism will be a fractured democracy despite being a member of the EU and geographically located in one of the most advanced parts of the world. But the question that haunts is advancement, unbelievable technological development and all those stuffs that helps a nation boast of at the first place is enough to keep the union going. Well, no matter whatever is the reason but these world developments indicates that preserving racial identities is a global concern now followed by the role of politics, businesses and what comes next in this list.

Although, sovereignty of any state will have a higher degree of politics and people’s will involved but what about families, neighborhoods, public institutions and all those classifications that is centered around humanity. They are faltering like ninepins, be it anywhere in the world, from the northeastern part of India to Africa to Europe, Middle East, in fact the world as a whole. Technology which is shaping up human lives in every possible manner, unimaginably, is also the bane here. If we see the use of social networking in recent times, it has created more friction in societies over the world than the good that it was designed with. Countries like China have come up with their own set of legislation towards use of such sites but this undreamed of freedom of expression is sinking more into the world of spreading hatred, jealousy, igniting comments, fanaticism and the rest which has created commotion and has even taken lives in many nations. Mischief mongers, groups with extremist motives use these platforms as it is very easy to open a fictitious account and do maximum harm, all but free. The time has come when users must be asked to produce documents, as required while opening bank accounts, to create email and social networking accounts given the number of misuse and damages that these ‘camouflaging’ mediums are producing on a daily scale. It cannot go on and on like what it is now where nuisance is going unabatedly as these forums have become safe heavens for them. No matter how good the intentions are but it cannot be denied that these mediums are playing mischief and has divided this world more than the wars and crimes it has seen.

We cannot deny the fact that most of these technological developments have truly taken place in advanced countries, mostly in America and Europe. If we analyze their use, form and freedom they are actually developed targeting the free economy and people of these nations. For an average American or a European, it is “cool” to say and post comments, which is a trend in their societies. Now, if some of these comments create any type of fissure in the country then they have a holistic legal framework in place to correct them. But in countries, outside the parent countries where these technologies are developed, it may not be in sync at the first place and the increasing animosities, trapping to false mails, creating law and order issues are some that is constantly reported in countries in Asia and other parts of the world. It has to be understood that technologies are after all the manifestation of intelligence inside a human brain and that manifestation may not necessarily work well all the time at all places until and unless it is a divine sanctity. What one cannot say, write or speak in regular frontline media, these social networking sites are thus allowing public to vent their anger with the most foulest of language never ever seen in any public domain earlier because it is just enough for the owner of such sites to escape prosecution with a nondescript disclaimer that any comments posted are not the views of these sites. In fact this disclaimer is the root cause of the danger associated with these sites. How absurd it is that the owners of such sites are roaming scot-free whereas a slightly absurd comment in the regular media, bosses are taken to task. The comments made in the social networking sites are not confined to specified geographical boundaries as seen in case of newspapers, television channels since they can be read and seen by anybody in any parts of the world and create local trouble. Their circulation is worldwide and so their bosses should be held more responsible for any problems that arises out of comments, videos and others postings in their sites.

The divided world, in which we live, where families are shortened to a pigeon hole, is actually the result of our efforts trying to instill technology practically in everything in our daily lives. We have literally become slaves instead of technology being our slaves. This penetration into critical areas of human lives, where a human touch can do much good than any technological interference, is changing the dynamics of our society. Today people tend to rely on technology more as they prevent themselves from every possible personal contact with fellow beings and keep that up through the use of gadgets citing pretexts of one thing or other. People say, “we will keep in touch” whereas a neighbor is seen conversing via technology instead of a possible meet. This virtual reality is the new reality now as good wishes, greetings, condolences and everything else are all but possible through technology. The gap thus remains since there is no alternative to human to human contact and technology can never fill up that gap. Technologies which are designed to simplify human lives on earth have rather complicated it alarmingly. We may get heart-attack, nightmares and the rest if we are asked to imagine our lives for a day without it. But then what good have technologies done instead of taking us away from our roots. A rootless civilization will not last and continue to rupture no matter how advanced is our technologies. It is like shielding the exterior more and more ignoring the vital interior which is collapsing all the time and will bring down everything, one day. The present world civilization is sustaining on this falling core.

Author info

Rajiv Roy's picture

Shillong

Add new comment

Assamese Translator

Assam Times seeks English to Assamese translators!
Join our volunteer team.
Email editor@assamtimes.org.

Random Stories

Silver jubilee celebration of Udalguri Bathou Mahasabha concludes

10 Feb 2016 - 4:28pm | Shajid Khan
The silver jubilee celebration of All Bathou Mahasabha, Udalguri district committee concluded here at Harisinga Mantikiri Sanaishree ground with a message to develop spirituality in the society. The...

ULFA leader trapped in jungle!

2 Aug 2015 - 8:09am | AT News
Security forces are fanning in Khandu forest area in Arunachal Pradesh in search of Rupom Asom who is believed to have been trapped after he sustained grave injury in the fierce encounter on Saturday...

ATEU urges for dues to Media Employees

21 Feb 2012 - 2:03am | Nava Thakuria
The Assam Tribune Employees Union (ATEU) has appealed all the media house owners to provide legal dues to the journalist and non-journalist media employees such that they can maintain decent lives....

10,000 refugees back to home

15 Aug 2012 - 3:18am | editor
Altogether 10,636 refugees having left the camps set up to accommodate the violence-hit people in BTAD areas and Dhubri. According to government sources, 2,92,852 inmates are still sheltering in 228...

Other Contents by Author

Away from the seemingly causes that led to the pandemic called Novel Coronavirus aka CoViD-19 it cannot be denied that it can well be attributed to the bitter spat between USA and China over trade. The CoViD-19 could well be a creation out of vengeance after what we have witnessed in terms of sanctions on imports by both nations. The arrest of Dr. Charles Lieber - the Chair of the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Harvard University for making "false, fictitious and fraudulent statements" to the US Defense Department about China's Thousand Talents Plan (a Chinese government program to recruit foreign scientists and researchers) and his affiliation with Wuhan University of...
Can anyone advice Rahul Gandhi (RaGa) that what he and the other nincompoops of the Indian National Congress (INC) are doing in the name of electioneering campaign by targeting the defence forces of the country is only going to decimate their prospect – even if there is any, left? What does it take really to win elections in this country? The defence personnel who are keeping their territory safer from external aggression are being targeted by the INC, insanely. Can RaGa and his inept sister, Priyanka – and her equally inept hunk, Robert Vadra, breath freely if the soldiers in the country aren’t keeping it safe. Can anyone, and for that matter of fact the president of one of the country’s...
An employment advertisement that caused more inconvenience to applicants than providing them with jobs has resulted in the advertiser to issue a statement regretting the inconvenience and correct the blunder being committed, after the matter was reported in the local media, while the affected ones are questioning if the media can really wash off its hands and whether it should not be held responsible, at the same time. Abhinandan Vartaman, the Indian Air Force (IAF) combat pilot has earned immeasurable appreciation, for his valour and courage, from the countrymen after the heroics shown by the force and especially him – who shot down an F-16 jet of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) – that...
Well Mr. Donald Trump, the outlandish and outspoken US President, with his usual signature facial expression said recently that “walls work” with regard to his decision to construct a border wall, along the border of US-Mexico and even declare a national emergency after the US Congress (the lawmaking branch of the national government) declined to his demands for billions of dollars to fund the proposed wall at the southern border. The president has earned a slew of lawsuits over his emergency move and one may well wander whether such a wall is required in India’s northeast which faces a serious threat to its demography. Arguably, the US President’s idea on a border wall may well be correct...
There are opinions among the tribesmen of Meghalaya that the sweeper lane issue in Shillong town has gone colder since May 31 when mayhem broke over this place near Iewduh, one of the largest traditional markets in the region. That such opinions being held by the native citizenries in a society where matriliny has hit such a low that the fairer sexes are facing insecurities in their own hearth and homes, is in itself, morbid. An incident over an alleged eve-teasing went out of proportion when the local tribesmen clashed with the residents of Sweeper’s Lane, inviting global attention to the issue. The stalemate that exists in this lane dates back to time immemorial and history is replete...
We need to use the social media wisely. But this call is getting lost in a world where anything that is talked about online are caricatured by opportunistic and outrage-mongers. This medium, which is creating more upheavals than connections in societies around the world, should be understood that we choose to assimilate these services into our daily lives because they allow us to deepen social connections and enable us to exercise ourselves in a manner that was unthinkable before their coming.  Many would agree to the fact that after “nature” comes only “social media” in terms of gross misuse. We are witnessing the phenomenon of changing patterns in climate and irrational nature...
If we are to assess one thing clearly about the 2018 Assembly Election to the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly at this point in time then it is the focus and charisma that is awaited coming January. Except that, the assurances, claims, slamming of one party by another will continue to rule the roost and this is not something new in the Indian political diaspora. Nonetheless, this is going to be the most sought after elections given the emerging complex political equations. There is much at stake in this election when the sixty seats to the state assembly goes up for grabbing no sooner the Election Commission of India releases the dates. There is much expectation from the BJP which has since...
Award winning Shillong based author, Kalpana Roy’s ‘Sei Somoy Perie’ (Beyond that period) covers a period of Indian independent movement in the then Bengal, which very soon spread over the entire Indian sub-continent. The book received the prestigious Narsingdas Bengali Prize for the best book in Bengali in Arts / Science subject from the University of Delhi in 2014. The central character of the book – published in April, 2012 – is the renowned independent movement activist from this part of the country, Bipin Chandra Pal, who was born in a small village in Sylhet (now in Bangladesh) district of undivided Bengal. The book is primarily a biographical novel on the life of this great freedom...
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a successful second visit to United States of America (USA). The major thrust of this visit was centered on his ‘Make in India’ and ‘Digital India’ dream as his meeting with numerous business czars and CEOs of top techies in USA is a big diplomatic push in that direction. While a purring Indian National Congress (INC) is seen crediting itself for this Digital India drive saying that it was the vision of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and all subsequent governments took forward that dream. This version of the INC has only earned laughing stock from one and all whosoever has come in terms with this baseless self-glory statement. Modi on the other hand is a...
“The northeastern states of India should cooperate with each other in terms of their tourism potentialities, culture and tradition, food habits and create a depot in Japan to invite inbound tourism. The geographical condition, cuisine and taste, good atmosphere here are similar to that of Japan. This will not only transform the economy of this region but also open it up to the larger Asia – which is one,” said the Chairman, Japan India Tourism Promotion Committee, Tsutomu Sato on his second visit to Shillong. His first visit was two years ago when he represented Japan on an invitation by the Meghalaya Government which called tour operators from all over the world.Acknowledging candidly that...