My Way or the Highway

Saba Khan

Ever wondered, the need for human connection is far more today then it was at any other time in the past. Machines and artificial intelligence have made the work easier and faster, but it has severed the bond with fellow humans.

How isolated the human race is, living in their own, individual, personal bubble with just a ‘screen’, as their guide. Whatever the ‘screen’ says we will have to accept, there is no choice. Each and every mechanism that we can think of has shifted to the ‘screen’. From entertainment to book reading, from alarm clocks to navigation. You name it and they have it. In the pursuit of doing things on it’s own, we have landed ourselves in deep waters, but is it a point of no return or is there still hope…

Let’s take the example of navigation. Previously, when there were no screen maps, people used to note proper addresses, with land marks and all. They used to be alert all the time, looking out of their car windows, reading all the sign boards, looking at people, the place, the change of scenery, interacting with humans, asking for directions, appreciating the different dialects and phonetics of the spoken words. All of this added to the wisdom of telling people of different places and weaving a story in mind of where this person could be from, a local or a foreigner. Reaching somewhere used to be a team work, and how amazing it was. No matter how many times, we lost our way, we never lost, rather gained something extraordinary, I appreciate that now and I miss how it used to be…

Now, our heads are bend on the screen and the one who is on the driving seat in directing the car, following a line or a curve, indicated on the screen, no human interaction, no sight seeing, no stopping, asking, discussing. But let me tell you, a man in India sued the screen maps, stating that he would have landed in a ditch and lost his life, if he was not attentive enough, as it was dark, and the maps led him straight to a bridge that was broken.

No wonder, we have become so self absorbed, independent. We don’t need anyone, anymore, hence no one needs us anymore. Human need connects each other. There should be some issue, over which we should join heads, talk, understand and tolerate other’s opinions. Tolerance, a precious trait that we have lost. Patience is the gift, that we have discarded. Although, we can reach anywhere with the screens, we were everywhere without it…

Image courtesy @pinterest