Hello Reader,
Modernity has turned us into consumers.
Now, this statement alone may not ring any alarm bells. Of course, you might say. We have created systems that supply the things we need, so we can exchange the currency we earn for these supplies that we consume in order to feed ourselves. To feed ourselves.
Big words like globalisation and capitalism have led to the availability of lots of products to us here, where in years past they were limited and only accessible to people who lived or visited where these products were made. Isn’t it great? We can access everything we need, right where we are.
When we see or hear someone share about something desirable, all it takes is calling up an app on a smartphone, coupled with a few taps, to order the same (or a knock-off version of it for a fraction of the price).
It’s productive. Efficient.
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Our obsession with machines has slowly seeped into our psyche, changing the way we think and speak of ourselves.
“Give me the download.”
“I need to recharge.”
Somewhere along the way, the lines between “man” and “machine” have blurred. With all the buzz around AI, some people fear that machines will one day become like man. But you know what’s the real fear no one seems to be talking about?
That man becomes machine.
That he loses his soul.
That he is reduced to a bunch of circuits that process data and spit output in a manner that is maximised for speed and efficiency.
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We cannot disregard how technology has helped us improve our quality of life across the centuries. I, for one, am thankful for air-conditioning in these unbearable hot days in Singapore.
Yet, what are we “gaining time” at the expense of?
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Nourishment of the body requires a variety of input — good food, air, water, exercise, rest. Most people would consider it inhumane to replace these basic needs with a cocktail of drugs and machines, for an otherwise able-bodied and competent human. A person ought to be allowed to live, and even if technology were sufficiently advanced such that we could be hooked up to machines to do these things for our bodies, it would appear offensive and un-human to do so.
How about when it comes to our minds?
Advances in technology, coupled with the shortening of information and content into “bite-sized morsels” have us now able to process copious amounts of content in a very short amount of time. In the old days of television (yes that ancient relic), we were restricted to watch what was airing at that time slot, had to take commercial breaks, and consulted the newspaper to see what was playing next — the TV did not consult us about what we wanted to watch.
We now have ready access to summaries about summaries of information, and no longer need to “process” the information, because computers do it for us. We ask a question and after watching a circle spin for a few seconds, a convincing paragraph speaks directly to us with an answer.
In food terms, we’ve reduced a three-course meal to a petri dish of tablets which “contain all the vitamins and nutrients you need, without any of the fluff”.
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If ideas are food for the mind, are we content to consume the ready-packaged pills, or worse, the version that someone else has consumed, digested and vomited up for our “easy consumption”?
If we are willing to sit down, enjoy the process of eating, resting our bodies in our beds, working and moving our muscles for growth — are we willing to do the same for our minds?
Are we willing to set aside the quick answers and fast facts, to truly engage with ideas at their core, and allow those ideas to become a part of us as we mull and chew on them?
Are we willing to choose nourishment over consumption, so that we may become more human?
Chewing on it with you,
P.S. if you haven’t heard, The Ordinary Matters community is open for enrollment until Wednesday, 11 June. It is my hope that through the content I share in this newsletter, on IG, and in the community, my audience will be provoked to think deeply about things of importance. The TOM community provides a safe space to work out these issues alongside likeminded others. 3 days left, do join us!
From my commonplace
“
But some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again. You can then take it down from some upper shelf, dust it, and tell me what you think of it.
– C.S. Lewis, in the dedication of his book "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe", to his goddaughter Lucy Barfield
p.p.s. We are going to read the Narnia series together in The Ordinary Matters -- if you're old enough for fairy tales, do join us!
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