The word ‘Mind’ itself has been a mystery since ages. The man has been looking for answers since the beginning of life itself. Since the last few centuries, Science has made remarkable progress in all fields starting from Space to Biology & Geology to Psychology. The advancement in Science & Technology has enabled us all the comforts in the world; comforts which if all the kings & emperors in world history had experienced, they would envy us. The world has transformed into a ‘global village’ with faster transport, easy communication & direct to home services. Recent development on the Internet has benefited mankind in such a way that it can be termed as ‘Aladdin’s Lamp’. “Rub it and get the delivery at home”. Man has explored and has been trying to explore the most remote and unexplored areas of the world and space starting from the depths of oceans to the distant planets. Where we couldn’t go physically, we sent our robots and machines to explore for us. Man has always been wondering about the marvels of the space and even the mysteries of earth itself. And this all has been possible only due to the extraordinary part of human body, i.e. ‘Human Brain’ which puts human beings above all other species known to man till now. But the marvel among all these marvels is the ‘Human Mind’. Nevertheless, there is this inevitable and amazing connection or relation between human mind and the brain that makes them similar in layman’s language. More interesting is the fact that each brain is unique and this as a result preserves our identity.
We humans are totally unaware of the fact that the present gadget-filled, pharmaceutically-developed 21st century is making us sleepwalk into a future in which technology blurs the line between our bodies & the outside world. The age is boomed with innovations like development of chips which could allow a paralyzed patient to move a robotic limb just by thinking about it. There are medically prescribed drugs available in the market that can manipulate our moods to an unbelievable extent. The usage of antidotes & medicines like Prozac for depression, Paxil for shyness and Ritalin for concentration are increasing day by day. These developments apparently have benefited the generation in a crucial way. However, there are great dangers lurking beneath which may show up within the next decade. Dr. Susan Greenfield, a Neuroscientist at Oxford University, in her book named “Mind Change: How Digital Technologies are Leaving Their Mark on Our Brains” rightly puts up the issue of the effects of digitisation and how it changes the structure of our brain at a microcellular level.
Of course, there are lots of benefits from technical progress, starting from gaining knowledge from the internet to global media coverage within minutes. But there are dangers as well, and I believe that we are facing some of those today. As I said that the human brain is malleable, I do not say it metaphorically, but literally. At a microcellular level, the infinitely complex networks of nerve cells that make up the constituent parts of the brain actually change in response to certain experiences and stimuli. It changes or develops not only in early childhood but right up to early adulthood too and in many instances, beyond adulthood. Our surrounding environment has a huge impact on the way our brain develops and how the brain is transformed into a unique human mind. In today’s world our brain is in constant influence of an ever-expanding world of new technologies like Smartphones, wireless networks, multi-channel television, video games, internet, GPS enabled cars, mp3 players, social media and more coming every day.
Along with electronic devices, pharmaceutical drugs also have a remarkable impact on the microcellular structure & complex biochemistry of our brains. If you step back and analyze the lifestyle of an average urban adult in 2017, you would be startled that the person, starting from the morning alarm to the breakfast, from reaching the office to having lunch, going back home till one sleeps, is fed with all the artificial & scientifically modified food or is attached with gadgets. Another instance of the influence of technology is the effect of search engines over the internet. Any average student who had a certain ability to memorize a piece of information is now totally dependent upon Search engines as it is just a click away from him/her. His/her brain simply skips or ignores to store the information in its memory and relies on the internet to be used when needed.
According to a recent research by a firm named Counterpoint, the number of smartphone users in India crossed 300 million in the year 2016. With the advent of smart phones, people have been exposed to an explosion of applications related to information, games, accessibility & entertainment that there has been an increase in 84% of productivity per hour among office workers since the 1970s through emails, business apps & even messengers like WhatsApp. Well, that’s a positive side of modern tech and we are lucky to have it. On the other hand the eternal protest of “It’s only a game!” by children & teenagers is beginning to ring alarmingly hollow. A very latest instance is the ‘Blue Whale’ game that apparently caused almost 100 teenagers to die. I am certainly not totally pessimistic about all the video games and I genuinely welcome the new generation of “brain training” computer games aimed to keep the brain active for longer. But this games-driven generation interprets the world through screen shaped eyes, as if something hasn’t really happened until it’s been posted on Facebook, Twitter or YouTube. Ultimately we are becoming ever more reliant on our gadgets and without them we would be lost. This is the extent that technology has encroached upon our lives that people do not feel the need to ‘unplug’. And the world of science & Tech that we have chosen to inhabit is producing changes in our behaviour; attention spans are shorter; personal communication skills are reduced and there’s a marked reduction in the ability to think abstractly, as told by the modern psychologists.
Bottom Line
I’m not convinced that scientists will ever find a way to make us much cleverer or happier, not without anaesthetizing ourselves against the sadness and misery that is a part and parcel of human condition. I do however think it possible that we might one day be able to harness outside stimuli in such a way that creativity, which is the ultimate expression of individuality – is actually boosted rather than diminished and thus preserve the identity of man. This is not an attempt to act as a harbinger of doom, it is just theorizing on ways which technology will impact upon the human race. Therefore, it is surely on us to decide as to which direction the modern tech leads our next generation & its identity – The options hence are getting clearer.