Do not Forget the Purpose of Life in the Rat Race of Material World
If we look into the previous century’s significant events, we find that they revolved around three principles/ thoughts of action. The first among them was the fundamentalist approach to political governance, which was also known as fascism – an authoritarian ultra-nationalism characterized by dictatorial power. In the early years of the previous century, almost every nation seemed to embrace this philosophy. But the Second World War rejected this fundamentalist principle of Germany, Italy, and Japan. Hitler had to commit suicide, Mussolini was killed, and Japan witnessed the dreadful destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
It was clear that the world community wanted to keep itself away from it. After the Second World War, the entire world was divided into two types of philosophical thoughts. One was Marxism or communism, about half of the world, including the Soviet Union, China, and North Korea, seemed to adopt this principle. The second principle was liberal democracy-America, Europe, and several other nations based their political governance on this philosophy. Every principle/theory is challenged one day by the new thought/philosophy. The same happened to the above mentioned two theories. The disintegration of the Soviet Union and the demolition of the Berlin Wall of Germany shook the foundation of communism, and the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center (New York, USA) and the global economic crisis of 2008 due to a very liberal approach have shaken the faith of people in a liberal democracy. Today the entire world seems to be standing on the verge of confusion. That is why, where a fundamentalist approach appears to overpower the immigration policy in America, the United Kingdom has put itself in a dilemma by separating itself from the European Union. It will not be an exaggeration to say that such circumstances give rise to doubt, difficulty, stress, and chaos everywhere – which appears to be the case today.
In today’s circumstances, apart from the lack of unanimity among the world community, one more challenge is rising on the global scene ,the challenge of the rapid development of technology. The speed with which computers, the digital world, the internet, etc., have made their place in our daily routine, we could not even imagine that fifty years back.
The consequences of this technological revolution, which seems to overwhelm today’s human community, are in front of our own eyes. Economics is already so complicated due to computer algorithms that everyone can’t understand it. With the coming of cryptocurrency, bitcoin, blockchain, etc., the cash currency would gradually vanish completely. Then it would be redundant to impose a currency tax. In such a situation, the Governments would have to think of new ways to collect resources for the treasury.
“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well. – Ralph Waldo Emerson”
Along with this, one more challenge has arisen; it is regarding the purpose of human life. Gradually, we are establishing control over almost every aspect of the external world, but have we been able to control our minds or the inner world? We know how to stop the flow of rivers and construct dams, but we do not know how to control thoughts and emotions. The revolutionary work is being done in the fields of biotech and info tech. What will happen when technology starts controlling our inner world? This question is worth exploring.
When industrialization was taking shape globally, we jumped into its mad race. By the time we realized that it would lead to ecological imbalance, it was too late. After the failure of three prime philosophies of the previous century, technicalization has emerged as the leading role model in the present century. It is impossible to guess its consequences now, but the changes in human life that are being observed today cannot be called promising. Industrialization replaced human labor, but the new technical revolution seems to be taking control of the human mind.
The impact of the present technological advancements is visible in many facets of human life. In the new context, it has become necessary to find solutions to unemployment and security problems. But the most challenging aspect is when all the human needs would be fulfilled by the machines and the tasks of the human mind would be taken over by the computers using artificial intelligence, then what would be the purpose of human life?
These are some such questions that are worrying the serious thinkers. In fact, the solution to these challenging problems cannot be found in the external world. The years of toing and froing have taught humans that stability and peace do not come from material prosperity but internal contentment/satisfaction. In the Gita, Lord Shrikrishna says the same thing to Arjuna – ‘Ashantasya kuto sukham’ – How can a restless person enjoy the pleasures of life?
Therefore, there is a need to clarify life’s purpose, which ultimately provides peace and contentment. If this fact is kept in mind, any revolution (technical or otherwise) will prove beneficial to humanity.
I am convinced that the jealous, the angry, the bitter, and the egotistical are the first to race to the top of mountains. A confident person enjoys the journey, the people they meet along the way, and sees life, not as a competition. They reach the summit last because they know God isn’t at the top waiting for them. He is down below, helping his followers to understand that the view is glorious wherever you stand. – Shannon Alder
“The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for a newer and richer experience.- Eleanor Roosevelt”
Source:Akhand Jyoti
Jan-Feb 2021
