From Artificial Intelligence to Natural Stupidity
An Indian Perspective.
Let’s go back five years. Facebook was a bubbling new fad, Instagram was nowhere to be found on an Indian smartphone, there were only 5 fashion bloggers in the country, and everyone wasn’t an expert on everything. Wow!
Jio has opened up a can of worms. Known as opinions. They reproduce exponentially, they go viral, they have no head or tail, they give birth to mutated worms that will ruin the world. Of course, this is only my opinion.
Every conversation on Facebook has taken a communal turn. A friend once asked me, “How can there be so much hatred in this world today? Why is every comment an insult to a person or a community as a whole?”
My answer to this is simple. First figure out what has changed today and you’ll get the answer.
For a guy who loves to stick a pencil up his nose and taste it too had nowhere to go before the advent of “data.” He knew people did it not long ago and was considered normal back in the day. They used to force others to stick stuff up their noses too. However, it suddenly stopped because some people thought it was wrong to do so. They put forth studies which proved it to be not good for society. And eventually, the practice was abolished. He despised these elites. Why would I listen to people who don’t know about our history and culture, he thought.
But, he kept his feelings to himself, he could not express himself because people would think it was weird. No one did it on television. The elitist media wouldn’t mention it. There were no world records of longest pencils up people’s noses. Nor were there any movies or shows to rationalize his activity. He felt he was alone in the world and no one would understand his weird obsession. So, he would do it privately.
With the advent of the internet, he found a whole new world. He began exploring it. One day he built up the courage to switch on Incognito mode and look up whether other people like you know what. And voila! An entire universe opened up. He not just found people sticking pencils but all kinds of stuff. Pens, USB drives, handkerchiefs. (Full disclosure: I had stuck a whistle up my nose in my childhood. NOT ANYMORE!) He found a place in the world where his opinions and feelings are safe, even escalated sometimes.
And that day, Artificial Intelligence gave birth to his Natural Stupidity.
He yelled out to the world that he loves sticking stuff up his nose. People came back at him, trying to discourage him from doing so and trying to stop him from inspiring others. People told him it’s wrong, it’s unhealthy, future generations should not be thinking it’s okay to do it. The media picked up this story. They started talking about it. News anchors said it is not okay to do that.
He stopped and wondered. He started doubting himself. He felt alone again. He wanted to come back to the society and live a more moderate life of just sticking his finger in his nose. But wait, he got a new notification. Someone was defending him! He got excited. All his doubts were eclipsed by his artificially enlarged nose and also by those defending him.
People defended it by saying our ancestors loved sticking stuff up their nose. Those who don’t like it are anti-national. The conversation took a turn for the worse. Politician noses started itching too. One side would use their fingers for the itch and say it’s wrong, and the other would stick people’s emotions.
Majority of us don’t stick stuff in their nose, but the majority did stick their nose in this stuff. That is the difference between then and now.
We have had our share of crazy throughout history. But people took the help of the radio, the news, the so-called “elites”, the intellectuals to explain to them the situation. To educate them about misinformation.
But with their credibility, patriotism and intellect questioned due to a joke they made on a well-known politician, we have nowhere to go for our education or for quenching our curiosity.
It is high time we calm ourselves down. Stop and think before we type whether it is going to make a difference. Analyze if just our opinions are enough to win an argument or do we need facts backed by Newspapers, Archaeological Society of India, Scientists, Books or at least by Rajnikanth. Let’s stop starting sentences with “I think”, “I believe” or “I feel” unless you’re following it with “..like puking.” Let’s start a debate with “I know” which is backed by more than one credible source.
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