Why The Modern Man Has Stopped Asking Big Questions?
Did we get so busy that we forgot questioning the meaning of life? Or we failed to notice that new-age media algorithms has influenced our subconscious minds.
For sure, we fail to contemplate on life’s biggest questions, and critical thinking is dying.
Modern man, he likes his daily hustles so much that he wastes himself to it. He falls for technological illusions thinking that he can get away with his confusion and life questions. So, he has stopped asking big questions about life.
Sometimes, failures in his life puts him in front of the truth, but he seeks shortcuts, instead of fighting the battle of finding the meaning of life he surrenders to antidepressant, alcohol or binge-watching Netflix.
Modern man is confused because he is always living two lives -the life he is living and the life he turned away long back. He has forgotten the essence of life. He has forgotten asking the big question.
What are some of the biggest questions that the modern man is avoiding?
▪️ Does human life have any meaning?
▪️ Why there is something rather than nothing?
▪️ What is consciousness?
▪️ Whether there is some larger scheme of which human life is an essential part?
Modern man avoids such questions. If some life event pushes him to think deeper he opens YouTube app a for short videos on spirituality
Where Is The Problem?
Life has become autonomous. We are totally becoming dependent on technology, for almost everything. Ask Siri, What is the meaning of life? But technology is highly biased, extremely curated and promoted based on the benefits it brings to the creators of such technologies.
What is easily available discourages deliberation and imagination.
Progress for progress, pursuit of more information for more information, is leading us to more and more of everything. But, that’s just it. Meaning is missing. Even our questions are becoming shallow.
In this age of information overdose, modern man is always hustling, he is always (and easily) distracted by the next notification on his mobile, he fears boredom.
If he has free time he feels guilt, he wonders there must be something he is missing out.
His mindless preoccupations empower him with an illusion that he is in control.
Bugman Lifestyle
These individuals are defined by what they consume all day. They are constantly after the next progressive meme so that they can have the next painless conversation with someone of similar traits, always riding on public rating, always following perpetual state of security and comfort. You know him; you have seen him around you; you can try mirror.
He has no skin in the game, he knows no substance, he may call himself an “early adopter” when he buys a new phone because he is aware of all the fresh features of this phone.
While reading 20 meter long social media troll he comes to a conviction that he is better than all participants but farther down he is grateful to those guys because of them he has picked up new information.
Information Overdose
Let’s agree we suffer from it. We have FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) that’s why we pick up the smartphone on every notification. Digital distraction is cutting our attention span. We can’t focus on a specific task for more than two hours.
We forgot that busyness is not the same as productivity.
People were always expecting more information, more data, and decisions were delayed while waiting. Every few minutes people are switching tasks.
“We have been seduced by distraction,” says psychologist Daniel Goleman, the author of 📘 Focus: the Hidden Driver of Excellence.
We are being pulled away from paying attention to the things that enrich our lives.
Why We Should Never Stop Questioning?
It is not that answers are important. It is also not that we must find answers. The Biggest questions in life might not have answers, but searching is still not futile.
Search explores and opens our minds to new avenues. It helps us connect the dots. We start seeing meaning in the questions.
Disruptive technologies like artificial intelligence and cognitive augmentation are transforming our daily lives in such a way that we don’t have to experience anything that makes us wonder about philosophical questions.
Is There A Perfect Answer?
You may not get a perfect answer to your life’s question, but you should not be afraid to ask questions. Introspection offers you a unique opportunity to grow, to face the world, to convert suffering into wisdom.
Technology is getting us closer to a synthetic evolution that will eventually outcome natural evolution. We should not allow technology algorithms to become our moral compass.
Technology is our ally. It will make us progress beyond our imagination, but it won’t get us closer to ourselves. Let’s get smart and find the freedom that technology promises and use that to explore the genuine meaning of life. Wonder, imagine, ask questions — philosophy will save us, not technology.
