The Downside of Modernization

The Downside of Modernization

With the dawn of the internet, everything now is fast and immediate hence there seems to have a proliferation of instant gratification.

In the olden days of telegram, telephone and beepers there was a delay in communication. I even remember queuing up to get access to a telephone. Versus now, in the age of smart phones, you are online 24×7, instantly reachable with the expectation of immediate response.

Let’s admit that the introduction of Internet brought a lot of good things, it opened doors for Facebook and other social media making the world smaller, and Apps which disrupted the norm like it opened a different way of selling, communication and service. It practically shook the basic foundation of how we do things.
But the sad reality is it foregoes some age-old values like discipline, focus and patience.

Do you remember the olden days when children had less distractions and they can focus on their studies & extra-curricular activities like sports, arts and hobbies? These required practice, time, discipline and patience.
A gymnast practices how many hours a day to perfect the routines, stunts and moves.
A swimmer swims how many laps a da day to become faster and master technique and stroke.
A baker sifts the flour how many times before he can get a sifted flour as during those days there was no sifted flour sold in the supermarket.
A basketball player trains alone and with the team how many hours a day to get better as an athlete and work more cohesively as a team.

Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel ceiling from 1508 and 1512 which had complex designs and several sets of figures, including nine scenes from the Book of Genesis. Can you imagine the passion, dedication and patience to undertake such a humongous and time intensive project?

By Michelangelo – present version is derived from earlier version, with colour cast adjusted, however this version may appear too blue.:, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=27931331

Don’t get me wrong. Yes, I love the Internet, Uber, Grab and online shopping websites/Apps like Amazon, Redmart and foodpanda but I am wondering how the future will look like. Will we still have athletes and artists in the future who persevered to perfect the sports and arts or inventors who persevered to create new inventions to benefit humanity?

I may be painting a bleak picture but it is something worthwhile to ponder on as the youth of today gets more exposed to technology and access to gadgets at a very young age.

Hopefully, my fears will not come to life and someone will prove me wrong 20 years from now.

But for the sake of sports, arts and all forms of hobbies, I do hope that I am wrong.

Let’s exchange notes and observation in late 2030s. 🙂 It’s a date. 🙂

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