Thursday, 1 August 2019

A World In Perpetual Light (by Bhavna)



Bhavna Balaji

I believe that humans are inherently curious and hungry for knowledge. It is difficult to assign a universal moral value to this drive, but it is impossible to deny that humans have been chasing discovery and inspiration since times immemorial. This may be true for other species as well, but I can only speak for my own kind.

A world where AI can do every job seems like a perfect utopia at first glance. Humans would be freed of any responsibility that society chose for them. They would be able to study and learn whatever they wanted to, in their own time. They would have all the time and resources in the world to travel, create and participate in art, philosophize, and whatever else that comes to mind. However, upon closer inspection, this system has cracks. Fun is fun because there exists a state in which it is absent.

In a world where human jobs and endeavors are obsolete, I believe that humanity as a whole will be unhappy. Individual humans may find purpose within the system, but as a community we will be stagnant. This system assumes that happiness is a fixed state where humans have all the time and money they could ever want to do whatever they pleased. But happiness, satisfaction and purpose are all part of a journey. We try to build a lightbulb a thousand times to no avail, but that moment when it finally works and bathes our rooms in light- that is purpose. That is happiness. 

In this world, there will be no room for us to take a step, whether it is forwards or backwards. There will be no opportunity for us to make mistakes and grow. I greatly admire human endeavor. We climb mountains and do research and work as accountants and travel to space because we believe it is part of our journey as a community and a species. The purpose of humanity is a spark of light in darkness, the flame of discovery, the rush of innovation and building our future. Perpetually living in the light will blind us.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Pepper by Aketi Gayatri

 Pepper has been an integral part of any South Indian cuisine from pepper chicken with coconut milk to Rasam with hot Rice is what we all cr...