The children in turn tell of their days in schools or put up a pantomime to the delights of all present. That was entertainment then. They played games too. They made music. They sang and danced. It was socially enriching. It was mentally stimulating. It was fun.
Before long, an invader came. It came in the form of a box that emits voices. It was good. News from around the world could be heard. The world seemed smaller. Stories were told by strangers from far, far away. Not from gramps no more. Pops and moms stopped reading as they were fascinated by that box. They were too engrossed with the stories and news read by some strangers from far away. And they got their children to join in this new activity of passive listening.
But still, they gather. The sharing disappeared. The legacy from the old days forgotten. The pantomimes neglected. Games seemed too tiring. Family fights over the choice of channels. Social enrichment and family bonding suffers. Learning was left to the teachers alone. Individualisms flourish. Passivity sets in.
That was not the end. This time, the invader continued its onslaught with pictures along with sound. First it was grainy monochromatic and small. Then it became better with colors and crisp representation of reality on ever larger screen never seen before. Passivity went up another notch.
Before, listeners focused only on one sense – the sense of hearing. That leaves room for the mind to engage in other chores such as visualizations or imaginations. Everyone was still able to do some work while listening passively. Now, the intruder mesmerized with moving pictures that talk and sing. More senses were engaged. Besides using the ears, eyes would be needed. That left very little room for the brain to do other things. It was the beginning of the degeneration of the mind. Mindlessness sets in.
The humans named the invader, the Idiot Box.
Humans soon discovered the trap that they had got themselves into. Passivity and mindlessness were not natural to human. It became a distress. Socializing has always been a hobby of humans. Humans need stimulations of the mind and body. Soon, that invader was swept aside for other things.
Because the human minds cannot rest, innovations continue. There were a lot of gadgets and devices that replaced the once mesmerizing Idiot Box. The invader now introduces its relatives and friends. They not only talk and bring news from afar, they can seemingly think too. Ask them a question and they will answer. Accuracy is subjective to the questioner and the questions, of course. Things were really getting out of hand. A tool is something that you use to help you get something done. It was not meant to be able to think. A thinking tool was something hard to accept. One tool, one task – simple. One tool, variable tasks – distressful. Humans thrived on simple things. Well, most humans do, anyway. It was left to the expert to handle such complicating contraptions. Over time, more humans became “experts” and thinking tools soon used commonly in their lives. Tools and gadgets are “smart” these days. Everything from the most mundane to the most sophisticated are enhanced with smartness.
Smart tools are so prominent that they have become a part of humans’ lives. Sociologists and psychologists are forced to revise their knowledge with studies on the arrival of these tools. Questions arose as to the impact of these appendages to the human lives, socially and psychologically. Back to the basic, humans are social animals that are endowed with extra capabilities to thrive on adversity. Humans are capable of great adaptation to survive in any natural setting. It takes time but eventually, humans will learn to live differently and successfully. That is with the understanding that the environmental changes are natural. But these rapid changes are man-made. It is artificial. Can human adapt so rapidly for so much in so little time? That is the question that troubles sociologist and psychologist in recent history.
All is not lost, however, for nature dictates that all progress and changes must plateau at one point in time. Also, humans have the knack for categorizing the world into separate compartments. So long as all the processes fall neatly into each compartment, humans are comfortable. And so, after much turmoil, humans segregated those intruders into various compartments and everyone was happy. The idiot box continues to be an idiot. Churning out programs that were fed to it live as long as the humans turn it on, else it just squat there and does nothing. The “smart” relatives and friends remain so. Smart is the operational word here as they still excrete garbage when fed with garbage. But still, humans were happy. Humans, once again were in control. There was lasting peace after all.
Meanwhile, in the dark crevices of the innovative human minds something lurked. It cooked up various hybrids of devices that supposedly made life easier for humans. The turmoil reignited. Smartness went into cleaning tools. Cleaning tools were incorporated into smart machines. Some successfully stamped their presence while some drifted into oblivion. Humans once again found themselves at war with categorizations. It was troubling and the war is still raging now.
While some battles have settled, others are still undecided. Computers are no longer a keyboard with brains and a screen that you place on a desk or a lap. It is now pocketable; not just portable. Entertainment is delivered on handheld devices in various sizes. Phones that not too long ago only help transmit our voices over long distance can now deliver all other functions of it relatives and friends. Buttons are reassigned or retrenched in some cases. There are replaced by touch sensitive surfaces. Isn’t it humanizing? Or is it?
The last few battles rage on still. Among the most gruesome at this point is the incorporation of “smart” into the idiot box. Do humans want a dumb messenger to be smart? How smart can it be before it discomforts humans? Humans want control. They want easy manipulation, no doubt, but they still want to be in control. They like to be served when they think they need it, not when the device thinks the humans need it. Humans would want to turn on the idiot box and be entertainment when, how and what they feel like. They do not want to be dictated nor preemptively served. They want it to be obedient, controllable and aesthetically beautiful. Most important of all, they do not want it to be too smart.
So, can the idiot box be made smart?
The answer is affirmative and the solution is simple but the strategist of the invaders got it all wrong. Victory will be in the hands of humans. It is time for humans to restart gathering, sharing and bonding.
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