Propounding A Fictional Conspiracy Theory; Advent of the Useless Class and Artificial Intelligence by 2030: with referral to a McKinsey Report on a SE Asian economy and AI preparedness- adapted by Prof. Partho S. Sengupta (Master-NLP)
Introduction-This summer of 2020 is ominous! Two romantic issues are emerging on the crystal glass impacting the discerning mind of yet undetected Martian surveyor voyaging above Planet Earth. First is the conspiracy theory that governments of the high and mighty nations are colluding to eliminate at least 60% of the human race by 2030. Secondly if the Rulers in our globalised economy, regardless of ideology and beliefs, do not succeed in their surrpetious “elimination plans” through leaked viruses such as Corona virus Covid-19, how can they deal with the quantified agony of the emerging Useless Class? Billions of disintegrated younger community members having nothing better to do except indulge in lumpen activities; post the inevitable advent of the Artificial Intelligence. Unless of course! – The governments in power have something else up their sleeve! Do they?
In his article “Algorithm of Global Crisis”, Professor Nishant Shah, founder of The Centre for Internet &Society, Bengaluru, shows us the dangers of misinformation and the need for literacy about online information dissemination. But given India’s political and bureaucratic bumbling lethargy, how do we extend/expand literacy to the Useless Class? What is today’s precise definition of “literacy”? Public panic can be disastrous because wild mob frenzy is worse than a mad, rampaging bull in a china shop. Indians, like people anywhere else are known for their resilience. It is equally true they are easy to fleece and badly informed. It is also true, admits Shah, that our ‘environment is surrounded by a world of information specifically curated by an artificial intelligence corpus’- in the control of the Ruling Elite.
For example, is there any guarantee that my desires and free will are not being controlled by hidden government surveillance (AI[1])? Am I, an evolved world citizen imbibed with the philosophies and political thoughts/ideas of 17th to 20th centuries, very sure there are no bio-chemical or bio-organic factories within my country or any other country that is mischievously plotting a mass annihilation of larger chunks of the human race? And if this does occur, do I and my fellow travellers, have the wherewithal and knowledge to prevent such catastrophe? Technology has become a game changer. It is beyond human control. Totalitarian regimes have an advantage over democratic ones in running a Police State. I just do not know if my desires and free will are being controlled and manipulated.
While on the one hand, Man is driven by Imaginations; the reality is Mother Earth/Nature cannot but be practical. Nature knows we are doing blatant disservice to her. We are imposing cruelty to Nature without having any enmity with her. This is collateral damage caused by infliction of grievous injury on innocent human and non human life. It is an unjust war and therefore pure evil. So what if the G-7 or G-20 powers silently agree to decide that unless the demography of the world is substantially trimmed down, there can be no chance of survival on Planet Earth?
Homosapiens have conquered space, hope to live in the Mars and fully realise they are actually living the most comfortable life ever on Planet Earth right now. But quite unlike those bravura human struggles of early 18th till let us say, mid 20th century[2]; in this 21st Century only one reality is staring us – the earth has enough for man’s needs but not enough for man’s greed. Hence many of our global leaders, behaving like children with loaded AK-47in their hands as they do, may be plotting an unavoidable end of a larger portion of the human race for what may for the now appear as hackneyed reasons that are passé. But could such a scenario emerge? Are our leaders and the political classes trustworthy?
It is very possible human suffering is to increase manifold with death staring at most of us due to various shortages. This was also a prediction by the maverick nonconformist space scientist Dr. Abdul Kalam, who graced as India’s President. Dr. Kalam contextually had spoken then of an impending water scarcity, predicting shortages that could trigger irate murderous human behavior over peaceful possession of jelly cans of water. He had also predicted the world will be unmistakably divided into two unambiguous groups, protecting each others’ self-interests- the 21st century ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’, i.e. the Ruling Elite, their allies; at the other extreme the seemingly unmanageable Useless Class.
Part I-It is this apprehension of mismanagement of human capital that irks me to write as I do in the midst of the Convid-19 administered man-made crisis. What happens if our bureaucrats and politicians do not have the requisite temperaments to lead in crisis situations? What if everyone is not a Modi or Xi Jinpeng or, when/if the occasion demands- a Florence Nightingale or Mother Theresa? Contextually, fresh life-styles, value systems and rules of governance must emerge in this Brave New World where the illiterate in the coming decades will NOT be the ones who cannot read and write; but those who can learn, unlearn and relearn.[3] Do the perceived imperfections in governance indicate efforts to right their innumerable gross errors of commission?
People today do not trust Authority as authority has no power. Power grows from the barrel of the gun and as on date, in India it appears these guns are in the hands of Warlord-Politicians of my country. They have been using Gandhi as a bête-noire, a bugbear, all along since 1947. Their rudderlessness is apparent. The political class has made their human thoughts larger than the Cosmos and thereby made a mess of life and our living. This is reality around me!
Quantum science teaches us on integrity of elements within an entity. Our bodies are illustrative narratives. The Universe is also an entity. So is the Earth, the Moon, the Sun, the Black Holes and all other phenomenon as they function with their whys and how’s. Thus is life – my life and yours- with our hearts pumping, the organs in alignment with one another…each naturally fixed minimum of such entity, however big or small, is linked to all other entities occurring in the physical processes in nature as an integral of the whole. There is something beautifully natural about this whole process. The most significant fact of life is humans can determine the nature, scope and pace of self evolution. We possess inbred, unharnessed Consciousness. In his book “The Biology of Belief”, Bruce Lipton writes emphatically on ground breaking work in form of new biology that examines the process of the cells in human bodies. He leads us toward the fact that genes and DNAs do not control our biology but signals emanating from our body cells do!
Like Revolution, happiness also does not fall from the Skies. It has to be earned. It is consequent to personal efforts. Sadly, our governance styles have eluded this fundamental from our late 20th to 21st century human T&D processes. The world will be far more peaceful if this “as-is”/”to-be” gap in human awareness is to be reduced through Artificial Intelligence ingress. But our Ruling Elite IQ levels are confined to loot, plunder and self-aggrandisement. If they were not, this article would not have been conceived amidst all the contradictions around!
Happiness is also a quantum desire within our integrated entity. Nature, for whatever description we give her, is as happy as those whales which trumpet and play truant in the deep oceans and the birds and insects that fly in sky above. The whales’ spirit of happiness and that of the birds and bees’ are integral to the sustenance of oceans, seas and soil as well. And the gross happiness product of every small entity, much like the Butterfly Syndrome “Chaos” theory, is linked to all other entities integrated to this lovely play of Nature we have been marvelling at for ages. Today we are mindlessly destroying this wealth. Why?
I believe ineptness and lack of sustaining our intuitive/intrinsic ability to manage the 3Ms[4] have done the human race us “in”. We have miserably failed to harness our human capabilities to primarily think of Nature as we think global, act local. Humans have become a liability to Planet Earth. There are fewer human beings and larger number of human predatory animals on a “Me-Too type prowl. My bona fide credentials of being a Homosapien-as one who thinks and behaves under collaborative impulsions- is highly questionable today. So a North Korean leader ordering spot shooting of a Corona Virus infected citizen is no different from a US President refusing to sign the Paris Climate accord in the greater interests of his nation today. And both are honourable men. Such is the new normal. Do we then have to accept this as the new normal?
I also believe the gap between Mother Nature’s expectations from the evolution of her most intelligent animal on Planet Earth by 2020 and man’s current measurable (deplorable!) degree of mental evolution at 2020 is so, so wide today that this ”as-is” and “where-is” gap analysis can never be reduced. A disconnect occurred in the 1950s! We have instead the 21st century Artificial Intelligence and Brain Implants staring cold at our faces. Are these a herald of another Animal Farm? The Future, say eminent Brain Scientist Ray Kurzweil[5] and his ilk, is faster than we think!
It now appears the chain of human life must have to be part broken if only to sustain the Quantum Theory of Science. Many of us need to go! And if human race does indulge in possible self-extermination, the chances of the birds and bees with Mother Earth surviving stand a much higher chance. So why can’t the G-7, G-20 leaders congregate and think similarly to resolve their insurmountable quandary? The Origin of Species can remain vindicated but the Theory of Beliefs can and may undergo alterations under logic?
Fictions of Conspiracy theory notwithstanding, there are other realities staring us in the face as well. Most sane[6] persons above 30 years today perceive life in this World has limitations due to factors beyond human control-water scarcity, soil erosion, pollution, rash living styles and escalation of internecine warfare, inflation…Our leaders in Russia (Putin) and Turkey (Edrogan) temporarily agreeing a truce over Syria in Moscow on 4th/5th March 2020, know these are stop- gap acts- much like recent USA and the Taliban agreement, which leaders jolly well know are as transitory.
Hogwash! Common Citizens living in shanties and slums, the small time shopkeepers and the rich of metropolitan cities like Calcutta, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Bhubaneswar, are all too aware of such reality. But only the powerful can keep on manipulating because needs of their daily lives are catered to by a coterie of people and servants. They live with their Imaginations. The Common Man lives with his practical acumen.
Going a few fast forward steps ahead, is it fair then to suggest the human race’s balanced survival is more assured under restrained democratic (USA/Japan/Canada/New Zealand) or autocratic (Singapore, China, North Korea, Russia, Vietnam) type governance? Is it reasonable then to assume in most societies of the world affability (easy going/friendly/geniality) is in short supply? Consistent association with WMDs have converted our leaders into “infuriated” animals, smitten by vice and evil. Is it fair time then to review and revisit our human duties toward life and living by being simply human?
Europe is suffering the misbalance of Moslem migration. South America is suffering from prolonged pressure of neo-feudalism. Middle East is ridden with bullets where refugees are saying “only choice is to wait for death” as they flee war ravaged areas. South Asia is suffering yet from not having fully woken up from its 1947 midnight tryst with destiny. In the midst of such unsteadiness and instability created by the world nincompoop Ruling Elite , we have sensuous writers, painters, authors, actors, petty political leaders and Social activists whose theatrics seem to offer temporary relief to our stressed and strained human minds within all this vicious cycle of damnation.
May be there is no single future for our global community. May be there are two different futures for two distinctly emerging children communities in future– a) teaching children music, arts, sports, yoga, inner engineering and b) teaching children elsewhere to use AK47s and Kalashnikovs in the other! Both get to achieve the science of aligning individual geometry with the cosmic geometry but so very differently!
If Erik Erickson’s PAC Model[7] is considered, most Homosapiens in the present world could be on the Child psychological state involving gratification and physiological wants with no self-actualisation needs. Homosapiens’ immeasurable progress in philosophical and litterateur achievements over the past few centuries notwithstanding, given the fruits of LPG[8], the aspirational thrust of members of the current human race is primarily programmed toward self-aggrandisement, wants and greed.
Unfortunately we do not respect Nature and understand the beauty of the quantum dynamics all around. We learn what we make of it. Still less are we parented and tutored how to live in collaboration and cooperation with one another under an integrated community behaviour ambiance. And thus, over 70 years we have emerged as the cruellest animal on Planet Earth (Bertrand Russell). Scribes like the Buddha, Jesus Christ, Confucius and greats such as Vivekananda and Benjamin Franklin, will not emerge naturally either in 21st Century. There is something in DNA creation where the perpetrators of cruelty without enmity are not blessed with worthy children. This is a curse!
With the smartphone and gig technology, anybody from chauffeur to technical assistants is a veritable James Bond and Mata Hari. Instant solution, like instant coffee gratification, is at everyone’s fingertips! In such conflicting scenarios, when the Ruling Elite have let lose the smartphone and gig technologies upon the common man as part of diversionary techniques; which egoistic Ruler and his cohorts cannot mischievously think of creating Novel Corona type Virus to begin killing unmanageably huge human masses slowly? If we have scaled a stage when trust in one’s parents, siblings and friends are in short supplies, is it being unfair to lose trust in our leaders?
The Corona Virus may just be symptomatic of a much larger malady in our global minds. Anything is possible in an age when bulk of our children are being rote-taught, much like the Sons of evil; and not how they will become better human beings. This implies that we are reducing the scope of re-inventing ourselves as we move on in life. Our children’s’ devalued personalities give them no other choice! The ignition keys of Nature are within our brains and Indian philosophy shows us how. Conscious, even unconscious Yogic practices, practically executed as part of ordinary life as a Christian, Moslem, Hindu, Sikh, Jew and/or agnostic, enable brain intelligence work better for the individual, not against him. Our Rulers conjectured preference for bio-chemical factories notwithstanding, the most sophisticated such factory is in our bodies to enable creating stable lifestyles. And in 21stCentury, we are yet unaware of this dynamism! This is not a Hindu concept; it is Universal Truth. Our leaders are yet ignorant of this gold mine.
Part II– However, there is another angle to the discussions. How do we deal with the Useless Class in a world gone asunder with AI?
According to McKinsey research findings[9], megatrends in economic reality will also change the nature of many components of the social contract—between firms and workers, among citizens of different generations, between citizens and government, firms and government, as well as at the intergovernmental level. The conspiracy theory of mine is symptomatic of an inevitable compulsive action where parents are losing out on their natural quality to parent; and teachers their art of storytelling and mentoring. In the background of conspiracy theories, real economic compulsions are also compelling other forms of social commotion and changes not easily discernible to the judicious eyes of the ordinary mortals wanting to just get on with life.
Firms and workers: As Firms increase their adoption of disruptive technologies, how can they best contribute to re-skilling and lifelong learning of workers, and how do workers need to invest in their own development? How can incentives be created for companies to prioritize technologies that complement workers over those that displace them? Or what are the right structures of worker representation and protection particularly as the gig economy gains ground?
Firms and government: What is the right public–private collaboration to develop better ecosystems, be it for financing sustainable infrastructure and energy efficiency, pushing innovation and the adoption of technology, orchestrating cross-sector ecosystems like autonomous mobility, or raising the game on cyber-security? Must we not establish a correlation between Economics ad Ecology?
Citizens and government: E.g. The European Union and its national governments will have to regain the trust of their citizens and win their support for the reforms needed to sustain[10] the inclusive growth model—from improving the way they deliver government services (from trash collection to tax collection) to making decision more transparent, to increasing the engagement of citizens on policy, regulation and budgeting. But if inclusive growth does become more challenging, how should the European Union evolve social security and transfer mechanisms in order to provide the fiscal flexibility to execute on the deliver scenario? And how should European countries further develop their education systems so that they produce more technological, with social and emotional skills, and enable lifelong learning? These issues become lethal given the enhanced migration of Moslem labor force into Europe. It must be observed that each one of the aforementioned incrementally developing relationships need meticulous planning under a Think Tank capable of advising the government of the day and other members of the Ruling Elite. Secondly, we need an implementation group capable of delivering up to the last mile walk.
How is India preparing for such Future in real terms? The future of work will also create needs for newer skills and sustained long-term learning in nearly every part of the skill development among workforce. The Malaysian case-study shared by McKinsey Group could give planners in India opportunity to do a PERT[11] study on their own plans already on the anvil[12]!
On a more holistic level Homosapiens have mastered two aspects of the mind, expressed through the body, which make us distinct from the evolution of other species by this 21st century. We have mastered Imagination and Memory. Both enable us to enjoy the ‘comforts’ of life as we do today. Indeed, even though we may be digging our own graves, with Smartphones, we are incredible James Bonds and Mata Haris in our own imaginations and creativity.
So were a Martian to look down upon us and study our behaviours from up above through her impeccable radar screen, she would also find us consciously and unconsciously suffering from the overdoses of Imaginations and Creativity. Not only will AI take away our Memory but also our Time. What do we do then to become better human beings? Almost four generations of Indians are living through the period 1947 till 2020. Have we augmented our psyche with self-effacing boosters to propel our self-image, values, and vision with community feelings and better manage ourselves under integrated social comportments?[13] And if as individuals, groups and communities we have failed to do so, can we legitimately expect inept governmental support agencies to lift us in their slumber toward a quicker response time (QRT) oriented re-discovery of our positive human traits? Given our present skill sets, it appears impossible!
Can we then look forward to consolidation of governance under a restrained democracy or unrestrained autocracy? The push has not yet come to shove. What will the Ruling Elite do to stave off a gigantic human crisis when wave upon wave of human Tsunamis are consciously and desperately running around from ‘hospital to police stations’, ’from pillar to post’ sort of, seeking help and succour in national emergencies? Will they just let it be? To be human means we have to be conscious of ourselves. Are Indians losing the power of consciousness- those signals that are emanating from our body cells that Dr. Bruce Lipton?
And so when I read an article such as the imminent impact of AI upon the Malaysian peoples and their preparedness (McKinsey), I am astounded by the governmental preparedness there. And I wonder what inhuman governance mechanism will be required to mould Indian manpower into productivity as we prepare ourselves for the $5 trillion economy. If our present leaders can bring this about, they will have achieved the impossible. But to assist them do we need to operate and be functional under restrained democracy best practices?
What is the critical mass in this Useless Class? Will it grow into a negative or positive force in the economy? Will it become manageable, necessitating critical changes in governance patterns and plans or will the typical much touted virtuous secular credentials of the Indian nation finally disintegrate with indiscipline and uncontrollable mayhem (or vice versa)? It is far better sometimes not to live in the present (the “now”) but, analyze the trends in advance by becoming a bird in the Sky, speculating/observing the probable and possible movements/shifts of the future. May be, just may be, such an approach could trigger the silent Samurai spirits in each one of us confrontig the changes in the landscape and proactively mentor our near and dear ones to be mentally and physically prepared. Life truly begins at the end of our comfort zones.
Is India then unconsciously creating a vicious or virtuous future where two distinct classes of peoples are emerging? – One class will epitomize the lumpen ones, totally unmanageable, with high aspirations to make only money at all costs. These peoples will loot, rape, cheat and spend their dubious lives in semi evolved conditions. They will carry guns, bombs and scabbards to “storm the Bastille”, so to speak. The other, resilient and more reticent lot of youthful adventurers, protected by the vigilant Ruling Elite in its own self-interests, will be moving along to adapt and adjust to the changing times, trying to understand the vicarious changes with AI and coming to grips with the salient truth – that our exponential, non-linear growth (AI/brain implants etc) are outpacing our linear growth.
Even as we are being taught to be “good humans”, we must be prepared for many eventualities. The efficacy of Gandhian principles on community behaviour has always been a mystery to me! Leonard Mosley’s “The Last days of the British Raj”[14] describes Gandhi as a Saint but does not fail to consider him a maverick politician either! Which aspect of Gandhi won India’s freedom, I wonder!
In 1947, millions of aspirational youth on both sides of two new nations, were left to the mercy of the communal frenzy and the “Hindu rate of economic growth” model. Our parents somehow got absorbed into livelihood post 1947. India then had no Keynes[15]. But we had our politicians! And in 2020 an emerging newer social contract is becoming critical under AI compulsions.
Millions of employed people currently work MORE on unstructured payrolls than structured. Everyone, from children to adults and senior citizens, use the ‘gig’ (lighter) means of communication and learning – i.e. emails, cloud sharing and video conferencing- asserts this McKinsey article based on its study, research and observations of the ‘invigorated’ Malaysian economy. In India, as in Malaysia and other countries, we need to map the technical feasibility of automation, labor market dynamics, and cost of developing solutions, regulatory changes and social acceptance. But unlike Malaysia and Vietnam, India seems to be withering on issues of introducing Uniform Civil Code, which should have been resolved with foresight after Independence itself. Can political slugfests get priority over national interests? This is a million dollar question on everyone’s lips. Each leader has an axe to grind against all others- it is as if they own India by heredity and the mass of peoples, sans their religion, caste, colour and creed, are cogs in their vicious mechanism, stalling the much necessary alterations for creating a level playing field. Managing a divisive Useless Class is an uneasy truth of our future. It may call for unexpected reprisals. But Malaysians are silently for the now confronting the changes in the nature of work relations.
Asian economies by nature are dependent on labor intensive manufacturing. Manufacturing is in the midst of the cyclical disruption and re-emergence in different forms. Focusing on such dynamic economic issues is a priority. We need create an open economic agenda, not throw ourselves into a bottomless pit.
The article reports: “In 2017, the McKinsey Global Institute found that about half the activities people are paid to do globally, could potentially be automated using technologies that exist today. While very few occupations can be automated entirely, about 60 percent of all occupations have at least 30 percent of constituent activities that can be automated. Importantly, many more jobs will be changed than lost. Less than 5 percent of occupations can be automated in full; rather, we are more likely to see significant changes to the mix of activities that make up a futuristic work day.” This is where innovation matters with re-skilling with an inculcated attitude to better change.
Therefore serious, mindful governance involves engaging in calculations, measurements and mappings to take on the challenges of AI technologies. Like our ISRO Scientists, our economists and support leaders have to be near perfect and spot on. We need to analyze how much time is spent in food processing, machine operations, wholesale/retail, administrative support and government, other manufacturing, paralegal work, accounting, back office transaction, transportation and warehousing etc – involving existing jobs that require regular course of action and procedure (adhered to by order or habit within a predictable environment). The future of work will drastically alter our existing job descriptions.
But just observe the daily newspaper reports of activities these days! Strangely our unrestrained democracy permits by habit obdurate PRIP type mimicry among citizens. Such acts of defiance are fundamentally denied in all other democracies or dictatorships. Other governments are more restrained in defining the rights, duties and obligations of the citizens to the State. They give priority to general revenue improvement programs. The byzantine Indian nation, unlike the Malaysian and Vietnamese, is a multifaceted compounded unit and not at all simple and straightforward at all. Will the advent of AI convolute issues of governance in the years ahead? This is where the conspiracy theory seeps in to make matters more dramatic. Does India have the preparedness to manage a massive national crisis as did China?
The Ruling Elite in this country (and most of its neighbours) are giving lie to the Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles that inter alia enable scaling up of citizens’ awareness and consciousness. None of our Lawyers and members of Judicature pay attention to this fact however. Only Bhutan has invoked the Gross Domestic Happiness measurement of its citizens as topmost achievement priority in South Asia. There has been a general devolution of powers elsewhere. Warlords have emerged; human life has been devalued in a divisive society where the working theme is “Time moves slowly”: and so “Topee Pehnao”!
What calls for urgent introspection in India is the cyclical productivity in its education spending. More and more “Mr. And Ms. Know-Alls who do not know they know nothing” are being cyclically produced under a rote learning system. This hapless system begs the students to cheat and thus avoid better understanding of reality and risk management issues of their future.[16] The needs of this demographic component are unending in wants– smartphones to comfort zones of sensuality not sensitivity, unfortunately. Blaming the present government for all this mess is doing grave disservice to the meaningless “contributions” of our insensible rudderless PRIP leaders since 1947 actually.
But the rise in the number of Senior citizens, however, will thankfully sustain the demand for care-giving hospitality, pharmaceuticals, doctors and nurses into the future. Millions of jobs can be/ are being (?) created with massive energy efficiency technology investments in infrastructure, renewable energy and real estate sectors. Based on the proactive changes, infrastructural jobs could emerge in carpentry, machine operation, engineering and architecture- predicts McKinsey for Malaysia. In fact, with the advent of the new changes in processes, newer jobs hitherto unpredictable will emerge as has happened in the past with the spontaneous or enforced structural changes in European and other economies. For instance, post 1980s, jobs of Systems Administrator, Search Engine optimizer and mobile app designer had emerged that were unimaginable in the decades preceding 1980s.
Construction, education and health sectors shall carry the bulk of this emerging employment diversity. Applying expertise, managing people- interacting with stakeholders and researching upon unpredictable other future jobs that may require many physical activities are futuristic human capital initiatives. Hence the mindsets of the emerging working class or Useless Class need to be nudged and continuously moulded. Do we find such governmental efforts?
So millions of newer jobs can/will emerge but for this the right attitude and fire in the belly are needed. Jobs will shift away from manufacturing into services. The Malaysian youth are being prepared for such scenarios. MNCs there are already working on such “newer” jobs emerging to alter the game plan. How ready is India? How charged up is “Make in India”?
Conclusion-For paradigm change success in India, over and above effective leaders, we may additionally need Integrated Community Behavioural (ICB) Hubs! Such ICBs can be monitored under multi-disciplinary tasks forces which India can muster in plenty. May be the transition from our current unrestrained democracy toward restrained democracy could begin with gradual operational success stories of ICB hubs, where human behavior is democratically mentored on experimental basis? ICBs can enable efficient local/regional developments, modulating college and advanced degrees curriculum with working class skill Upgrdation within a logistically created supply and demand formula.
The history of the world is replete with construction-destruction-and reconstruction. And in 21st Century if we are not spending 8hours each week on learning, unlearning and relearning, we are sure becoming square pegs that will never fit the round holes of future exponential growth and development. Hence psychologically fine-tuning the minds of the peoples with cooperation and general revenue improvement program (GRIPs) orientations are incumbent for successfully managing an AI booted economy. Does our Ruling Elite, cutting across party lines and rhetoric, empathise on this?
Hope speaks eternal in the human breast! So why not truthfully experiment with the ICB Hub type ashram models? Are the current Indian youth prepared to tackle and successfully manage complex information processing issues with creativity and problem solving? Have we invested enough in skill-sets, upgrading our younger citizens for the tomorrow? Are we, like the Ruling Elites of Malaysia and Vietnam, more proactively aware of such needs? Are the Ruling Classes in India (and surely their ‘joyful’ aspirational children) ONLY asking the WRONG QUESTIONS and using the WRONG TOOLS that are NOT enhancing the quality of life and living (and therefore behaviour) toward the common/poorer peoples and the nation -involving their habits, tastes and aspirations[17]? So many questions remain unanswered due to the paucity of well researched documented information!
We need definitive answers because smaller nations in S.E. Asia are obtaining their results with their proactive Ruling Elites taking the lead. We have reached a stage when Authority and Truth have become inseparable to the common man. In fact we have come to a situation when people are slowly moving away from Authority as it lacks Truth. Governance needs confidence building measures and requires enhanced tactical approaches. It is also true that too much freedom in an ambiance of unrestrained democracy since 1947, has been misused by all forms of authority- parents, teachers, professionals, bureaucrats and politicians etc-which has inter-alia resulted in grave consequences for the Indian Republic in 2020. Digital economies cannot rely on nebulous governance. Focus on Growth more than Freedom is needed. Instead of spending more money on our hair and cosmetics, we need to spend more on our brain development.[18] But such focus needs delicate manoeuvrability.
Part II of the article is borrowed from the referred McKinsey article. Societies are emerging in multi-dimensional forms. What matters most is how deeply we can touch others’ lives and alleviate human suffering. Hard facts have to be measured instead of cold and devious self-defeating political plots. Everyone is moving around with hidden agendas. This game must stop- in Parliament and outside. Hidden agendas have already converted 80% of human population psychological wrecks, inflicting self-torture. The balance 20% are being inflicted torture by the psychological wrecks! Psychologists could reverse the ratio. Consciousness, which spark in our Intelligence system, is flickering nervously as human animals bring an end to yet another human civilization. It is reminiscent of the downfall of the Polynesian Civilization in 150 B.C. The Cosmos will sustain itself even if we do not. Should Apocalypse occur, we again return to nothing. Let us then all wait out the final Tsunami of a Future Agony or Ecstasy?
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[1] AI = Artificial Intelligence
[2] Not that we never struggled in earlier centuries. We did. Struggle is part of life. But 18th to 21st centuries struggles are contextual to the Industrial Revolution
[3] Alvin Toffler
[4] 3 Ms= Men, Money and Materials
[5]Ray Kurzweil is one of the world’s leading inventors, thinkers, and futurists, with a twenty-year track record of accurate predictions. Called “the restless genius” by The Wall Street Journal and “the ultimate thinking machine” by Forbes magazine, Kurzweil was selected as one of the top entrepreneurs by Inc. magazine, which described him as the “rightful heir to Thomas Edison.” PBS selected him as one of “sixteen revolutionaries who made America,” along with other inventors of the past two centuries.
[6] I exclude the insane from this bracket because, under present circumstances, theoretically it may be easier to presuppose most of the smartphone and gig technology human race are insane in any case!
[7] P-A-C= Parent Adult Child PSYCHOLOGY MODEL
[8] LPG = Liberalization Privatization Globalization
[9] Written by Et Huei Koh, partner and Nimal Manuel, managing partner, McKinsey Kuala Lumpur office (circulated over email and accessed by me in end February 2020
[10] Sustainability draws on ideas such as: social justice, ecological economics, and environmental conservation: it’s more than the sum of its parts. Sustainability is a way of life — plus a dynamic philosophy. (Jeremy Caradonna PhD: :”Sustainability”(2016)
[11] PERT = Program Evaluation Review Technique
[12] Anvil= an iron block on which smiths hammer metals into shape
[13] Comportment = Behaviour
[14] JAICO BOOKS, 1961 publication
[15] One heard of Nehru’s economic advisor being one Prof. Proshanto Mahalonobis, Founder of Indian Statistical Institute (ISI!)
[16] Indian Express, Calcutta edition of 2nd March 2020 reported o its 2nd page: “IT boom plateauing, admissions dip, many Tamil Nadu engineering college face closure”; “Engineering colleges in TN gasping for life for nearly a decade now”. The article then narrates the vicious self interests of the political class (owners of these Institutes) to manipulate their income through grants of free education to SC/ST students even as the Department of Education reimburses the institutions! Such vicious collaborations among Indian Ruing Elite have been going on for decades at the expense of the nation and its peoples. Would it be fair to label them as tyrants of the peoples?
[17] India’s current man-made impasse over the CAA and NPR/NCR issues is a case in point. Here also there may be hidden agendas!
[18] Scientists like Ray Kurzweil now predict brain implants by end of this decade. We shall be linked to the cloud, like our smartphones and IPADs. Artificial Intelligence will take away the powers of our memories and our Time. AI will not touch our Intelligence however. How shall we behave with one another on such occasions then? Such are the galactic issues to ponder by Homosapiens. The roving Martian is pessimistic!
Prof. Partho S. Sengupta from fringes of Calcutta!
Behavioral Sciences Area/Master – NLP Trainer/Practitioner;
Former Member – Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC);
The writer can be reached at [email protected]
