Human mind is in no way inferior to technology.
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A few months ago, I got a call from my mother at dawn and I indolently picked it up in my bed. She asked the contact number of my school maths teacher. Without any reluctance, I quickly recited the number. She told me to sleep well and I cut the call.
As I came back home after a fortnight, during my usual discussion with my parents, my mother asked how I remembered the phone number. I was a bit perplexed. It was just a usual habit for me and my dad to remember the contact numbers. Post the conversation, I went to bed. As I closed my eyes, many nostalgic events came into my mind.
During my childhood holidays, my father used to keep a one-rupee coin beneath my pillow. As both of my parents were working, they would leave for work earlier and I would get out of my bed only when the sun reached mid-sky. After getting up, I would go to a nearby telephone booth and put the coin and dial my father’s number to inform him that I had woken up. My parents’ mobile number and my grandparents’ landline number were always in my memory. As I grew up, I got many of my friend’s numbers and wrote it in a diary. Every time I would look up the diary and type the number, though it is already saved in contacts, and as a result gradually many of the numbers stuck to my memory.
Whenever I visited my grandparents’ home, I would be amazed with the impeccable mind calculations they used to make. My grandmother never used pen and paper to calculate the household expenditure and the amount due to the milkman. My grandfather, being a pensioner, defies his age and makes accurate calculations of his pension whenever the dearness allowance is revised. They will call me to cross-check the calculations. I will verify it with the calculator in my mobile. To my surprise, it has never gone wrong.
Recently, I wrote an inland letter to my aunt. As I am obliged to fill the address on the envelope, I sought the aid of my father. Without thinking, he swiftly told the address with the pin code. I wondered and asked him how you remember all that stuff? My father said with a smile, he had written letters to her many times and questioned me how he could forget the address?
As I grew up, I noticed a sharp decline in the memory astuteness among the people. Among my friends, except a handful, many don’t even remember their phone numbers. Thanks to the rampant penetration of smartphones. Though it has a myriad of advantages, it is not devoid of cons. Dwindling memory is one such. Even for minor calculations, we have become dependent on our mobile. I can see that when the present generation buys an item, they cannot swifty calculate the balance amount the shopkeeper owes them. It won’t be surprising in the near future if people forget their ATM PIN, passwords, UPI PIN and so on. It is already happening now and may ramp up in the future. If it persists, the cognitive ability of the upcoming generation will be in deep water.
It is time for us to decouple a bit from technology and to revive the glory of the past. Human mind is in no way inferior to technology. It is like a muscle; it expands more as we use it. Neuroplasticity has been gaining currency. Let us give rest to our smartphones and start using our brain on the occasions that we could use it. It is like oiling the machine. Thinking about all these in bed, my mind was fatigued and sleep began to come over me.
rishidevmahadevan@gmail.com
