Smarter than a Dumb Human

-:VB:-


This post is exactly about what it sounds like. Mobile phones... or should I say "smart phones".
Gone are the days of the wired phones my friends (except the developing countries). Everything's pretty much wireless these days.

Almost everyone has a cell phone, call rates are affordable - thanks to the competitive companies, high speed bandwidths are accessible, and what not. For some, it is a medium of communication, for some it is about their social networking and for some it is all about work.

Since the QWERTY keypads and the flip phones, whooda thunk that there'd be touch screen tech out there as well. Today, we are surrounded by such phones and gadgets that have made things easier for us.
This leads us to the concept of 'Smart phones'

Let's just think back for a moment.
Now everyone out there was sooo excited about the new iphone 5S coming out, but people did not have a clue what was different from the previous versions. They only wanted and iphone, regardless of the hardware they are getting.

So, in a smart phone, the hardware is the real deal, as well as the software.
But, to many, it doesn't matter coz all they wanna do is brag around everyone with their branded phones and swish it around saying "I got a smart phone, I got a smart phone, nya nya nya nya na...." and all that crap.
Oooh look at me, I got an iphone!
I own a smart phone!

Many don't even know the meaning of these words.
"Smart phones"?
Seriously? Couldn't they have come up with something... say... smarter? Many wonder why they are called so.
The wikipedia definition is:
A smartphone (or smart phone) is a mobile phone with more advanced computing capability and connectivity than basic feature phones.

Smart phones are meant to make your job easier, as they are mini-me versions of computers, their fast racing quad cores, octa cores, gbs of data storage, bandwidths and RAM, many gigahertz speeds scenario makes up today's digital age.They are made to works as computers without being one, at affordable prices, with mobility and calling factors at their behest.

And what do people do with them?
--They play 'Candy Crush', 'Flappy Bird', 'Subway surfer' and what not! What the hell!
Why didn't you buy a PSP for god's sake? That would've been cheaper and better, than spending thousands for some functions you don't even know exist in your phone.

--If you  wanna spend bucks for only Talking or texting, and not using other functions, why not buy a keypad phone for a couple of hundred bucks?

But the fact stands that people don't know how to use a smartphone. Many don't even have what they want to buy, and why they want to buy it.
They buy a high end smartphone, and what do they do with it? Play flash games, text and call, the usual stuff. But shouldn't they be using the other functions which made the phone cost so much? Like the documents viewers, and the readers, and the editing supports, the ram-crunching business apps... and what not!

Today we have phones that are not only a piece of technology, but every piece is a masterpiece in itself. every bit of technology is a revolution. Be it from something as small as a flash drive, right up to a music player.
This is an age of smart phones.

What I want to say is - Phones are becoming smarter and people are becoming dumber with every passing day.
Look at yourself today.
Do you remember a single number from your phone directory?
Do you even know your own phone number?
When was the last time you even read a physical book. I mean literally held it in hands?
Or read a newspaper for that matter?
When was the last time you actually wrote to someone?
When was the last time you pressed a button on a phone or dialed a number?
When did you last go through lots of books and magazines and newspaper articles for your projects for hours just to get a pic, or a clipping or a report?

I know. It is tough to answer.
With smartphones, all these questions sound weird, and why not coz we never think about them, about how much easier our lives are today.

We've got apps for so many things.
Don't know a song? App for it.
Shopping? App for it.
Recipes for cooking? App for it as well.
Learning? App for it too.
News, music, videos, live feeds, games and what not. Everything is at our fingertips... literally.

As a matter of fact, phones are much smarter than us now. We share all our intimate secrets online, on chat windows, on our profile pages, on social networking sites, personal info about our lives, etc.

Our phone holds all of our accounts, and we are logged into each one all the time. Our banking info, our email i.d., our passwords, our pics... and the latest....  Biometrics!
It even tracks where we are, where we were, where we are going, where we are headed, the elevations, what we are eating, how much we walked, our heartbeats, and what not.
Our pics, videos, and the geological tags, auto recognition, face recognition, auto login features, voice recordings, your chat histories, browsing history, which direction your phone is in, how fast are you traveling, etc. etc.
Our mobile backups and data stored online across multiple websites - all in one place.
Search engines like Google even auto-suggest what you are trying to find based on your search history.
Some people can't even calculate properly. And there are apps for that as well - Basic calculators and Scientific calculators.
Anyone heard of Abacus? Well, there's an app for that too.
 Now  tell me a single person capable of doing all this. Let alone the games and other features.

None!
So correct me if I am wrong in saying that Phones are becoming smarter and humans are becoming dumber.

Don't tell me that it is humans who made the phones, coz it wasn't all of us. It was those few who learnt to use their brains in the correct manner and gain from it. They all know their work by heart. How much do we all even remember what we have learned?

It is now up to the existing humans to take a step ahead from this towards making us brighter and smarter... not dumber. We don't want apps and machines to correct us someday do we?

Meanwhile in some parts of the world, wars are raging, battles are going on, people being killed, the ecology being threatened....
And what do we do? Comment, share, like? That's it?
Take a step to improve this world. To improve your life and others around you. You have a device capable of saving thousands or even millions of lives, capable of making you heard.

Humans will never be dumb. We can never be. Even a lunatic has a basic understanding of this world.
I simply hope we don't turn out to be idiots by the turn of this century.
Maybe we will be smarter than our phones someday....

Thanks for reading, and I would appreciate your inputs in the comments section below...

History forgets the blood

-:VB:-

I really get thinking when I listen to this quote:
"History remembers the battle, but forgets the blood"

 How true it is, is no surprise at all. What do we all remember from whatsoever we have learnt from history?
- Of course - the battles, the wars, the rebellions and everything else, except for the blood that was spilt just so that all of us could breathe free today.

I'm not saying you never thought of those who are no longer amongst us. I think they are not given any credit for this.

According to me, War or a Battle or whatever - Is not the fight of each and every being. It has always been about one person. It has always been about who is superior! It is all about showing your strength. These so called leaders led their own countries to their own demise.

All those soldiers who left their lives only to serve death, to be punished, to fight for a cause they thought was for the sake of humanity - all of them are lost somewhere in this world. Numerous lives and sacrifices - all in the name of a country - now lost in the pages of history. How many people do you think have given their lives for their country? Millions and billions perhaps? Are all of them remembered? Are any of them remembered?

Then who are remembered?
- I'll tell you.
Their leaders! It's true. Pick up any page from history. Everyone knows the leaders who fought for their country, who led people on a right path, who changed the course of history - and rightfully so... they deserve it. These leaders showed the right path, were a perfect example, ideals for the society
But are their followers remembered? Are all those soldiers, or disciples, or the fellow members remembered?
No!
Why is it so?

I believe that: A follower  makes someone a leader!

Does the life of a living and breathing human mean nothing at all?
It's just that everyone wants to forget it... like all of it never happened!
Hasn't humanity stooped low enough already, that we don't even bother to remember the victims?

For example, when a certain Harbour was attacked. No debates here, but the opposite country did reply with two A-bombs.
There could have been a solution to all of this instead of cremating entire cities to flaunt your strength! One could have been the saint! One of them could have behaved like a MATURE ADULT. But, both turned out to be the opposite.
Their greed and hunger for power drove them insane to a point where they literally obliterated the world.

All those innocents, on both sides lost to a cause that they were not supposed to be a part of. they were just ordinary people not giving a damn about this power-sucking-egoistic world.
There are soldiers to fight wars - in case you didn't know!

Instead of sitting like cowards in your comfort zones and controlling a fleet of planes, or dropping a bomb - is that how you want history to remember you?

I am toooo feeble of a person to understand the vastness that these events hold! But those whom we have selected are at the top for a purpose - to make the right decisions, to do what is rightful. Not go bananas and let your ego get the better of you.

Now if there is terrorist attack, does the world know whose lives were lost? Who were those innocent bystanders or civilians, or tourists? Does anyone remember their names or where they were from?
No one does. It's all in your head for a couple of days.

But - Who did it? Who was the terrorist? What was his organization? Where did he come from?
You know his entire life like the back of your hands. .
Why? Because the attack is much more dramatic to us, than a bunch of people losing their lives.

Tomorrow even if one of us dies... suppose we are among a handful of people attacked, no one will ever remember us! But the attacker will become an icon and his name will echo through the planet and through the afterlife as well.

We know all the wars that have ever been fought for our countries or for the sake of humanity or against evil doers. How many memorials or sites do you know that respect or honour the ones lost for these causes? For the ones who gave up their souls fighting? For those who were not a part of it, just people like us? There are hardly a few of such places where the blood is remembered than the battle.

Today when we look back at our history lessons - We are all ashamed at what had happened then. We feel if there was a way we could have stopped it. But instead the world is not ready to look back into the past. Nobody wants to learn from these so called "historic" events.

We all know about the school shootings that happened, the serial killers and their nicknames,  the terrorist attacks, etc. But no one knows about the good soldiers who just died so that you could have a bloody peaceful sleep. How many of us remember any of those people who were innocently killed? None of us do! I mean what in blazes is wrong with this planet?

Not only now, but even in the near future, it was, is and will be the same. Everyone will remember the battles, but no one will remember the blood.
The sacrificed will be the forgotten, the sacrificer will just be another lost name, the martyrs will be the unknowns and the innocents will be just another brick in the wall.

We don't know $hit to be frank! We only believe what history tells us.
And what history has to tell us is a real downer.

It is sad to go through all of this. Even in this age, we are facing countries that are at war, other countries trying to cash in for benefits, some trying to flame the fire for their needs, and what not. Why? Who is going to remember any of you? Only the ones holding your puppet-strings will ever be remembered.

We all will be forgotten. All that will ever be remembered are these battles!


Thanks for reading, and I would appreciate your inputs in the comments section below...