I am re-reading Dune books by Frank Herbert. They are a must for any fantasy fan worth her salt. Like a true work of art – every time you read them, you see a different angle. In the book, there is a group of people called Fremen who thrive in the desert. They have stillsuits that recycle the moisture in the body and keep them alive without an external water source. They learn to survive on the bare minimum. And when the messiah comes – it all changes. They get more amenities which make life a lot easier, but also, with the advancement comes a new breed of Fremen which did not exist before – Fat and Greedy Fremen.

We just had a visitor at our home, and the conversation meandered towards reminiscing the old days and relationships. In the old days in India, the joint family was the primary way of living – and at that time, people had loads of kids. With any communal living, there comes a need for acceptance, surrender and compromise because the conditions are such that you have to make do – common toilets, noise, adjusting with different personalities. And when you are born as a baby into a joint family, you do not know any other. When you grow up – letting go and compromise are strongly developed muscles key to a successful relationship. And now that majority of the people live in a nuclear family – those muscles are not that strong. Hence, it is easier for people to leave relationships than to compromise and stick with them when you have had the luxury of having things go your way most of the time; why will you share that with another person.

With both situations mentioned above, humans are evolving towards an advanced society with more technology and luxury. But the question is, are we evolving as humans, or are we regressing? We may have the latest technology, gadget and more power at our fingertips than ever before but have we developed fundamentally? If you are still thinking about whether the answer is Yes or No – please look at human history. Our world history is the perfect example of a world repeating its mistakes and never learning from them. The mistakes we are making are just getting more sophisticated.

I am not suggesting that we should stop all technological advancements and revert to the Stone Age. All I am doing is asking the question if humans have also advanced at the same rate? We are moving towards a world where everything can be in our control, leaving us with lots of free time which we do not know how to use.

And this means that the majority of the people grow up in a world where they do not want to depend on other people because it is uncomfortable. Whether we realize it or not, we are all interdependent. And unless we get comfortable with the uncomfortableness, there is no true evolving. We would rather text than call. We would rather shop online than speak to a person in a shop. It is easier to find out where our spouse/kid is through the GPS app than talking to them. Living on social media has become an authentic life – an avatar for your actual image.

In this move towards a better-advanced society, let’s ensure that we do not lose our humanity.

How are you keeping your humanity alive?