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Posts Tagged Knowledge

MAN AND MACHINE

Inayet ullah

MAN AND MACHINE

“Read in the Name of thy Lord Who created. Created man from a clinging clot. Read, And your
Lord is the most generous. Who taught man by the pen? Taught man what he knew not. Most
certainly, one exceeds all bounds. Once they think they are self-sufficient” (Quran: Sura
“Al-Alaq” verses 1 to 7.
The message is that whatever knowledge we have is given by God and we should be thankful
to Him for this and use it wisely for our good and welfare. But excess of everything is bad. When
we exceed the bounds, the problems and miseries start.

Man and Machine


Something happened at the end of the twentieth century: the invention of the computer, followed by the
Internet and online technologies which brought great facilities and conveniences in our lives.
However, modern technology, aiming at automation, is causing dual harm to us: (1)
Economic i.e. causing widespread unemployment, (2) Social and moral degeneration.
The disastrous part of present-day technology is online technology.
Online shopping has caused the closure of malls which has already rendered thousands of
employees out of jobs. The introduction of auto-driving vehicles is going to throw thousands of
“drivers” out of job. More similar organizations are likely to face unemployment situations in
future.
The adverse effect of online technology began when we started using it in our social activities.
Before the invention of computers and technology, we had to wake up early morning, get ready,
properly dress up, move hurriedly and drive to reach our workplace on time. The same was the
case for attending classes in our schools and colleges. This brought us an opportunity to meet
the people, exchange greetings, socialise, participate and work together – a lifelike atmosphere.
Now, you need not bother to do these things You can now stay at home and get everything done
online.
You can do shopping online, do your job work online, see a doctor online, have education
online, marry online, and divorce online. I hope they do not start doing namaz and perform haj
online.
The future generation will be missing the taste of happiness, fun and joy which their
predecessors enjoyed performing and accomplishing a task with their own talent and
efforts.
Technology is the name of the disuse of the mind. Automation and convenience are too much with us,
so much so that we have reached a stage where we cannot move a step further without the
crutches of technology. Today we look like a mindless slave of machines.

We are heading to a time when there will be a human society of modern technology without
human factor.
What will we be left with if we remove moral and human factors from our lives? Juda ho deen
siyasat se to rehjaati hai changezi.
AI (Artificial Intelligence). This technology is already being used for different purposes. Shortly,
whenever we would hear anyone speak or sing or watch him in a video, we would be wondering
what to perceive: take something as real or fake as a result of artificial intelligence.
AI is still in the early stages of its application and usage, nevertheless, at present, it will not be out
of place to quote the following:
Following an interview with Geoffrey Hinter, known to be the godfather of AI, on BBC sometime
back, it quoted as follows:” AI godfather quits Google over dangers of Artificial Intelligence”
“The godfather of AI Geoffrey Hinter warns of the existential threat of AI – Amanpour and
Company”.
“The godfather of AI warns about the risks of AI – BNN Bloomberg”.
“The godfather of AI warns that AI may figure out how to kill people – CNN”.
The disastrous influence of modern technology on our lives is the unrestricted reliance and
preference on machines over human factors, exceeding all bounds in our efforts.
The process of employment of modern technology, eliminating the human factor, is a process of
de-humanisation..
The present-day world is desperate and in dire need of a movement to restrain and restrict the
sneaking “technology” into our lives.
Rakhyo Ghalib mujhe is talkh navai say maaf
Aaj kuchh dard maray dil mein seva hota hai
Ye daur apne Ibraheem ki talash mein hai
Sanam kada hai jahan La Ilaha Il-Allah.

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Pointers / Muhammad Tariq Ghazi : Erudite and Ignorant

Pointers / Muhammad Tariq Ghazi

Erudite and Ignorant

A page from an under-pen book on civilizations

 

Civilization, or culture if you wish, emerges out of knowledge. It is the quality of knowledge that decides weight of civilization/culture –its demerits and merits, its rise and fall, its chances of survival and demise. Stable and timeless knowledge raises a strong and universally beneficial civilization; transient and unhinged matter-based knowledge produces a dusky, oppressive and fleeting civilization. Purpose of this (under-pen) book is to explain this statement.

         A simple human condition to understand which one need not be Plato is that, for example, human dwellings exist in African rainforests and deserts, ravines of central Indian urlhills and northeastern ranges, east European rural settlements, ice-covered swathes of northern Canada, yet these communities do not appear on world civilizational records of the past or news of the day. These peoples have dress codes, cook and relish food, build houses, have ceremonies for birth, marriage and death. Nevertheless, these societies are devoid of creative ability and inventive skill; they do not have strong natural urge or social arrangement to develop those qualities. They live on instincts and ephemeral experiences which are their guide in life.

         However, a civilization does not develop on the basis of life’s mundane experiences. Conurbia is not a product of people having familiarity with ebb and flow of life. Instinct itself does not strike wonders without abiding by laws of nature. Chengiz and Hulagu, Hajjaj and Saffah, are not noted for contributing to civilization and culture. Abbasi Harun and Mamun and Mu‘tasim of Baghdad, Umawis and Ahmaris and Berbers of Andalus, Seljuki and Ottoman Turks of Persia, Anatolia and Eastern Europe, Mughals of Uzbekistan and Transoxania and India, emerged as architects of high levels of civilization which however are hardly the standard for their modern counterparts and in the newer world. All those human groups were guided by the Quraysh and Ansar of the seventh and eight centuries who had laid foundation of The Civilization that became model for future nations.

         These examples confirm that civilization is not defined by sky-kissing towers, sprawling palaces, delicate or demonic machines, wealthy but eternally hungry economies, savage wars and weapons that burn and evaporate millions of people in just a few moments. Civilization and culture is an ethereal rather than material statement, a character. Buildings, gadgets, implements, material comforts, civic amenities are not civilization per se, but only the expression of workman’s quality of knowledge which proves man to be a species primarily concerned with the welfare of fellow human beings. Edifices, machines, tool and appliances, means of comfort and comfort itself, are labels of man’s artistic talent which, inter alia, decide the nature of a people’s civilization. However, since those who know do not equal to those who do not know (The Qur’an Az-Zumar/The Troops 39:9), one can find a sky of a difference between the demeanor of civilized and uncivilized, cultured and coarse societies.

         So knowledge or its absence differentiates one community from other. This simple truth was candidly declared in The Qur’an: “And He taught Adam all the names” (The Qur’an Al-Baqarah/The Cow 2:31), thus asserting that the honor of First Human Being – Adam – was his knowledge which is inherited as an innate merit by all his progeny ever to come and that because of that merit man deserved superiority over all other creations.

         This is a significant statement because no other book or philosopher ever said it so succinctly – in just five Arabic words. Unfortunately, man divinely honored thus, failed to realize his own status in Universe and on Earth to begin with. Modern men, including Muslims, believe that man is just another animate species, having no distinction over other species. Charles Darwin could have derived his theory of evolution from misquotes of the Bible. Critical interpreters of the Bible like Robert Jamieson (1829-1878), Andrew R Fausset (1821-1910) and David Brown (1803-1897) said in their Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible / 1871 that The Torah does not have a direct mention of knowledge as man’s distinction but it is talked about in biblical interpretations. The commentators are unable or avoid to disclose the source of that explanation, because The Bible says that Adam and Eve were specifically forbidden from tasting fruit of the Tree of Knowledge (Genesis 2:8, 3:5). The tree whose fruit would make man sinful – vide doctrine of Original Sin – could not add to his honor and reputation. It is intriguing how can it be described as a human merit even in interpretation. This may be the reason why education is more fun than quest for knowledge in the west.

The Qur’an declared knowledge as man’s greatest merit that the angels had prostrated to Adam just because he was knowledgeable and they were not. In this setting if knowledge is not accepted as his exclusive honor all human civilizational endeavors and his scholarship, intellectual finesse, creative and inventive contribution suddenly becomes illogical. From materialist standpoint this theory establishes that man can achieve all that he did over several millennia without the merit and knowledge, just by being one of the many other animate species.

         Now, if being animal-like is enough for achieving civilizational and cultural perfection, then forget wolves, hyenas, vultures, turtles, crocodiles, and mice, and think about noble animals like lions, cows, lambs, falcons and doves who too could not create wonders like ziggurat of Ur/Iraq, pyramids of Egypt and Mexico, Colosseum Amphitheater of Rome, Taj Mahal of India, cities like London and Tokyo, edifices like Empire State Building of New York, plane like jumbo jet, rockets like Saturn and space shuttle; and wasn’t knowledge required in concept, draft and construct of these wonders which man possessed, other species didn’t.

 

012 Pointers / Sunday 30 November 2014


 

Articles in this series are also published by e-newspaper The Caravan Daily of the world renowned journalist Aijaz Zaka Syed and the Canadian Dream edited by Asma Khan.

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