Ponmala
The uprising of youths that toppled governments in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal have been categorised as Gen Z revolutions. Those born between 1997 to 2010 are called Gen Z. They grew up with the internet, social media and smart phones, developing digital fluency. Then we have Gen Alpha who were born between 2010 to 2024. They live in a world of portable technology and streaming services. Finally, we have Gen Beta who are born between 2025 and 2039. They will have deeper integration of AI and automation in their lives. All these three could be commonly called New Gen. They are all children of the age of information technology revolution. What then about the older generations? For convenience sake we shall call them Old Gen, a dismissive term that is already in vogue among the New Gen.
“The disparity that exists between the New Gen and the Old Gen in their lifestyle, their aspirations, their perceptions, their moral convictions, their social attitudes, their perspectives, their priorities, their social interactions etc are too deep seated to be categorised as just ‘generation gap’.”
The disparity that exists between the New Gen and the Old Gen in their lifestyle, their aspirations, their perceptions, their moral convictions, their social attitudes, their perspectives, their priorities, their social interactions etc are too deep seated to be categorised as just ‘generation gap’. To my mind, they represent a chasm that separates one species of humans from another. There was a period when we, Homo Sapiens is believed to have appeared in East Africa some 250,000 years to 300,000 years ago. As they travelled from Africa to different parts of the globe, they intermingled with several other human species like Neanderthals and Denisovans in Eurasia, Homo Erectus in Asia, Homo Floresiensis in Indonesia, and Homo Naledi in South Africa. They lit fire, made tools and even some basic constructions. Through interbreeding, Homo Sapiens has inherited 2 to 4 percentage of their DNA.
Academically speaking, some of the major characteristics that make Homo Sapiens stand out from the rest of the human species are bipedalism, large brains that are capable of complex cognition, sophisticated communication and language, advanced tool use, cultural adaptability, the formation of complex societies and art, and creative imagination. A couple of characteristics that make Homo Sapiens a superior species from the rest do not find a mention in this list. They are the rational capacity to distinguish between right and wrong and the free will to choose between the two. The bible says: “He (God) said to him (Adam), ‘You may eat the fruit of any tree in the garden, except the tree that gives the knowledge of what is good and what is bad.’ Then God left the scene.
“The dominance it has established in the all-pervading information ecosystem has made it as good as impossible for us to distinguish the real from the fake, right from wrong.”
God did not put any restriction on Adam and Eve in exercising their free will by placing angels to guard tree lest they should pluck and eat its fruits. Adam and Eve exercised their free will and ate the forbidden fruit. But “As soon as they had eaten it, they were given understanding and realized that they were naked.” Which makes it quite evident that, that moment when they ate the forbidden fruit marks the birth of Homo Sapiens – a human species that is in its essence a moral being, who is capable of distinguishing between right and wrong and enjoys the free will to choose between the two – the only human species that has a rational conscience which holds him accountable for his actions and negligence.
In the evolutionary process, a similar paradigm shift that separated Homo Sapiens from the rest of the human species is happening now, giving birth to a new species that I would prefer to call Homo Omega. Our brain is so complex that we know only 10% of its working. Which means we still are 90% ignorant of what the brain does. Recent studies suggest that our brains are shrinking. During the past 20,000 years our brains have lost 10 percentage of their volume. Could this be a sign of devolution (reversing of evolution)? This shrinking of the brain can be attributed to changes in our environment and lifestyle: As we rely more on technology and live in highly structured societies, by adapting to them our brains may be becoming more efficient. What does this mean for our future? Will brains continue to shrink? Or is this part of a larger evolutionary process?… Or a devolutionary process? “The old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born. Now is the time of monsters,” said, Antonio Gramsci, a founding member of the Italian Communist Party. In its original meaning, a monster is a creature that has the head of a hyena and hindquarters of a wolf. But metaphorically, it can also mean anything that represents a weird combination of two or more things.
“God alone knows if Homo Sapiens will also go extinct after the ‘monstrous’ Homo Omega emerges in all its might.”
New Gen (Homo Omega) is a kind of monster. While Homo Sapiens relies entirely on its biological brain, Homo Omega relies increasingly on Artificial intelligence, which is its own creation. In other words, Homo Omega is a monster that has two brains working for it, a biological brain that belongs to it and an fabricated brain which not only offers greater quality and productivity but also threatens to replace it in many areas. Besides, all creative activities, whether in the field of research or of arts, are becoming a combined effort of multiple human brains and Artificial Intelligence. According to Friedrich Nietzsche, the ultimate goal of humanity is the emergence of a new homo species that he called the ‘Superman’, a self-mastered, creative individual who creates his own values rather than follow conventional “herd morality”. He has been proven wrong: The herd has replaced the individual and Artificial Intelligence has cast a shadow on morality. The dominance it has established in the all-pervading information ecosystem has made it as good as impossible for us to distinguish the real from the fake, right from wrong. The day when AI will have overpowered and subjugated the human brain may not be too far off. Mankind is racing back to the time before Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit and acquired the knowledge of what is good and what is bad. All other existing human species went extinct after the emergence of Homo Sapiens. God alone knows if Homo Sapiens will also go extinct after the ‘monstrous’ Homo Omega emerges in all its might.
