Technology: The Most Real and Effective Equaliser of Human Beings

If we read human history with care, one of the most powerful forces shaping equality among human beings has been technology. Travel through the past, and inequality appears harsher, more rigid, and more brutal.

The first point I want to make is this: a scientific approach, though developed over time, aligns more closely with human curiosity than mere believing; history, in many ways, reflects this. Technology, as the usable form of scientific knowledge and endeavour, is a human extension and perhaps the most powerful medium of human liberation. Liberation, after all, is about human beings becoming more human.

It is true that technology gives an edge to its discoverers and early users and often remains concentrated for a time. Yet it rarely stays confined. Over time, its usage spreads, adapts, and resists complete monopolisation.

Take mobile phones with all their embedded features. They are among the most powerful instruments of empowerment ever placed in the hands of ordinary people. One only needs to pause and reflect to see this clearly.

One may even think of democratic elections as a kind of social technology, structured methods that make the idea of democracy workable at scale.

The reason for writing this post is that perhaps the most significant technology to enter common use today is artificial intelligence. It has the potential to reduce certain forms of intellectual and creative inequality among human beings by lowering barriers that once seemed immovable. With the help of AI, one can develop ideas into coherent writing, access background without excessive effort, and attempt creative expression such as poetry, art, and more that earlier felt out of reach.

At present, AI may still hallucinate, but with a little discernment, that can be navigated. Even now, it offers valuable ideas and information that might otherwise remain inaccessible.

This could facilitate another surge in democratic participation and expression, though its direction will depend entirely on how it is used.

The key takeaway, however, is this: common people must value science and technology, adopt them with eagerness, and demand more of them. There must be a wider awareness that science is not external to human life but an essential part of being human, and it must be pursued with greater seriousness and energy. This is good not only for the individual, but also for the community, the nation, and humanity at large. At the same time, people must remain conscious of its flipside, and actively think, discuss, and debate how its risks and distortions can be mitigated.

Internationally, the present moment may appear dismal; in reality, it is exposing hidden patterns and long-standing imbalances. It may well be the darker phase that precedes a new dawn. In such a phase, humanity can overcome its imaginative lag and move towards a new world that technology has already begun to foreground.

Niraj Kumar Jha

Why do wars occur?

Why do wars occur?
Human beings bear the duty to seek an answer.

From their primitive life in jungles,
much has changed.
At every stage of evolution,
they were not what they were before.

Sages spoke of peace,
saints sacrificed themselves to bring sanity,
tomes of literature have long upheld
peace and harmony.

Yet wars return,
again and again.

Thousands, hundreds of thousands perish.
Countless others suffer unspeakable agony.
Nuclear blasts have seared entire cities.
Napalm has burned human beings alive.

And yet they are forgotten soon after they occur.
Even when war rages in its full fury,
we do not heed the screams of pain
or the cries of loss.
War games, sovereignty, and economics
remain our chief concerns.

We must ask why people turn aggressive,
what others do
when such designs are in the making.

We must not reduce our answer to reasons alone.
We must ask how we have evolved,
how we see.
what impresses us, and what we fail to see.
how we behave,
what we value, what we cherish.

Have we ever thought of our human self,
or is that the missing link we ignored all along?

Niraj Kumar Jha

Understanding an Unfolding Phenomenon

An unfolding phenomenon, if understood only through externalities such as the name it goes by, the label it carries, or how it is propagated, branded, marketed, supported, or opposed, fails to reveal its real import. Rather, it should be understood by how it actually unfolds, how it affects people within its fold and beyond, how others shape or respond to it in making what it is, the ecosystem in which it operates, and the motives and conduct of its office bearers and followers, both within their particular collective contexts and in their private capacities.

A label is a matter of choice, often serving mere identification; substance, by contrast, consists of real persons in action, processes, or things with tangible consequences. In the case of social phenomena, this substance is also dynamic, manifesting and operating differently across persons and contexts. Here, I am reminded of a doha by Kabir:
रंगी को नारंगी कहे, मूल तत्व को खोय।
चलती को गाड़ी कहे, देख कबीर रोय॥
(Rangi ko narangi kahe, mool tatva ko khoy; chalti ko gaadi kahe, dekh Kabira roy.)

This confusion persists in public discourse as well. In many cases, Indian social science scholarship complicates matters by superimposing ideologically loaded, foreign-origin terms, concepts, and categories onto Indian conditions. These are frequently ill-suited even for description, let alone analysis or theorisation; the use of the term religion for dharma, and concepts such as secularism, communalism, fascism, or the binaries of right and left, are stark examples.

It also demands a self-assessment of one’s own role, whether as a viewer, a participant, or an affected individual.

Niraj Kumar Jha

Earning Humanity

Humanity comes through training. A human being is born as a biological entity, but becoming human requires cultivation; humanity does not simply come to people; it has to be acquired. Humanity is an evolutionary achievement of the species, yet it remains external to individuals as mere biological beings. Every generation must therefore earn its humanity anew, and the human condition at any time depends greatly on the care and quality devoted to education.

People must be trained even in basic capacities: how to see, how to listen, and how to review and process what they gather through their senses. Without training, perception remains elusive, and judgment easily falls into error. The good of humanity rests on how well a society trains itself at any given time.

Humanity must allow its members to be human in a substantive sense. This requires arrangements for a pedagogy that trains people to say neti, neti to deconstruct what they experience and reconstruct it into an intelligible order for their imaginational training project.

This is the lesson of our times: the toxic fumes around us choke not only our nostrils but also our conscience.

Niraj Kumar Jha

Civilisations?

Barbarism could never truly be relegated to the past. It is a travesty of humankind’s evolution that the most barbaric practices have often been refined and dressed up as civilisation. One is left with the lingering suspicion that what we call civilisations are civilised only in name, the term itself masking enduring geographies of barbarity. Century after century, as human knowledge expanded, brutality too became more methodical and efficient.

The great wars of the twentieth century witnessed what was called “carpet bombing,” a cruel euphemism that concealed the agonising deaths of millions. Strangely, the very nations that speak of human rights, environmental protection, gender justice, and free trade now exult in human slaughter.

The conflicts of today are rarely battles between good and evil. In motives and deeds alike, greed, grievances, perverse hedonism, and supremacism are so entangled that truth is pushed out of nearly every sphere of human striving. Through acts of aggression and injustice, the present generation places humanity in grave danger and sows a legacy that will haunt generations to come.

Niraj Kumar Jha

In the Name of Humanity

Natural resources are for the whole of humanity; a nation or corporation acts only as a trustee. To choose to destroy them is an affront to the whole of humanity. The environment, too, is now strained beyond its capacity to sustain human life; wantonly harming it is a serious crime against humanity.

Likewise, the dignity and autonomy of every person represent the dignity of humanity as a whole. Any violation of that dignity diminishes us all. Even an individual does not have the free choice to demean their own humanity. A person who deliberately demeans his or her humanity demeans humanity itself. Such a proclivity should not be acceptable to fellow human beings.

Nowadays, agencies meant to speak for humanity are either defunct or silenced. In such a situation, individual members of humanity must find ways to express their anguish and to contribute to the good of humanity as a whole.

Niraj Kumar Jha

Lost in Information

We are in the age of information glut. It is a downpour from every side. And, frighteningly, we still do not know what is happening to real people in different corners of the world. The information overflow, instead of bringing clarity, creates a fog around us and envelops our consciousness. We are too much absorbed in some particular things and not in most other things, and are also oblivious to the general.

The world is connected seamlessly, but we have lost connectivity, the human connection, and, more disturbingly, we have lost the sense of interconnection. The absurdities of the age are many. When chatbots inform and explain things better than any human being, or even an assembly of scholars, and when that knowledge is easily accessible to anyone, people nevertheless appear dumber and more disoriented. There appears to be a disjointedness in people in what they think, what they speak, and the way they act.

Even seemingly wise people, when confronted with a problem or a question, tend to reason it away as unavoidable or inevitable. Aggression, resistance, and surrender appear indistinguishable. People relay, but they do not relate. Most people prefer to pronounce rather than converse and to denounce rather than engage. I always suspect people, even those with high credentials and standing, whether they mean what they say, whether they know what they articulate, and whether they stand for what they proclaim.

Some people do things without a care, with serious repercussions; the Dunning–Kruger effect appears endemic, while others are mortally afraid of doing even the right things. Information excess numbs the faculty of judgment, and overexposure weakens the agency even of the sagacious; the rest is then left to their baser instincts, which may turn either predatory or submissive.

Queer times. I wish I were alone in experiencing things around me.

Niraj Kumar Jha

A Fair Order: Heed Humanity’s Cries

Nations must reunite to build an order that is fair to all. Order protects; disorder spares none. Even a large and seemingly powerful nation can be reduced to ruin within days. The core of an apparently almighty state may rot from within, consuming both the innocent and the vile.

For this reason, nations must urgently work toward a fair, rules-based international order. The process must begin at home: states should design their own systems around fairness as a primary principle. An autonomous and responsible human individual is the best guarantee of any durable order. Only then will nations be capable of advancing a just and stable global order.

Niraj Kumar Jha

Living Civilization

A civilisation lives through its people. A flourishing civilisation retains its core values, takes pride in the deeds of its ancestors, preserves its legacies in art, literature, culture, and architecture, and continually renews itself with time in order to remain resilient and relevant. At the most basic level, a civilisation requires its people to remain alive to it, to be engaged with its traditions, enthusiastic about its future, and mindful that its inheritance is shared by all. It must cultivate a sense of belonging so that no section of society feels excluded or alienated from the civilizational whole.

History also reminds us that civilisations are not immortal. Many lands that once hosted great civilisations now bear little trace of the values, institutions, or material achievements of their past. Some survive only in fragments, in ruins, texts, and memories, while in other places, tradition and modernity stand at cross purposes rather than working in harmony. Civilisations decline or perish in many ways, through their own follies and internal decay, or by being weakened and sometimes destroyed by external aggressors. Dead civilisations serve as reminders that civilizational continuity cannot be taken for granted.

A true sense of civilisation must reside in every individual, accompanied by a critical awareness of both its strengths and its weaknesses. Blind reverence does not serve the cause of civilizational continuity. Reflection and honest appraisal are essential.

We Indians may take pride in belonging to one of the world’s most ancient living civilisations. Yet pride must be accompanied by vigilance, an awareness of past mistakes and a readiness to respond to the exigencies of changing times. Every generation carries a responsibility toward its civilisation, a duty owed to the ancestors who built it and an obligation to the descendants who will inherit it. Each generation must therefore preserve what is valuable, correct what is flawed, and carry the civilisation forward.

A civilisation may display dazzling grandeur to the observer, but it is also inherently vulnerable. Its survival ultimately depends on the consciousness, effort, and stewardship of its people.

Niraj Kumar Jha

Politics for Folks

Politics affects everyday life, regardless of the level at which it operates: local, regional, national, or international. Therefore, politics at any level, and especially international politics, must be a matter of general concern. The state of international politics has always been anarchic, but the present times appear unprecedented when considered in light of humankind's evolutionary stage.

What emerges from this scenario is that national power becomes critical for a nation’s well-being, security, and territorial integrity. Every nation must therefore have a balancing strategy not only against its immediate rivals but also against the world's most powerful countries. Otherwise, a stronger nation may dictate terms, occupy territory, forcibly extract natural resources, or compel others to pay tribute. Tragically, this remains the reality of the world today.

Among the factors that determine national power, technology is the most critical, with artificial intelligence in particular becoming decisive. Technological superiority has always influenced the outcome of conflicts, and today, with the flick of buttons, a country can overwhelm others through AI and autonomous, automated, intercommunicating machines.

However, something more human and more fundamental lies beneath this: how people live together within a polity. It concerns the quality of collective life and the management of common affairs. When people live in unity and harmony, with a shared sense of purpose, a nation becomes difficult to defeat. This depends on rationality, fairness, and mutual care. It also explains how even smaller nations can possess a strength that appears disproportionate to their geography, resources, and demography.

Niraj Kumar Jha

Soulful Poetry for Humanity

I once wrote a chapter compiling the political ideas contained in Goswami Tulsidas’ rendition of the saga of Shri Ram. Much later, I came to see that any effort to grasp such an epochal song through theory reduces it to what it was never meant to be. A work born of inward surrender cannot be contained within conceptual frames. Humanity needs soulful poetry more than theory, not because theory is without value, but because poetry speaks from a depth where the self does not assert itself. The great souls who immerse themselves in singing the essence of life serve humanity more profoundly than any theoretician, for they do not explain life; they become its voice.

Poetry may also cause irreparable harm unless poets become poetry itself, without any desire for glory or even the inward satisfaction of having created. The way it may be rendered is as it was by the Goswami. His songs flow from his heart as an outpouring of gratitude toward the Creator and of reverence for every being and thing in creation, permeated by unbounded love, without any sense of pride, vanity, or self-assertion. Such poets do not stand above their creation; rather, they sing as human beings in such inward anonymity that no creator remains separate from the song. Only then does poetry elevate rather than intoxicate. When we recite Goswami’s Ramcharit, we immerse ourselves in divinity, discover our own soul in its literary genius, and hear a voice so free of self that it awakens the human within us.

Niraj Kumar Jha

Meaningfulness Conundrum

 Human life seeks meaning or purpose. Yet most human beings are not privileged enough to consciously pursue life as something meaningful. They simply walk on as circumstances shape their paths. This is the first tragedy of human life: too many people do not know what their lives are meant for, how to live with contentment, and, for that, how to live in harmony. They cause pain to themselves and others.

The second tragedy is more serious. The meaning of human life comes from nowhere; it is invented by human beings themselves. Those who enjoy some material advantage often seek meaning in life, but even those who pursue meaningfulness do not understand what meaningfulness actually is. The real problem is to know what meaningfulness means. How do we know that something is meaningful? How do we identify its implications and consequences?

Most people simply do not know, and they are not capable or equipped to know how certain pieces of knowledge came to be recognised as such, how meanings are constructed, and how to examine their consequences. Societies need to identify people who can think deeply, and to listen to them intently, even when they sound absurd or offensive. This knowledge of knowledge, or meaning of meaning, is indeed a very rare and challenging noetic inclination and exercise, as it seeks to extricate almost nonexistent ideas from phenomena deeply entrenched in life and defended by soulless forces.

The fact is that human beings are what they know themselves to be. Much of human suffering could be substantially reduced if people learned how to weave meaning carefully, to avoid false meanings that masquerade as genuine ones and cause profound trouble.

Yet communities must guard against people who, in pursuit of the knowledge of knowledge or meaning of meaning, get overwhelmed by the absolute darkness of meaninglessness, upon which float only tiny vessels of constructed meanings, and speak and speak as if possessed by it. The philosophically inclined ones must also save themselves from being sucked into meaninglessness.

Niraj Kumar Jha