Controlling or controlled
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Are we controlling or controlled by those small staffs that we have bought using our money? Can you guess what I am talking about? It is the gadgets or the electronic staffs we use in our daily life. Cell phone, laptop, mp3/4, digital watch (with several features), camera, gaming machines (either portable or stand alone) and many other gadgets I am talking about. Look around you, how many you have? One, I am sure because you are reading this article using either a laptop or a desktop and I am sure the number is going to be increased to two, because I know you have a cell phone. What else you have? May be an mp3 or mp4, may be a camera or may be all that I have listed above. You having it is not a problem but are you using those excessively? That is the problem.
Nowadays, mostly for the young generation, they wake up with a gadget and fall asleep with a gadget. For example we can think about a typical urban university boy. May be a cell phone alarm or a high featured mp3/4 alarm let him know it is time to wake up. Then using his laptop or cell phone or iPod he is reading the news updates and emails. After that a surfing on the net or chatting with friends, or watching movie or playing game or listening music or taking photos or watching TV. All these require gadget and all these have enough variety to keep a young boy stick to the gadget/s. Is it good or bad?
The parents may feel happy that these days his or her son or daughter is less outgoing and more staying at home. But what are they doing at home? Are they doing something creative? Are they learning something good? Are they following their own schedule? Or is the schedule they are following made for the gadgets? How many of the urban kids are trying to be a sports hero in reality rather than in their machine? How much time of a day is a student spending talking over cell phone? Look around you and think about it. You will feel shocked when you see the real statistics.
There are many real life stories around us that would give the debate a better motion. For example, people may argue that this article has been written using a gadget (laptop), some may add that without a gadget we would not live a smooth life as it provides better features to life. These are good points, but the focus is not the invention nor the gadget, but the way we are using and how much time we are spending on these. There are many who save their money to buy a new model of cell phone, there are many who never try to play a real life outdoor game, there are many who don't eat or sleep at time as they are busy with their gadgets.
Gadgets are taking the place of fashion, creating new culture, curving the graph of life more towards a center point where technology lying alone. People are becoming more obsessed and passionate about the technology and thriving for better feature every time. The economic boom depending on these technology and gadgets may give a society an economic motion, but for a stable society we have to have better standard and social rules.
There are both good and bad aspects of everything around us. But it is ourselves that who have to decide and get the good or positive part. Sometimes when we cannot choose or fail to decide, then it is the duty of our family or friends or peers to let us know and drag us. But if the society starts behaving same and tries to grasp the bad part, then it is difficult for us to change the behavior or attitude. It is good that we are far away from the time when everybody around us becomes addicted to gadget. It is an alarming time for us to know that we are going too far too quickly. We have to know how much attention or time of our life the gadgets require and how many gadgets are required to live a happy and healthy life. Gadgets are for human being, we should use it but surely within a frame, if the frame is broken we will not remain the owner of those small staffs, rather those will own us.
The author is a Phd student from Bangladesh. He is studying Enterprise Management at Wuhan University in central China.
