Wednesday, June 03, 2015

Addiction & Science Fiction

A zoologist friend was on the train with me some time ago and was explaining the theory of evolution by Charles Darwin. The theory and its numerous variations by other scientists, which is still being debated upon till today, suggests that humans evolved through natural selection - or commonly known as survival of the fittest. Back then, good hunting skills was essential for survival but now as both of us were staring at the other commuters on the train, it would probably be good online skills? The most apt chinese term to describe that scene was "低头族" (which directly translates to "lowered head generation") as almost everyone was peering down, busy on their mobile devices (some on their mobile phones, while others on their tablet devices), seemingly quite detached from their immediate surroundings, engaged in some online world. Just like the way aliens have been depicted in many science fiction novels and movies, my friend postulated that the future generation of humans will evolve such that the head will be bigger than the body (due to more use of the brain and less use of the physical body). Thus perhaps all those alien sightings could be a glimpse into the future or the future human visiting the present which has already past via some time machine? With the way so many of us, especially the future generation, are so addicted to their mobile devices and the online world, who can really tell? Both my friend and I had a good chuckle while having that conversation, as the other commuters on board seemed unaware of us.

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