As a developing civilization we are bound to come across obstacles in our progress. In our modern life we like to think these obstacles are external factors like religion, politics and economics. A little insightful thinking however will tell you that we are the biggest obstacle in our own progress. We’ve created an environment that is not conducive to our own well being. With each passing day we invent more gadgets which will in the near foreseeable future, rob us of our well being.
About a hundred years ago, an illness was usually the effect of a strain of bacteria or virus that had evolved into something our bodies disagreed with. The beginning of the 20th century saw diseases like the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918, Diphtheria which had about 10% mortality rate and Small pox which was estimated to have killed about 300 million people worldwide. Today however not only do we have to worry about new-age diseases like AIDS and SARS but also global warming and pollution which are only the after effects of our negligence. Scientists have estimated that the lungs of a city dweller have a much higher risk of developing late-stage cancer than those living in rural areas. Wasn’t that already known? I mean take for example the most populated city in the world right now: Mumbai. It is estimated that 2800 premature deaths can be traced back to air pollution alone.
Let us take a look at our technology now. Most of us have jobs that require us to sit in front of our screens while out fingers perform short repetitive actions that have more long term implications than people know about. Excessive use of a keyboard causes Repetitive strain injury (RSI) and Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) while using your mobile phone or a new generation PDA devices like the Blackberry causes Blackberry Thumb which all take weeks and sometimes months to recover from. We’ve now more addicted to music then ever before, so we’ve gone about inventing devices like the Ipod which insures “music on the run”. We’re immersed in either entertainment or work the entire day and nearly all of our activities involve the use of potentially dangerous devices. We now work longer days and 8 to 9 hour sleep durations seem like a myth to most people. As a result of our reliance on these inventions, we never really do rest until we’re tired or asleep. Hold on, now we’ve got something called “Sleep Tapes”. Yes, tapes you listen to while your body is supposedly resting. There’s a reason we shut our eyes while we’re asleep, it’s called mental rest!
And as we watch the next generation being raised by the television and the X-box, we look at our present generation mentally burn out by the time they’re 30. With stress and high pressure becoming a part of everyone’s day to day life, the term mid life crisis is now outdated. Welcome quarter life crisis.
