— — -I Agree’ -Promise or Power?
“Everything comes to us that belongs to us if we create the capacity to receive it” (Rabindranath Tagore).
Few years back, I was trying to download an app for buying tickets for railway journey but not able to reach the portal. My young son asked me to give tick sign to denote “I agree’ before doing the same. I asked my son the reason behind and my son stated about empowerment authority. Immediately, I put the tick mark and the browser opened to make my journey accessible. During buying health insurance policies, I never make any mistakes to sign the ‘I agree’ statement now. To install a mobile app in an android is very common practice. Like me, you have the pleasure to go to the play store, download the app (software) and give a positive tick (√) to abide by the terms and conditions endorsed in the app without going through it. Have you purchased insurance policies? Do you go through in detail before being agreed upon? 95% will answer-seldom but not as a whole. Buying reservation tickets in railway or flight is very common one and we do it without going in detail of the terms and conditions of the reservation. In a word, the journey of life needs agreement in every sphere without in depth study. Even in the relationship, the non-documented agreement is there during submission upon the ‘would be’ spouse is a very old age practice since the onset of family and relation concept. Question begets question. My dear readers are thinking why the writer is making this common usual practice in this age of automation even where there is no formal agreement upon the relationship of buyers and sellers. Let us ask me-why? Is it simply the unwritten rule or it is mere our thrust to enjoy it as soon as possible without considering its legal issues and forget about it. Everyone will believe that modernity is a usual simple deal. In a word, “Humans agree to give up meaning in exchange of power”. Simply to me like anybody else, ‘I agree’ denotes the beholder of unprecedented power between the two partners-givers and takers. Gone are the days. In ancient civilizations irrespective of its geography & genealogy, humans believed about the great cosmic plan devised by the omnipotent powers of God or by the eternal laws of nature. Human life and destiny are determined by the unforeseen hands and man is mere actors on the stage and it is echoed by the “the entire world’s a stage, and all the men and women are players” (Shakespeare). In exchange of giving up power, the ancient people believed the meaning of life without any second thought of the cause and consequences dogma. The humans’ psychological protection was ensured despite a lot of inconveniences. Not only that, the natural disasters like drought, flood or epidemics like plague were thought to be believed as a part of the great cosmic plan. The declaration reflected evoked from the mind of millions, I quote, “So even the war, plague and drought will work out for the best-if not here and now, then in the afterlife” It was all before the nineteenth century before the Darwin’s law of natural selection or Spencer’s rule or Malthus law. Pre-modern man agreed upon the cosmic plan without any question irrespective of its occurrence and conjecture. But today, modern culture rejects the belief of the great cosmic plan and do not accept the role of the actors in any larger than life drama. Life is nothing but of the millions of biochemical reactions and the unfolding of the life depends upon the nature versus nurture interactions regulated by a number of visible and invisible factors. There is no script and the humans never believe any role in any great drama, terrible happenings or mishaps and there is no power (Pardon me!) will give us any dependable hands to minimize our sufferings except some consequences. Life flows from birth to destiny, things just happen one after another without any binding script or predetermined role. We can create paradise on earth by managing some technical difficulties derived in this journey.DNA has some scripts of blueprint of life and it manifests in the form of unicellular to multicellular life forms with little bit sufferings if encoded and accelerated by the extrinsic factors. Otherwise, there is no script and humans fulfill no role in any drama. Unwanted sufferings might befall us and there is no ending at all, neither good nor bad. We are constrained not by anything except our ignorance. Plagues, COVID19 or droughts or the severe cloud burst, there is no cosmic meaning apparently. Investment of money in exploring the inquisitiveness to accelerate the technological progress only can bring the elixir of true happiness and the narrow lane of life can be transformed into the super highway of destination. Modern life consists of a constant pursuit of power within a universe. Modern culture enjoys a radiance of invention, discovery and growth. So, I agree in one hand promised us unprecedented power. In exchange of power, the modern deal expects us to give up meaning of the meaning of some intangible benefits like ethics, aesthetics and compassion. The awesome pleasure, beauty and degree of survival are ensured by the acceptance of the deal as endorsed in any software or black and white documents. Nowadays, I never make any mistakes to sign the agreement before installing an app or the transactions of anything in eventful life. I think it is more power but less promise. Do you agree with me?
