Angry and Distracted

Sometimes when I think about the masses, I can't help but imagine them as herds of sheep. Nothing wrong in being an ovine, they do contribute a great deal to our lives, but they are not exactly known for their intelligence. Global citizens are so easily amused and distracted. Check out the recent artificial intelligence (AI) feature released by OpenAI — the ability to change any image into Ghibli-fied art. It takes one such novel functionality and that's it! The masses are hooked. Hundreds of idiots, without a care for the artist, Hayao Miyazaki, or copyright issues started sharing their images. Like animals with lesser intellect, have we lost the ability to think?

Touted as one of the many ill-effects of social media, people develop an innate inability to have meaningful interactions with the world or gaining in-depth knowledge and insights. Mindless scrolling, 30 second videos, and unverified content has given a rise to generations of adults who are addicted to their phones and develop world views that are shaped by narratives propounded by mass media. To ponder, argue, reason, and debate are becoming increasingly rare qualities. Our dumbing down is complete.

This lack of intelligence and reasonableness, while growing prevalent all over the world, is stark in India. As an emerging nation and a growing superpower, there is so much more for us to care about than a comedian’s political satire or the ghosts of Mughal emperors past. And yet here we are again — angry, offended, distracted. Of course we must protest — that's our right; but are we losing it over the right things? Look at American daily shows that make a nightly mockery of Donald Trump. In spite of all his crazies and to his credit, Trump is least annoyed by comedians. In India though, we maraud and destroy venues that provide platforms for performing artists. Can't help but also think that all these people who are leading and participating in hate-fuelled drives have no productive jobs.

To add to our chagrin comes out a movie, Chhaava, that reminds us of centuries-old skirmish between 17th century Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb and Maratha king Sambhaji Maharaj. That the film is not entirely accurate, heightens Aurangzeb’s cruelty, selectively showcases Sambhaji’s histrionics, is of no consequence. Sambhaji had allied with Aurangzeb in the past, his army had reportedly unleashed atrocities on Goan people, he had had several Hindu officers killed, many kings, including Aurangzeb, had been torturous oafs, patronising and destroying temples was often more political than religious. But in a vitiated world, displaying facts and balanced accounts serves no petty purpose or political propaganda — no titillation, no TRPs, no Hindu-Muslim divide, and therefore, no distraction.

Our egos are so fragile, our priorities so wrong, our accounts of history so misinformed, that communal violence ensued in Nagpur and we were immediately up in arms threatening to desecrate Aurangzeb’s tomb. Here again, since we digest fallacious details coming in from cinematic bum steer and the notorious WhatsApp university, we forget to research and investigate. That's the power and misuse of mass media. The assumption always has to be that the general populace is too lazy or unlettered to deep dive. In the past, we’d at least respect the experts, today, many so-called experts lack credibility. And in the absence of rationality and presence of political motive to keep the common people diverted from real issues, more and more such incidents of misplaced anger will become par for the course. Few will debunk flawed narratives and populations will genuinely believe erroneous records.

Demolishing buildings doesn't rewrite history — we retain monuments and sites to remind future generations of the cruelty, genocide, despotic behaviour that transpired and the lessons to be learnt and remembered. We are so easily ticked off by non-issues that we are fast losing sight on things that actually matter — a struggling middle class, a decidedly poorer population, an overtaxed business class. Why aren't we vexed at skyrocketing food prices? Water scarcity is emerging as one of the most crucial problems in India. The air? Toxic and unbreathable in several metros. Our forest and tree cover is speedily depleting. But nope, we aren't impatient and irritated by these pressing matters. We are harangued by political and religious banalities — because that's the narrative we’re fed on. We are looking away from the growing disparity between haves and have-nots, even when most are part of the latter. Meanwhile, let's pray that we get enraged by real and not imagined issues, our cinematic creators manage to make at least one impressive biopic, and we, as a nation, develop the right sense of humour.

The writer is an author and media entrepreneur. Views expressed are personal