Disliking Change - part 9

Alwal Tales, A Trip Down Memory Lane - part 9 of 10

Change as we perceive it in these uncertain times has been—I'll be the first to admit—a source of continual resentment. If not in the lives of my friends, then at least in mine, it had been somewhat of a recurring uneasiness as I dreaded being accused of sappy sentimentalism like living in the past, waxing nostalgic, or going through past experiences — having the fulfilled habit of old-fashioned soul-searching retro attitude when talking about past days. I’ve never been able to come out of my innately powerful sense of the past.

Hating change is not an option, but disliking it, maybe, is. It's invariably turned into a paranoid delusion I am reluctant to engage in with this universally experienced problem. However, you must change and move on with the times or remain behind like a buttock! Times are constantly changing.

Our old world does not exist anymore; it's become different; it's changed beyond recognition. If you do not appreciate falling behind in the race to do something the world readily values and enjoys gossiping about, you have little choice but to graciously accept it as a practical way of life. There is no reason to lag behind, it seems.

We live in a constant flux of change — a data-specific, machine-learning AI era of the futuristic digitally-defined unrealistic utopianistic counterculture, embodied by the emergence of a military-industrial, communally exploitative cyberculture world, which I may not enjoy partaking in much, but 100 other people do, goes my tiresomely constant refrain.

Fun fact: Human life is similar to a Limca-type zing thing! It's full of zingy changes, and change will occur whether or not you have chosen to accept it. It's all around us, making it impossible to ward off its rapacious scrawls and doodles. Its inevitability weaved into the very fabric of life itself. So, Limca Limca . . .!

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Talking about "change" makes me feel like a frolicking fool. But I'm going to say what I'm going to say anyway. If the blindsiding "change"—that which is all-pervasive, blinding, never-ending, unavoidable, irrevocable, inevitable, and irreversible—we typically experience in this day and age is difficult enough to adjust to or come to terms with, so be it. Especially the case for those of us who pride ourselves on being called 'pessimistic optimists,' dabbling without a rhyme or reason, or a purpose or a point would be in complete contrast to the less optimistic types from the other side of the so-called economic spectrum to deal with the 21st century age of fanatical capitalism writhing with the ugliest forms of consumerism and materialism, and, of course, the vicious kind of selfishness and egoism that clouds the power of ethical thinking.

(Just saying: Is this a storm in a teacup, or something more serious? No matter the answer, it’s clear that we need to strive for more sustainable ways of living and working. Consider, for instance, climate change and its impact on our daily lives.

If change doesn't occur or develop gradually, it's difficult to bear it. It's tough to deal with when it comes at you fast, with significant consequences, and usually without warning. In all honesty, it's a topic with broad significance if you're interested. Given that, I am not!)

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Well, talking sensibly: I don't resist change. Resisting it is a ridiculous way to live, even futile in the materialistic, self-centred one-way track of life we have come to believe the best way to live and mass produce and pass on the genetic information to the next generation. Because of this, I, like everyone else, try to constantly adjust to its never-ending digital detox (often atrocious!) that, like it or not, periodically supplant the tried-and-tested traditional ways, compelling me to cultivate strategies for carrying out my responsibilities of living as well as I can in a world that has become more dangerous, unjust, a very toxic world. (Yeah, blame the whole thing on the world before acting pious!) Everything is "subject to change," which means that change is inevitable and will happen regardless of your actions, so it does not matter whether or not you fall in line with it. If you are 'living,' you are already under its control: you are subject to change. Rather than criticising the outside world, making the most of the changes that come our way is the key to having a clear conscience. By our good fortune, we embraced change in whatever way was possible.

Nevertheless, even as we daydream of other lonely planets in the universe, our planet Earth, our only home, is being destroyed and pillaged. It is just the same old miserable human intention to take control of everything, to plunder our limited resources and move on to other planets nearby: akin to extra-terrestrial aliens that they show in flick after flick. So, rather than naively embracing change in these truth-challenged times the world is going through, I'd prefer to let bygones be bygones and go extinct. If we need to change, change human behaviour and our ways of living and working. And preserve the Earth. All we've ever needed to do was exactly that. Do I sound preachy? Maybe I do. But the truth, however improbable, remains the truth.

Are we living in the "metaverse" or "multiverse," as it has come to be known? How did we come to believe in such follies, unnatural absurdities, that defy nature? In an era of rapidly evolving technologies, would humans be reduced to fending off coming obsolescence? God, oh God! I shudder to think of what the future holds for us.

(To be continued...)

By Arindam Moulick

For my beloved friends, Armstrong, Satish, and Sunil, who passed away a few years ago