Out of Africa

There is a kind of grandeur about Africa, whether it is the magnificent landscape, the spectacular display of their vibrant and diverse culture and people, or the long standing connection to a way of life that has been long lost in western civilization. Much like my travel to China couple of summers ago, I was once again shocked by how much tasks people here are able to accomplish with simple tools. Or on the flip side, how much we have come to depend on the help of electronics. Will we, in western civilization, parish if all electronics suddenly fails (much like the Y2K scare)? Or would we find our way back to the way people live here, where the achievability of a task is depended much on manpower rather than the artificially inflated capabilities of electronic tools? It makes me wonder if the rapid advancement in technology has spoiled our ability to perform monumental tasks, like that of the great walls, the pyramids, and other stunning example of timeless monuments, with the bare hands we are given and the simple tool we build? Furthermore, in my frustration with the Internet’s speed, I realized living in the city had me completely subscribed to the era of lightning-fast accessibility as oppose to taking my good old time to actually live life. I think while electronics have brought a lot more comfort and convenience to our lives, the seemingly incomparable consequence of dependency are too often being ignored and forgotten. This is quite an alarming thought in this world, where shortage of resources, especially energy, is becoming more menacing to our common future.