Intelligentsia

One of the greatest challenges which 21st century has in front of it is finding other colonies of living beings in this vast universe. There have been a few reasons, and theories, to believe that extra-terrestrial life is a possibility. But so far, the greatest of minds have dedicated their entire lives in this conquest, and still nothing worthwhile has been discovered. Humans and machines have scouted vast parts of the unknown space and have found nothing but flying pieces of debris. The scouted area might seem humongous to us, but from a larger perspective we haven’t even covered a spec of sand, in this huge desert of a universe. 

The reasons behind this failure to find another life source can be two:

1. We are the only lucky species to be occupying the only life-capable planet in this whole universe. 

2. We are still not that technically and mentally advanced which enables us to yield positive results from this search. 

I strongly believe that the latter possibility is the actual reason. 

I feel so because of the rising number of dumb people all around me. I am not saying that I am the most intelligent person to be alive in this era. But I am saying that I definitely have an abundance of people with below-average intellect around me. 

People on Social-Media like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube keep proving me right, time and again. 

I am tagged in pictures in which I am not present more often than on pictures in which I am actually there. I am tagged in pictures with ‘good morning’ and ‘good night’ messages. I am tagged in pictures with beautiful scenery as a background and some random shit which is supposed to motivate me towards life scribbled all over it. I am even tagged in pictures which is a selfie of a friend whom I haven’t met in ages. Perhaps, a few of you people do not know why a picture is tagged. Tagging means showing people who are in the picture; not people to whom you want to show the picture. 

Newly married couples keep posting lovey-dovey messages on each other’s walls on Facebook. Mostly, it is done while using your personal Laptop or iPad or Smartphone, while lying right beside your spouse in your bed, in an awkward silence. Today people prefer conveying their love through a public forum on the internet on a website to a person who is sitting eight inches far from you. 

Today, social welfare has gained an all new meaning. Social activism is ‘Liking’ a picture on Facebook which has a caption “1 Like=100 Prayers”. Social work is ‘retweeting’ a message which says “#1RT=100 #Prayers”. Today, before helping a crash victim, taking a video and uploading it on YouTube is more important; because it will bring ‘views’ from people on YouTube. 

People lie to their family members about where they are going and then ‘Check-In’ themselves at places, so the entire unknown world might get to know about it. People are less concerned about the taste of their food compared to its presentation, because they want the pictures of their food on Instagram to look good. 

If this does not prove that our world is becoming dumber with every new generation, I do not know what will convince you about it. We still have time, let us take a space-ship and roam in this universe, to find a smarter race. Or we wait aimlessly, hoping they do not run away after seeing our explicit display of stupidity, if (and when) they find us!

"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." ~Albert Einstein