Moving according to predetermined rules and completing tasks emotionlessly and silently. Even if the weight exceeds by just one gram on the digital scale, it falls into the next price category. In a business where emotions are involved, you might hear something like, ‘Can’t you let it slide a little?’ and ‘Alright, thanks for always coming.’ This is the communication that we used to have at market, and that’s what it means to be human. However, if more and more people adopt mechanical, robotic thinking without emotions, there is a chance that, once robotics and AI are capable of perfectly running systems, humans may become disposable. This may not be too distant a future.
Looking at the example of Japan, they are particularly strict about time. In many foreign countries, being a few minutes late for a meeting is no big deal, but in Japan, an apology announcement is made if a train is even one minute late. It is indeed remarkable that the Shinkansen high-speed rail can operate on such a precise, minute-by-minute, second-by-second schedule, but the Japanese consider a ‘one-minute delay’ to be a system error. There is a lack of flexibility to respond to situations as they arise, and decisions are often reduced to a simple binary choice of Yes or No. As a result, the human traits of ambiguity and tolerance—the ‘gray areas’—are gradually eliminated. Eventually, people will no longer need to think or make judgments on their own, becoming entirely dependent on the system. This state of thought paralysis is what Max Weber referred to as the ‘iron cage.’ If we aim to construct a perfect social system, the final obstacle will be humans themselves. It seems as though we are beginning to forget what it means to be human.
What society needs now is to regain a ‘laid-back’ Aussie style, reduce the time spent on smartphones, and create a community where we can help each other without discrimination. A mindset of ‘money is everything’ will lead to the downfall of humanity within the next 20 years. I believe that once many people become aware of this and begin to see a warmer society again, they will break free from thought paralysis and embrace a brighter, more compassionate future.
H.I.
