Humanism In The Digital Age

What are the special challenges of communication in the information age?

It is ironic that in an age of rapidly developing communications technologies, people are in fact turning inward and becoming more withdrawn. There is no doubt that the development of the Internet, e-mail and similar technologies have made possible instantaneous global communication, unrestrained by national borders. The technology itself is neutral, it can be a force for good or for evil, bringing people closer together or fuel hatred, depending on the motivation of the people using it.

We have not yet seen the new communications technology being fully and wisely utilised to bring people together. The result is that while the physical and technical barriers to communication are coming down, the walls separating people in their hearts are in some senses growing higher.

The more we rely on one-way communication, like radio or TV, static words in print or images on a computer screen, the more I feel we need to remember to treasure the sound of the 'live' human voice, the simple but invaluable interaction of voice and voice, person and person; the exchange of life with life.

In a face-to-face conversation, the listener can ask questions or disagree. Those providing knowledge are exposed to questioning and critique. Dialogue is not merely an exchange of information, it is a process through which we learn, open up and explore issues together and come to a deeper appreciation and understanding.

Clearly, the projection of images in virtual reality has some value. But it can distort as well as simulate the real-life experiences in which people share direct contact with each other. On the harmful side, I think the overpowering stimulation and excitement of virtual reality can dull the imagination and numb sympathetic feelings for real pain and suffering.

My concern is that people may turn into mere passive receptors of programmed images. Recent research in neuroscience has confirmed that active faculties, such as the ability to think critically, to make decisions, to love and sympathize, to believe in something, tend to grow weaker when we are subjected to such one-way flows of information.

I am reminded here of the words of Prof. Majid Tehranian, a peace scholar originally from Iran, he said that we live in a world of ‘expanding channels of communication yet sorely in need of dialogue.’ I fully concur with him.

Educator Josei Toda (1900-58), second president of the Soka Gakkai, observed: ‘The confusion of knowledge with wisdom is one of the great misfortunes of our times. Knowledge and wisdom are not the same thing. While knowledge may be a door that opens the path to wisdom, it is not, in itself, wisdom.’

The availability of enormous amounts of information is of no worth if we allow it to undermine our ability to think for ourselves or become affected by intentional misinformation. We need to foster wisdom in order to truly benefit from knowledge, as we are living in an age where access to knowledge is easier and open to more people than ever.

Ultimately, I believe that such wisdom can be found in having a clear sense of purpose upon which one bases one’s life. Alongside efforts to enhance media literacy, the kind of humanistic education that is focused on cultivating a solid sense of purpose in life can be a key element here.

Human beings and all other life, as well as the environment and phenomena surrounding them, are linked in a web of mutually interdependent and harmonious relationships, all of which serve to support and maintain life.    

What would happen if human beings, out of their arrogance in believing themselves masters of the planet, were to use their vast technological knowledge to level all our forests, drive all animals into extinction, pollute the oceans and destroy our natural environment? It would then be very difficult for people to sustain their own existence. Humanism does not polarise relationships into such adversarial pairs such as ‘us’ and ‘them’, or human beings versus the environment, us versus our surroundings, including all other animals and plants. It views everything as interrelated and seeks to create human happiness based on harmonising these relationships.