Progress, World, White and some other Colo(u)rs of ignorance
- Shashank Shivashankar
There have been numerous contemplations on human wisdom and how humans are different from other species in many ways, but the very interesting thing about ourselves, ‘the idea of progressing and defining evolution through the idea of creating something new, has changed the world’. Of course every other species does the same, the birds build nests, a male pufferfish creates an artistic pattern underwater to attract a female fish, and the list goes on. But humans have a tendency to go to extremes, and that is what differentiates us. You can name anything, from imagination to curiosity to creativity to creating mess to complicating things, we like to go beyond what is needed for valid reasons. And we have long forgotten to find or define a subtle point to creations and progress. So much that there is an imbalance between practicing to create new things rather than first seeing what is already present in the world.
It is the urge that makes us do something after being emotionally moved and motivated when we watch, learn or realize something. It is not that the other creatures do not have that, but I guess the Norepinephrine level and its(or similar) drive force may be too low. Also, when you look at everything through the eyes of science, you feel it's not worth judging or worrying about it anymore. So, as a fellow human being I have to either end the article here or extend my feeling of oh! I have figured out something and now I need to share it, and continue to elaborate the article.
The whole concept of progress poses many questions. The main being where do we draw the line? Or What are we trying to reach? Or Is it ever possible to stop? Well once again let's not jump into finding the answers or solutions. Instead let's see why I ended up thinking about Progress as an issue. You may think it might be due to the degrading health, global warming, pollution, less green and busier lifestyle and so on. But the first main concern is how it is impacting humanity. Humans are losing the very freedom that any living creature should have, that is to be themselves and live life by themselves. Due to the act of progress and the belief of improving we have been just innovating alternatives. Because the idea doesn’t just stop within someone, It spreads through intentional distribution, coincidence, act of imposition on others to forcefully contribute to the progress and development of some group. Sometimes the imposition might give rise to the occurrence of conflict, because progress for one could be different for others, and others might be unconsciously progressing but doesn't realize it ever. And some may not be in favor of changing what they have by progressing ahead. So when one imposes it on others or forces them to believe in their idea, it paves way for loss of freedom.
Now look at the west and the rest. Just because they had an abundance of resources from nowhere(..…nowhere?), and just because they had no one to question and just because they happened to believe whatever they did was right, they wanted everyone to believe their approach was the best and wanted the rest of the world to accept them the way they did everything.
But who says living under a rock is underdevelopment or why one should not live under a rock? Why would someone judge and decide someone's choice of lifestyle? Nevermind, that is not an option anymore for anyone. Now you either be homeless or a slave to the system or.., yeah.. those are the options left for the common people.
But how is modern progress and advancement taking civilization towards dumbness and extreme dumbness? In Fact the word was not ready or it was never required for such a steep development. Look at the United States of America, it could not even sustain for 150 years on its own resources, ever since the industrial revolution. They are already running out of energy and resources, and are finding ways to nab resources from other places. And not only that, it made others follow the same path with the idea of development to compete. To where? and How reliable is it? And again and again we fall into the confusion of why we should progress in such a way? Or whose mistake is it ?
Anytime you destroy or occupy a land and change their way of practicing life. It actually destroys the culture, and knowledge passed down for centuries. When everything is changing rapidly you do not have the time to acknowledge what is what, and understand the truth. You just fall into the trap of rat race and obey the senseless laws without questioning much. One such example is India. After colonization, they were left with no other option than compete and try to reach the bar set by the British, it doesn't mean that before that everything was perfect. They had conflicts, they had competition and they fought over women too. But it was similar to many animals, or like the Ants, or any other creatures, they were very close to the natural way of living and evolution. But at the same time they also explored and understood the truth about the human body, universe, science and art and that progress was very controlled. Their process considered and cared about every impact from any step they take up. But the fast paced world doesn't do that anymore. Just focused on the short term rewards. But now it seems like ‘Indians…, and Indians’ both have forgotten the wisdom and lifestyle they used to possess. Now they are more focused on serving and surviving. And it seems as if we need the same white people to get back what we lost, because many of us like to get white people’s validation. But you also cannot blame everything on someone else for the suffering people’s ignorance. But at the same time, a society can think and analyze only if they have sufficient time and wealth, which they lack due to exploitation. That’s why the number of Indians summiting Himalaya is way less than Americans, but you will find more Indians who are ready to work overtime. Because it takes a lot of time to be more curious and expand it to re-collect and understand the generational knowledge.
Just look at how the world is running behind the west losing their identity, why do they have that attraction that made that happen? Because they had huge resources in their hand which they received by taking the goodness and others submissiveness for granted and developed the actions of exploitation once they realized how they could get anything they want by scaring, destroying and flaunting their supremacy. That is when humanity was impaired by such people. Of course not every American is a racist for the history of slavery and exploitation, nor was every British individual evil for their role in colonization. However, these individuals often fall outside the scope of reflection. Many have developed stigmas against so-called "underdeveloped" nations rather than understanding the suffering that led to their struggles. As a result, future generations continue to face the burden of being looked down upon, a perception that may take a long time to change—if it changes at all—because people often lack the time or willingness to truly understand what made them look like this.
But how can they be fooled easily? How does it work? Why are the majority made fools?
But also, the very same attitude and approach can also be seen in breaking the norms and giving a new voice to humanity with their own expressionism, it can also be seen in the flourishing of art and innovation made in various sectors. But at the same time, anything that was discovered or created was quickly stolen or occupied to have control by their very own small group of people within themselves. Look at the chain of stores from clothing to pharmacy to coffee in the USA, there is very little freedom for their own people to run their own business and instead they are forced to work for the others to make everyone support imperialism directly or indirectly? I know it is super nice and I do not care about someone gaining wealth, but one should think about their actions and how it is impacting others. Also how are we all connected? Through common interest and ideology, or common traits and physical features ?
And this has made them think it’s like the dispersion effect. It is actually wrong, the colors are not from the white, it could be the white (of course I mean the imperialists when I say whites, not everyone.) that is formed by all the colors, just like the temporal optical mixing. Just like any knowledge, wealth, double standards and novelty was all born from the land of colored people across the world, but now?. Anyway, the world remains caught in a cycle of duality, constantly questioning, "Did this occur because of that, or was it destined to happen this way?". The West defines progress in its own terms, positioning itself as the "First World" and expecting the rest of the world to align with its desires, such as consuming 40% of the world's energy to sustain its lifestyle. Los Angeles epitomizes the current American mindset. It is the place where the rich own 50 acres of houses around the city but the city is filled with homeless. That’s exactly how extreme-capitalism has become the big American Dream. And now People from everywhere want to follow and become contributors to it. Again, how are we all connected? Through common interest and ideology? or common traits and physical features? Aren't we becoming more connected with someone completely different from us across the sea, and also hate some people across the sea even before knowing about them?.
Where is the development taking us? - what is truly a development? What if we slow down the development? Can it even happen? Because if we keep going ahead, we keep making things more complicated to have the same life and solitude. It’s just that everything is getting ruined and spoiled. We develop new diseases because of extreme processes of rapaciousness. And then we work on developing a new super speciality healthcare system, then make it unaffordable to many. So the whole process of development is not actually happening for everyone, it is just all the things that are built to offer it to the rich. The way the society is shaped into this way is due to the lack of awareness among them, and it is made intentionally to deprive the common people to gain knowledge from time to time, and when they reach the position to gain knowledge, they are offered with a set of skills and distraction in the name of education and discipline. Because, people can groom some good people to showcase and control the masses. And the common people who value and believe in such ethics follow the same path of hard work. Well let's not get there in depth. One other factor the Media, as we all know is the replica of weapons being misused to divert and influence people.
In fact, the very idea of Winning in life and the way it is defined is a very way of making our life stupid and complex. It doesn't mean it is wrong to be ambitious, but there has to be a lot of consideration around them. Otherwise one gets lost in the jungle of imperialism and materialism, instead of experiencing life. But what is missing in the human race is finding that “Subtle Point” in everything. And to attain that state, it requires a lot of patience and collective meditation, which does not seem to happen anytime soon in this world.
When I tried understanding how and why the west went on to become what it is today? One should look at the way the USA was born, it was like a 20 year old baby delivered directly into the world. It had a lot of cravings but not the patience and culture to understand what it takes to build something over thousands of years. Fraternities are a good reflection of this. Because they do not have the history or roots to follow like other countries, hence they behaved however they wanted. I guess the USA will become a 3rd world country even if they follow the present path or start being more cultured and respectful to others, but in either case they will face hard times. But the question is when are the very own Americans gonna wake up and realize what might Bill Gates as the biggest farmer of the control. When are they gonna realize they are losing their rights, power and ability to even grow their own food? What times are ahead for them ?
But the USA is also one of the few places where if not more, at least some, they raise their voice against their country’s own atrocities. And they don't just follow everything their country/state does blindly. In Some Ways it is the greatest country at the moment.
It is the ability to understand the people, on why they did something, or why they act like that. And understanding the reason, may be good or bad, because it may make you go ignorant of everything in the world. But it is like reflecting on ourselves and our thoughts.
Now coming back to the loss of identity, it is a major damage to the human kind in terms of transfer of information, knowledge and culture, way of living for a reason, and much more history. Because, when people start to imitate others, loss of identity is not just about losing our style, we stop using our own language less for mainstream activity. In fact in countries like India, where more than 100 official languages are spoken we do not use them for activities where the economy is defined, or new innovations are made. Even in schools, English is taught as the language of life. Since the culture and history of many places travels back up to 5000 years ago, it would be difficult to keep up with them and also cater to the fast moving world at the same time, hence there will be a loss of huge amounts of knowledge in various domains.
The west mania has taken over india so much that acting like one is so generalized. We do not want to consume our own music, food and culture. People hesitate to speak their native language, they feel inferior to listen to their own music. In Fact I, myself started playing the music from my mother tongue, Kannada, in the shower, only after moving to the US, because I used to be conscious about people judging me back in india. Well it is not the same with all Asians or other 3rd world countries.
I noticed things like this at first When I got into the UW grad school to pursue Electrical Engineering, I felt that pursuing this was just learning a bunch of skills to work for someone’s project which I never wanted. Well I may be wrong with selecting the right major suitable for me, but I was not left with much option because of the influence and the effort of trying to become someone. Exploration and gaining knowledge is different from learning the skills that are in the trend and I also felt It is gonna make me like most of the Indians who work for a capitalistic society. I realized how if not all, most of the so-called smart people from Asian countries are nothing but slaves to someone’s vision of gaining wealth. The influence is such that even the immigrant parent’s approach towards raising their kids has changed not only in the US, but also in India. The parents themselves do not teach their own language of the land to their kids back in India. However, we cannot solely blame Western culture for people's mistakes. Individuals should take responsibility and have the awareness not to contribute to the brain drain.
After reading all of this, what do you think is the solution to fix all this, or to make people aware? What crazy plan do we need here? - Should we just supply LSD and Shrooms through water lines? Should we do something like in the movie- Fight Club to crack the wealth system? Develop a Neurocinema interface? Or publish the right sense and bring artists or people who have the spirit of art forward to lead us, so that they do not fall into the idea of conquering or attaining wealth like other people, and understand the value of true meaning and beauty of life and things around us. But for how long can it work? Things like that has to start from oneself and it also has to happen with everyone. Each one of us should realize and become research-artists, a more complete human maybe. Only then something we imagine can start to happen and may quote that “all this development is just a long indirect path to find the true meaning, which takes you back to where it all started”.
Before going any further, let's take a moment to address how we all feel about topics like this. The more we think about all these matters, we start to understand the faces behind all of this and we start to analyse their minds and try to figure out how that idea might have popped in their head? How did they make such decisions which could influence other people's lives? Basically trying to understand how their mind works, and so on…
The concept of “understanding” makes me look at all of this in a different way. I sometimes feel like forgiving everyone, and letting go of all the faults in the world, because you start to think you know the reason why they are doing it. In fact, When you look at anything in the world from the point of view of science, you get the answers and reasons that you do not want, and you feel like not questioning anymore. Instead, you expect them to realize or understand what they are doing by themselves. But should we remain the same or should we try to change it? I guess trying to answer that might be a way you can try to define one’s life.
Media and It’s Reflection:
But all this leads us to an interesting way of understanding that all of these actions and reactions, and the opinions, expressions and judgements about these are nothing but contribute to a concept of media. And it appears how the world is one big media, and how all the previously discussed topics are related to media as both contributors and consumers in the way the world is shaped up. And for that reason, the media plays a crucial role in the development of an individual and then the community. But it is not as easy as it seems. Because the media has no character like we presume. So it keeps changing its form and plays into the hands of people who see things beyond the usual. And history has often proved that, it is not the masses who create critical choices, but the later, the smaller ones, the visionaries are the ones who make the call. But that takes us back to what is a vision? Does the vision of one person always make the rest of the world inconsiderate? Just because someone had the ability to think someway or create something, does it mean they can go to any extent? Is it how the dynamics of the world works? So someone has to give up on something. So that someone can have more. But it starts to make sense once we observe people around us.
The media holds an extraordinary power to shape perceptions, influence behavior, and define collective identities. Growing up, I observed how the people around me, including my family and community, were deeply influenced by the media in various forms. While this influence is not unique to India, the country presents a compelling case study in how media, particularly cinema, has reshaped history, culture, and societal mindsets. Reflecting on the evolution of Indian cinema, it becomes clear that it has served as both a mirror to society and a force that shapes it, often in unintended and problematic ways. Through an analysis of Indian cinema and its impact on culture and identity, I aim to explore the delicate interplay between media, art, and the collective psyche.
Indian Cinema, Media and Mindset: Submissiveness to Senselessness
India's history with cinema dates back to the early 20th century, but its significance grew exponentially in the aftermath of British colonialism. When India gained independence in 1947, the country was left in shambles—economically depleted, educationally stagnated, and infrastructurally devastated. Amidst this chaos, cinema emerged as a source of solace and escapism for the masses. It offered an imaginative refuge from the harsh realities of poverty, inequality, and national rebuilding. The fantasy-filled worlds of films provided a sense of hope and relief, showing audiences a version of life that was removed from their everyday struggles.
During this period, the films often showcased utopian ideals—a happy family, an upright hero, and justice triumphing over evil. For a nation in need of optimism, this kind of storytelling had its merit. Films became an escape hatch, offering ordinary people a glimpse of extraordinary possibilities. However, this escapism gradually became a double-edged sword. Over time, the line between providing relief and distorting reality became blurred.
What began as a medium to entertain and inspire quickly transformed into a profit-driven industry. As cinema gained mass appeal, filmmakers and producers gravitated toward formulaic storytelling to ensure box-office success. Thus began the era of masala films—an all-encompassing genre characterized by exaggerated action, melodrama, romance, and music. While these films were immensely entertaining, they often lacked nuance, depth, or relatability.
This shift had a profound effect on audiences. The overemphasis on larger-than-life heroes and overly simplistic narratives reinforced unrealistic expectations and binary notions of morality. Heroes were portrayed as paragons of virtue, while villains were irredeemably evil. (Female characters were ofcourse lost in the midst of all this) This stark dichotomy ignored the complexities of human nature, making viewers less equipped to engage with the nuanced realities of life. Art ceased to be an exploration of truth and became a conveyor belt of escapist fantasies.
The unchecked proliferation of formulaic films has had several detrimental effects on Indian society. One of the most significant is the normalization of misogyny. For decades, female characters in mainstream cinema were relegated to being mere props—objects of desire, damsels in distress, or supportive sidekicks to the male protagonist. These portrayals perpetuate harmful stereotypes and contribute to a culture of objectification.
Moreover, the glamorization of toxic masculinity became a recurring theme. Heroes were often shown as entitled to a woman’s affection, with "persistence" in the face of rejection romanticized rather than critiqued. Such narratives reinforced regressive gender norms and undermined efforts toward gender equality.
Another issue was the sidelining of artistic and socially relevant cinema. Films that addressed complex social issues or experimented with unconventional storytelling were often dismissed as "too intellectual" or "boring" by mainstream audiences. This lack of support stifled creative voices and discouraged filmmakers from producing content that challenged societal norms or provoked critical thinking. Consequently, the artistic potential of Indian cinema remained underexplored.
As cinema became synonymous with over-the-top entertainment, a disturbing trend began to emerge—an erosion of critical thinking and intellectual engagement. Audiences became accustomed to passive consumption, expecting films to provide immediate gratification rather than intellectual or emotional depth. This phenomenon extended beyond cinema into other forms of media, including television and, more recently, social media.
Social media platforms like Instagram have further exacerbated the issue. The emphasis on short-form, visually driven content encourages superficial engagement rather than deep thought. Instead of being a tool for connection and learning, social media often becomes a platform for escapism and distraction. This shift has profound implications for a society once celebrated for its intellectual rigor and cultural sophistication.
The influence of Indian cinema extends far beyond its domestic audience. More than 10 film industries have been recognized as cultural exports of India. While this global reach has undoubtedly increased India's visibility, it has also perpetuated a narrow and often misleading portrayal of Indian culture. To many international viewers, India is synonymous with the exaggerated, colorful worlds of Indian musicals. While these films are a legitimate part of Indian culture, they are far from representative of its diversity and complexity.
At the same time, Indian audiences are not passive recipients of global media; they actively influence it as well. The rise of Indian diasporic filmmakers, for instance, has introduced more nuanced portrayals of Indian culture and minds in global cinema. Filmmakers like Upendra Rao and Shankar Nag have used their platforms to tell stories that challenge stereotypes and offer fresh perspectives. However, this discussion isn’t about their contributions; it focuses on how the media can shape an entire country's expression in many ways. Because the expression translates to action and that impacts the belief system of the masses of the community and that impacts the way they get empowered, which eventually leads towards progress, which requires original and strong ideas to achieve it. Hence by this way, we can also witness one of the dents made on the cultural side of the colonised countries and how those actions are influencing them not to develop strong viewpoints or aspirations, but just follow the dominants.
The biggest impact of the so-called serial progress is not only for people born in villages or backward classes but almost everyone is losing the hope that they can do something or live with what they have in life. That is the biggest misfortune that can happen to humanity. They are losing faith in their own land, their own community, their own culture, their own languages, and their own beliefs, which is more hazardous than any aspect of nature to humanity. And it is a sort of shame that I aspire to live in this world longer for the purpose of changing it.
So for all these reasons, everyone has to be very very… careful about each step we take, instead of quoting from Bhagavath Geetha like Oppenheimer. And please don't think that it would have been someone else if not Oppenheimer, that is the whole point, we all have to be aware and conscious of our very own decisions.