Computers, Information Technology to Bridge Generation Gap

"Baba, why don't you write emails to me when we have computer and internet system at home?" Asked Meghna when she visited her parents during her visit to India from Norway. Father and daughter had many common interests and both enjoyed sharing their views on the current events and developments both on the national as well as global front. The only point of difference between the two was the use of technology in daily life. Meghna's Mother chuckled and said "I have failed in making your Father use electronic gadgets, see if you can succeed..." Meghna immediately picked up her laptop and placed it in front of her Father and said "Baba, I am going to leave this for you and before I go, I will ensure that you begin using it!" while saying so, she deftly opened the system and with a click of mouse button the computer was transformed into a music system playing her Father's favourite Western Classical songs, Occidental classical songs and music. She encouraged her Father to go through the play list to choose the songs he wanted to listen to. Suddenly the melodious reverie was interrupted when the computer suddenly started tinkling like a telephone!! "Baba, sit up, now it is time for you to video chat with Manik Uncle in Iceland!" She quickly pulled her Father up to sitting position in front of the computer and nimbly tapped on the keyboard and hey presto! the computer screen transformed into TV screen and the whole family could see Meghna's Manik Uncle's cheerful and animated face appear on the screen which broke into a big grin and he yelled "Hey Sagar, how are you? you seem to have lost weight and look, your hair line too has receded beyond the visibility range? What are you all up to? how's the festival season in India? Thanks to Meghna that I have got a chance to chat live and face to face with you! The families in India and Iceland had a memorable reunion through the web meeting and all bade teary eyed farewell promising to login in again soon to such web meeting. After dinner, Meghna and her parents once again sat down in front of the computer to see an old movie, which was her parents' all time favourite. During her fortnight visit to her parents, Meghna spent most of the time with her parents in using the computer to help them unravel the versatility of the machine and by the end of the fortnight, she had succeeded in getting her parents hooked to the computer system. At last, it was time for Meghna to bid goodbye to her parents and get back to Norway and her work. Her parents had come to see her off at the airport. When Meghna heard the Airline's departure call, she hugged her parents and said "Baba, I'll eagerly wait for your aerogramme..." Before she could complete, her Father said, don't forget web meeting with us as soon as you reach there and then it will be my turn to call you on web meeting, your Maa and I...take care my dear and safe journey. Thanks for the computer, I will use it when ever both of us will miss you and want to contact you..." Meghna was moved to tears, tears of joy crept from the corner of her eyes as she hugged her parents good bye.

Analysis in the Process of Learning...What About Assimilation?

"Do you know your p's and q's ?" We seem to often ask this question to the children when they are unable to discern the thin line that causes all the difference between two or more objects or concepts and that seems to be the very foundation of "Adult Material World", where we identify through differentiation, which is the crux of the function called "Analysis".

This is the very reason why in our existing education system of learning we believe more in the concept of organic learning (based on our five senses) like committing facts to memory or reasoning to differentiate in order to derive the uniqueness of an entity or to group or regroup the entities to conceptualise the very existence of a "belief" culminating into religious, cultural or political form. This is the primary reason why we eventually encourage any learner to analyze the very existence of an entity in its physical form and this is the fundamental principle of SCIENCE, which deals with the material aspects of an entity and even a thought and idea is immediately given a physical form or shape.

This also makes the learning process fall short of its very objective of making a learner realise the universal truth that one needs to be be aware of ones existence beyond the physical one. This is only possible through assimilation of one primary truth: "Everything is part of one, in its entirety". This is possible only by identifying one with the other leading to a more holistic approach in understanding the existence or various concepts and entities that blend with each other to form "complete one". This is not possible through our present system of education that is based on differentiation and not on assimilation. Assimilation encourages a learner to apply various concepts to realize ones own existence and this encourages the learner to realize that differences only appear in physical existence and everything ultimately blends into one whole concept of existence beyond the physical one.

Our education system ignores the very organ of human anatomy which is vital for the very existence of the process called "Learning and Education"! It is the well developed human mental faculty which makes human realize the existence beyond the physical existence and try to understand existence beyond the faculty of senses. Unfortunately, our current education system believes in unraveling the mysteries of all that challenges the physical senses by analyzing the facts and deducing or inferring the cause and effect of anomalies that defy the logic of the senses.; so do the animals with less developed mental faculty, so are they not better equipped than us to physically exist by their natural instincts in their natural surroundings?

Let us take the example of Robinson Crusoe, who,when marooned on an island was able to easily identify with the surroundings and ultimately realized that his formal knowledge only helped him in his physical existence on the island and the act of his "Man Friday" to save him from the tribal on the island makes him aware of the "Metaphysical" existence, the identification beyond the physical identity, which we cannot derive by analyzing any concept or entity. Awareness of metaphysical existence is only possible through assimilation, which we, unfortunately do not have in our current education system.

Should we not give it a thought?