Evolutionary Journey

 In the evolutionary cycle, there was supposedly a point when humans became Homo Erectus — the moment when we began standing tall, observing the world around us, and addressing challenges with newfound confidence. (Some readers might be wondering if he believes in evolution. We never knew! Don’t worry, this isn’t about debating evolution 😊).

 Looking back and ahead, we’ve come a long way, evolving from Homo Sapiens to now being on the journey toward becoming Homo-Technologicus.

 

Let me digress for a moment. I developed my first back pain in my mid-forties and my first neck pain in my mid-fifties. I chalked it up to ageing, perhaps a bit premature due to my lifestyle. Today, every other young person I meet complains, “I have a cervical problem.” Some even know the diagnosis—Cervical Spondylosis—thanks to the modern-day medical bible: Google! The picture here is from our home!

The question I want to consider is: Have we moved three steps forward in technology but taken two steps back in body, mind, soul, and spirit? Physically, are we becoming Homo Curvatus? Is that why there’s an epidemic of neck and back pain?

 

If this were only a posture problem, medicine and technology could likely find a solution, and some exercise would suffice. But the issue goes deeper—it’s not just about Homo Curvatus. There’s also an associated Incurvatus In Se. This phrase, coined by Augustine of Hippo, describes being "curved inward on oneself"—living for oneself rather than for God and others.

 

For many, including myself, at times, this also extends to an intellectual incurvature, one of the minds. There’s so much information out there that I am often overwhelmed by this life as Homo-Technologicus-Curvatus. My brain has developed a way to dismiss anything not directly relevant to my immediate life. Wars, displaced people, orphans, and modern-day slaves—all reduced to mere data that I glance at, then store away or forget entirely. It's part of a modified "cancel culture." 

 

Then there’s the emotional incurvature, one of the hearts (and perhaps the soul). I push these issues aside because I want to protect myself from the overwhelming pain out there. My own challenges are enough to handle. I don’t want to add more. 

 

This inward curvature affects my spirituality, too. I come to God seeking peace and solace (which is important), but my spiritual pursuit often revolves around ‘me’ feeling good and okay rather than being outwardly focused on God and others.

 

Last week, I spent an evening with my aunt, who is 14 years older than me. Most of the time was spent cleaning up her phone from the countless forwarded videos and media clogging her memory. I asked her, “Why do you keep all these forwards?” She replied, “I’m part of various groups with friends my age. They send things all day, and I try my best to delete them after watching, but sometimes I forget.” I asked, “But why watch them at all?” She said, “I spend my day praying for some of these things.”

 

In one sense, she stood tall with an ‘excurvature’ attitude and response. But then she added, “Most are junk, and I should learn how to delete them before they fill up my phone.”

 

The next morning, she had a lesson in technology—how to be selective in one’s technology-driven physical incurvature so that she could be more effective in her excurvature!

 

I wonder where I am in this evolutionary journey from being Homo Sapiens who stand tall to Homo-Technologicus-Curvatus…

I read this poem here - https://onceuponawrittenword.wordpress.com/2021/07/31/incurvatus-in-se/

"IPad, iPod, iPhone, I gaze,

Netted in an endless downhill maze,

Captive to the entertaining tool,

Under a heavy yoke, with feeds for fuel.

Riveted by the endless scroll of news,

Victims of the same old stale peruse.

A hundred checks and glances every day;

Time slips and slides and vanishes away.

Unwittingly we stare down at our screens,

Sedentary, proud slaves to our machines.

In Internet there’s hope for immortality:

No need to search in meaningless reality.

Save us from the god to which we bow:

End the endless curve we inward plow."