Motherhood is the strangest thing, it can be like being one’s own Trojan horse.
— Rebecca West, British author
Remember the story of the Trojan Horse?
For the uninitiated, let me explain how this term came about and what it means.
In the world of computing, a beginning in the late 20th century, the name “Trojan horse” was applied to deceptively benign computer codes that seem like legitimateapplications but are written to damage or disrupt a computer’s programming or to steal personal information.
Trojans are generally spread by some form of social engineering. It has not changed much since 8 BC, from the first time the term was introduced by Homer in his epic The Odyssey.
After 10 years of not being able to capture Troy through war, the Greeks tried deception. They created a giant hollow wooden horse, filled it up with 30 of the best Greek soldiers, and left it outside the big impenetrable doors of Troy.
One guy remained to say that the Greeks have returned home because they failed to capture Troy, and are giving The Trojan horse as a gift to Troy. A gift of offering to the goddess Athena, they said. The gullible Troys, so strong on the battlefield, so smart with the way they built their fortresses, were not smart enough to see through the deception, because well, probably they liked gifts a lot, I guess.
They pulled the big wooden horse in, celebrated their ‘victory” and went to sleep. That night, the 30 elite soldiers let themselves out of the Trojan horse, slaughtered all the night guards, opened the doors and let in their army who had sailed back quietly in the night, and massacred the entire Trojan army while they slept, and carried away their women.
End of Troy.
What was once a glorious and prosperous city that seemed prepared to stand the test of time through its military might is just a name in history books now.
I sometimes see the parallels of the way we run headlong into technology with so much unholy haste and glee with the Trojan Horse story.
For the last 10 years, all I have seen around me is the need to get more and more technology into our lives. Though I think it is important and helps in many ways, sometimes we need to also be cautious with too much, too fast.
Our quality of life has to improve with the onset of technology.
What people want is simple:
- More time to do things they love
- More freedom to choose what they want to do
- Better buying power, where they can buy more, for less.
- More choices on what they can read, where they can go and what they can buy
I remember a time when I was a kid, an entire family was supported by just one income — dad’s. And it was not much, just maybe RM800 — RM1000 a month. He bought a car, bought a house, sent four kids to school, paid all the bills, and when he died, he left enough money as savings for my mom so that she never had to ask her children for anything.
We have heightened technology from A to Z, but we have to struggle to live now. We are strangulated by overwhelming prices on just about everything. We have a choked standard of living where prices just keep going higher and higher and taxes are more and more. Why? How has technology helped?
I remember a time when I could fly on Malaysian Airlines and I was served like a welcomed human being. There was actual real cutlery, menus, hot food served on plates, cloth napkins, and now there is nothing. Just plastic cutlery in paper boxes. For a higher price.
I remember seeing pictures of people flying on airlines in early 1950s I think, where there was so much luxury of space, this was when commercial flying was just being introduced as a best technology for travelling. People were sitting with so much leg room and luxury. It was like they were dining in a fancy restaurant. Why did we descend into this sardine boxes we have now? How can more technology make it more miserable for humans?
I remember a time when people spent quality time with one another because we were not glued like addicts to our smartphone. You could even opt not to have your phone. You used office phones if people tried to reach you while at work, you used home phones if people needed to reach you at home. The rest of the time, you read books, you took walks, you spoke to people and you had a real life. Not one where you Google everything. Why the descent from this? How has technology helped?
I remember a time when we used our mental faculties better because we relied on our innate abilities to navigate, calculate, think, research and connect the dots. The generation after me cannot do the mental maths I can do — they need to use a calculator for everything.
Continued next week for Part 2 on how there’s less human interaction.
The views expressed here are those of the columnist and do not necessarily represent the views of New Sarawak Tribune. Feedback can reach the writer at beatrice@ibrasiagroup.com
