ON THE THRESHOLD OF PARADISE

Let us take the first period of civilization. It was a time when man could only use whatever material was present on the earth in its original form. Of all the materials, stone was the most readily available and the most useful. Although many other things existed on the earth apart from stone, like wood and animals, and there was even a simple form of agriculture, because stone took pride of place as the most widely used, this phase came to be called the Stone Age. So far as early Homo sapiens were concerned, they possessed the same natural qualities as the people of the present day. For example, the latest research has shown that the human brain during the Stone Age civilization contained around 86 billion neurons, no less than what is contained in the human brain today. It was only because of a lack of education and knowledge that man at that time could not utilize his hidden potential. Then came the dawn of the agricultural period, during which man discovered more and more ways of harnessing nature. This period saw the development of irrigation, ploughing, the rearing and breeding of animals, and the use of iron and carts with wheels. In this way, it was possible to lead a better life as compared to that of the previous age. The industrial period began at the point when man moved ahead from animal power and invented mechanical power. Now man converted water into steam power and made steam engines. There was a further leap forward when petrol was discovered and used for propulsion. Similarly, modern methods of communication were developed which converted the whole world into a global village. In the Industrial Age, by using mechanical power, man engaged in new enterprises such as the building of cities along modern lines, the production of fast-moving vehicles, the rapid communication of news, the setting up of paper mills, radio, television and eventually the coming of the Internet and social media. In this way, there came into existence a whole new world, both beautiful and meaningful, with a fresh viewpoint on education and learning, which was called the industrial civilization. The fourth phase of civilization is what Alvin Toffler has called the Super-industrial Age. In his view, the most exceptional aspect of this age will be complete automation, i.e. the use of electronics will be on such a large scale that most jobs will be performed with the absolute minimum of human control or intervention. In a normal situation a man would, ideally, be able, single-handedly, to fulfill all of his own personal requirements.