I have been in this world for more than a quarter of a century. Just yesterday, I was thinking about what I have observed in this world so far. I have seen and read about people, society and culture, and how they have been changing since the inception of man. Based on them, here is what I have noted.

The world is probably the most dynamic thing in the universe. Its people and society are constantly changing. New ideas and notions are emerging, innovations are on the rise, discoveries are still being made, and man has no idea of how much of these are yet to be unearthed.

Power keeps shifting across regions and nations. No place has been all-powerful all the way up to here. Once the sun did not set in the British empire, and today they are just a nation like many others. The power dynamics have been shifting from Middle East and India to Central Asia, France, Germany, England, Russia and USA. Now there is the prominent rise of the Indo-China region. China might be a superpower soon. And then, there will be another.

Science and Technology are growing too fast, for good. Being a 90s kid, I have seen predictions made for 2030 coming true in 2010 itself. Nobody in 1999 thought mobile phones will be a reality for the common man in India by 2004. Now other predictions of being a cashless economy, digitally connected villages etc are on the path to become realities soon, sooner than they were predicted. Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality are already on the rise.

The intellectual evolution of people is skewed. While we live in an age of information with internet in our palms, ardent believers of illogical conspiracy theories also exist. Some still believe the earth is flat, or communism is good. The rise of scientists and entrepreneurs is followed closely by the rise of dimwits and blabbermouths. We need to hope and pray that the rise of former will be more rapid.

Competitiveness is always increasing. Nothing is going to be easy later. Population is expanding, resources are not. With more people fighting for limited resources, it’s not going to be easy in the future. This would be true for all fields and sectors. What was then, was tough for those times. It is tough now, but it will be tougher later.

Economy is the elixir of nations. This is what determines the rise and fall of nations. History doesn’t have any example of a thriving and rising nation which was economically weak. Without money and resources, a nation cannot fund its research and development activities. Even to have a good defence force to protect itself, it would need a strong economy, unless it has external assurances like Japan does. Venezuela crumbled due to a weak economy, China is rising with a strong economy. China knows this very well and hence, tries to lure smaller nations into debt traps – Sri Lanka (Hambantota Port), Pakistan (Gwadar Port), and such others through their Belt and Road Initiative.

Politics is everywhere, and affects everyone. Politicians are not the only people who are involved in politics. Office politics and Union politics also exist, like many other forms of politics. A country’s political decision affects all its citizens alike. Imagine your country deciding to wage a war against another. Won’t you be affected, even if you have remained apolitical all your life? War is something big, but something smaller – like a new general law or bill adopted by your country – might also affect you.

Society is evolving with the dichotomy of inclusiveness and intolerance. People are becoming more empathetic and inclusive. There have been many developments like the abolition of slavery and apartheid, progress on ensuring gender equality etc. Much is yet to be done. But the world now is the most inclusive than it has ever been. On the other hand, there is also a rise of intolerance towards people with contradicting opinions. Some people have forgotten that people can have different opinions and yet cohabitate peacefully. The rise of Cancel Culture stands testimony to this.

There are more good people than bad. This is something to be happy about, for had it been the opposite, we’d have been doomed by now. There will always be more good people because the majority of them has the ability to empathise. This world runs on trust and hope, and the good people act as their safekeepers and providers.

There will definitely be more additions here. You may have diverse observations to add based on the life you have lived so far, and the experiences you have had. We all have different points of view, and I think we should note them down somewhere and revisit them at times to add more or reflect upon how our views have changed with time. We need to document the intellectual evolution of ourselves.