This is the age of machines. Every activity of man
has become mechanized. The daily routine of life is not only dependent upon
machines but it is also guided by the machines. Machines helps to work, to
increase production, to transport the goods from place, to do odd jobs for us
and also make us to live a better and comfortable life. The work has become
easier and it is done with a greater speed and with better precision. Machines
help us to overcome a number of hindrances and a number of problems which may
not be overcome by us so easily. With the help of machines mountains are blown
up and roads are laid. With their Help Rivers are am end, planets are observed,
and educational-aids are employed. In other words machines have become the most
important part of our daily life. That is why relation of man and machine has
become complementary but sometimes contradictory.
One of the most important achievements of machines
is that goods have been standardized. The quality of the goods can never fall
and it is possible to produce them in large quantities. As a result of it
artisans and craftsman have almost been replaced by machines. It seems that the
artistic skill of man is fact fading even out of the memory. The good, can be
manufactured according to certain specifications and as a result of it they can
be sold with much ease and confidence. This has given rise to competition
between man and machine and it seems that sometimes that competition in quite
unhealthy.
Mass-scale production of the goods has resulted in
the unemployment of a large number of artisans. It is also responsible of
competitive spirit which in its turn has given rise to many other problems and
malpractice. It is because of mass production that a huge amount of money is
spent on publicity and the people are cheated of their hard earned money. Some
of the countries because of over-production indulge in certain malpractices,
like dumping of the goods. Which are very dangerous of the economy of a country?
Mass-scale production many times leads to wastage of the national resources.
Machines have in an unknown manner developed
mechanical attitude in the case of man. Man looks at things as objects to be
experimented upon and he does not have that sense of appreciation which he used
to have in the earlier times. The appreciation of beauty is not so spontaneous’
as it used to be. Moreover machines have made man, time-conscious and he does
not want to waste even a single minute. This attitude has resulted in strain
upon his mind. He is all the time worried about the proper utilization of time.
He wants that time should be the deciding factor in his life. This mechanical
attitude is not good for the over-all development of man.
One of the worst features of this mechanical age is
that man is slowly and slowly replaced by machines. It is feared that man will
completely be subordinated to machines. No denying the fact that large scale unemployment
is because of machines. Machines can do the work of a large number of the
manual workers that is why a number of people are rendered jobless.
Total dependence upon machines is definitely
harmful. It is not good to allow the machines to dominate man’s life. If man is
to work with the help of machines and is to depend totally upon machines it
will not be possible for man to remain his normal self. Machines when they
become masters crush the very spirit of man and ring an end to all good
qualities of man as a creature of God. Man has moral sense which animals don’t
have and machine makes man indifferent to all the higher things of life we
become earthly and earthy.