As per the definition of Anthropology – It is the scientific study of humans, human behavior, and their societies in the past and present study patterns of behavior of human society.
Digital Anthropology is the anthropological study of the relationship between humans and digital-era technology.
- How anthropology has helped us in understanding the evolution of the human race
To understand the relevance of anthropology, think of human life before electricity was invented. Our ancestors had a very different lifestyle that time. They used to get up early and finish all the work before sunset.
Before the industrial revolution started, a major human population was involved in the work, where physical power was required ( For Example, agriculture, stone cutting, transportation of goods…). To improve the productivity here, we came up with various tools & machines.
To run these machines, we used various methods. Like, initially, we used steam power. So many plants were built near rivers.
Once electricity came, we started building plants, at faraway places. Our various other habits got changed post electricity. Many industries came up, which revolved around ‘nightlife’.
We could not have imagined a city like Las-Vegas in that era. After electricity came, many other changes happened in our personal and business life. So we can safely conclude that electricity had helped the human race to evolve to the next stage.
Now you can relate to various inventions like the telephone, cars, the airplane…, which had helped the human race to pivot & improve overall productivity, ability to work from faraway places….
- Digital and & new habits
My firm belief is that Digital has the same power and this will also help the human race to evolve to the next level. Hence, it is vital for us to deeply understand digital anthropology, if we want to future proof our digital transformation journey.
Let me give some examples here.
Today, many of us have a smart cameras and we have got the habit of taking selfies & immediately posting the same on social media platforms. During 2020 COVID time, we were able to work from home. We were also able to remain at home & were able to watch movies, read books, order groceries.
Now many companies are talking of making ‘ Work from home’ a normal practice, even after COVID. Remember, nothing new got invented during this COVID time. Working from home & watching the movie at home was possible earlier also. But somewhere in our mind, there was a deep-rooted belief that ‘WFH’ for long period can’t happen.
Now that belief has got shattered ( or should I say that mother nature taught us many things during COVID times & taught us what all is possible).
In my opinion, we still have to harness the full power of digital. Again, one of the big reasons is, deep-rooted beliefs in our mind.
I guess same thought was prevalent when cars came. Everyone thought/worried about, what will happen to the horse-cart. In my opinion, only horses lost the job and human-adapted to new conditions/took up driver job etc
So on a similar note, now one topic up for discussion is ‘ what will happen when machines start doing all the work, which is getting done by humans’.
Yes, we have machines, which have a good ‘human-like’ mind. These machines can help us in doing various calculation works. So from initial calculators to the current robots, these machines had helped in doing various ‘calculation’ work faster & error-free.
- Digital anthropology & work of future
We need not worry about future of current work. Rather we should start thinking about the work, which will be required in future. Instead of worrying about automation, we need to start thinking about ‘ augmentation with machines’.
As per various research, it is established that the human mind consists of two parts. Conscious Mind & Sub-Conscious Mind. Our conscious mind is good at calculation, remembering various things & doing logical work.
Our sub-conscious mind is good at various soft skills & emotional intelligence.
Remember, machines can have a good ‘human-like conscious mind’. But they will not have a subconscious mind.
Humans, who have good control over their sub-conscious minds, will be successful in future. That will help evolve the human race to the next level.
Let me give some examples here. Based on customer consent, various new era technology companies ( Facebook, Amazon, Google, Netflix…) are collecting data based on our behavior ( where we traveled, which type of movies we saw, which type of clothes we ordered). Later that data is used to influence our sub-conscious mind. That is, you start seeing recommendations for products, which matches your taste.
First you see what you like, later you start liking, whatever is shown to you.
Many of us, are worried because in our current education system, no one teaches the importance of soft-skills & emotional intelligence. We know, how computer works but don’t know, how our own mind works. In past, our various saints also used to meditate long hours, to understand & control their subconscious mind.
In coming days
- Soft skills and EQ will be better rewarded than certification and IQ
- Cognitive flexibility
- Judgment and decision-making over routine data scanning abilities
- Creativity and critical-thinking skills
So in nutshell, I will say that we should welcome the machines/robots/computers in our life. They will do various repetitive, monotonous work. The human mind will be free to do various creative work, spend good time with our family ( elders & children), take care/console persons who is depressed.
Each human being is different & by that definition, each human being has a different sub-conscious mind. Our current world population around 8 billion. So even 1/8 of this population ( that is 1 billion human beings), collectively harness the power of their subconscious mind ( creativity, compassion, empathy, curiosity, gratitude.), it will do wonders in taking human race to next level.
