Instant

Thanks to advances in science and technology, most tasks that once took hours or even days to accomplish can now be done within minutes, even seconds!

Yes, everything – from traveling or reaching out to families and friends to such mundane routine tasks as brewing a cup of coffee or making a sandwich.

Hard to believe that over a century ago, travel from Manila to Calamba City would take over eight hours by horse-drawn carriage (as Jose Rizal experienced when he studied in Manila in the 1870’s).

Now? Just over an hour from Manila to Calamba by car – and once the North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR) is completed, probably even less than that!

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This “instant” way of life where we could get anything at just a few clicks, or in a few seconds, have unfortunately also altered our way of looking at things, not to mention how we react to situations.

I’m not just talking about how we want things to happen instantly, or expect instant results or instant replies, just because people can now reply to messages within a few seconds.

Delays in replying to messages, even for a few minutes, will trigger an instant panic mode in most of us nowadays – never mind if the other person is busy or can’t answer right now due to circumstances beyond his (or our) control.

I’m also talking about how we have expected “instant justice” when we are aggrieved, which is worsened by the Filipino trait of believing that justice means that he should be the victor.

I’m also talking about how our propensity for “instant results” has caused us to employ shortcuts (fixers or connections) in almost every government transaction just because we can’t be bothered with standing in line all day long.

I’m also talking about how we have become too quick to find fault in others, without pausing for a moment to see if our own behavior has contributed to the heat of the moment – which, unfortunately, results in us resorting to violence to get our point across.

I’m also talking about how we have become too quick to take sides in an issue before knowing the whole story, too quick to judge based on a one-sided story or a single picture, just because we’re either too lazy or too blinded by fanaticism or idolatry to take the whole picture or context.

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In short, this “instant” life we had come to accept has only enabled us to rush headlong in our lives, never pausing back to see whether our actions or our words can hurt us in the long run.

The decline of our ability to slow down, in my view, might as well lead to what I call “instant Armageddon” – the same rush that had led to enormous advances in our modern society will also be the same rush that will lead mankind to doom, if we don’t put on the brakes now.

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