The predicament of people in the forefront of technology and efficiency is a difficult one. The few ways in front are frustrated because they are pulled back by the majority. This is true in all societies worldwide. But it is especially true in more backward societies. People on the frontiers of technology know they cannot really break loose from the bulk of society and take off at the pace they choose. Their progress forward has to be within range of the general public; otherwise they risk being alienated.
This is especially true if such a person wants to serve as a change
agent and as a force for modernization for his/her society. Such a role
requires that the leading person be seen by the public as one of their
own. If he/she is seen as too foreign or too different, then his/her
efforts
to help community's forward march will not be successful. The efforts may
even backfire. Change agents are like the front-line runners in a
marathon.
If they run too fast ahead of the crowd of runners, the majority will not
be able to see where they went and which turn they took. In other words,
the frontline runners have to remain within a followable pace, even if
they can run faster.
In other words, it is sometimes necessary to restrain one's own
progress
forward, just to remain within the reach of the general public.
The other day, I was in a 'dabbab' (mini-bus), and I accidentally met
some secondary school kids who come from my village area. We talked about
many things, until we hit the topic of Yemen Times. They said that they
followed closely - and with admiration - the growth and progress of the
paper. Then, I asked a stupid question.
"Did you check out the Yemen Times homepage?"
"What is that?" was the immediate unanimous answer.
"You know, our address, our site on the internet!"
"Internet? What is that?"
"You know, the data of files
from
all computers worldwide."One of them quipped. "Yes, I have heard
about computers."It was a sad morning. While few of our secondary
school
students have only heard of computers, babies crawl onto keyboards in some
countries. The gap is widening!
It is now evident that the pace of grasping and using information is
directly dependent on one's education and abilities. If one's progress
is too fast, he/she risks being frustrated by the slow pace of others.
Have you experienced this? Did you ever feel people around you were moving
in slow motion? This is not their fault, but it isn't yours either. Yet,
for a technologically-abreast person to continue to belong a community,
it is necessary to slow down in order to fully interact with others. This
is not easy.
There is some consolation. As technology brings the world together
and makes it smaller, it is possible to link up with people around the
globe who work at your pace. Thus, one really starts to belong to a class
of like-minded and like-paced people worldwide. This is one dimension to
globalization! Yet, that global comradery is not strong enough. It is
still
vital that one should be at ease with his/her community at home. One of
the main objectives of new technology is to improve conditions in one's
community. For that to happen, there is need to enhance the education of
our folks. This will increase their pace.
Prof. Dr. Abdulaziz AL-SAQQAF
Editor-in-Chief and Publisher
