Changing language and lifestyle all in my lifetime

Grandpa, I am writing a book.” “What’s the book about?” he asked. “It’s a secret. You’ll get to know about it only when I finish writing it,” I replied. “Okay, I will wait,” grandpa answered back. Knowing him and his habits, I was sure he was quietly monitoring me to find out about the progress of the book.

At 95 years of age, his memory was still very sharp. A veteran of the Second World War, he was meticulous and had a keen sense of observation, paying attention to the minutest details.

After six months of waiting, his curiosity got the better of him. Grandpa asked, “Ben, you said you were writing a book but I have never seen you put pen to paper. When are you going to start?” “I have gone half way already,” I replied and added, “Grandpa, what do you think I do every night that I sit here with my laptop?”

“But how does anyone write without a pen, pencil or paper?” he responded scornfully. I smiled amusingly. “Grandpa, I don’t need a pen to write! I type my thoughts on the keyboard. The job is almost done.” “Next time, don’t use the wrong word. Don’t use ‘write’ when you mean ‘type’? You young men and women of today use words without giving them any thought,” grandpa admonished.

Do we really? Grandpa belonged to the past. If he should get up from his grave today and hear us speak, he would be lost! The original meaning of some words has quietly changed. But the reality is even worse. He would be surprised to see people walking on the streets talking to no one in particular but actually in conversation with unseen people in distant places. How do we explain to him the miracle of the cell phone? He would simply conclude they were insane, talking to themselves.

Technology has brought with it changes in lifestyle which we are yet to acknowledge and adjust appropriately to. Recently, on a visit to a friend, I found the ‘security’ man seriously distracted with eyes focused on his handset. He barely managed to take a glance at me before opening the gate.

Once inside the house, I found the children in the sitting room with the TV blaring but no one watching it. Each had his eyes glued to his phone, texting away. It just crossed my mind that grandpa would have fainted if he had heard me use the word ‘texting’ instead of ‘typing’. In his days, it conveyed an entirely different meaning.

“Good morning,” I yelled at the children to overcome the din of the TV. “Good morning uncle,” they replied in unison, with eyes still glued to their handsets. The oldest of them managed to look up and was courteous enough to point out where I could find their father and quickly resumed his disrupted activity.

A wave of technological innovations is sweeping through the world. Medicine is not left out. Some items of medical equipment and procedures have either become obsolete or will soon be within the next five to ten years.

‘Medicalese’ – medical language – is also changing. For instance, a few years from now, there will be no need to request for donors for corneas or kidneys for transplants. With advances in 3D bio printing, (grandpa would find this even more difficult to understand), it would be possible to fabricate functional human tissue outside the body.

A man living on a dialysis machine will have a new kidney grown using his own cells. A woman who has lost her vision from age-related macular degeneration would have her eyesight restored. A little child with an incompetent heart valve can have a new one 3D printed and replaced whilst a fire fighter who has suffered extensive burns would have his skin regenerated. Because the cells come from the patient himself, the possibility of rejection by the immune system is near zero.

Do these sound outlandish? Incredible, isn’t it? Yes, indeed it is. But, as a matter of fact, it’s already happening. Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine successfully implanted an engineered bladder tissue in humans about 10 years ago. The institute is working on 35 different parts of the human body.

If grandpa were to be alive today, it might just have been possible to replace all worn-out parts of his body and keep him physically strong and agile for an additional twenty to thirty years.

He would have woken up one day, to find that all petrol cars have disappeared from our roads. He would find no petrol or diesel cars, buses or trucks anywhere in the world. Tesla electric car, with about one hundred times fewer parts than a combustion engine car, would be everywhere. Its maintenance is essentially zero. He would also be amazed that these cars are driverless.

What are the consequences for our petroleum industry and economy? Because of the decreased need for petroleum and petroleum products, the collapse of oil prices and the death of the petroleum industry is inevitable. Nigeria are you listening? Does it sound silly and impossible? What are our universities for?

Let them research on these emerging technologies, their effects on our lifestyle and economy and advise our governments appropriately. We might just find that it is a share waste of resources to build several new refineries at this time.

Perhaps, more relevant to this page is the fact that the use of our eyes will increase. Therefore, we must take special care of our eyes in order to be in a position to enjoy the technological innovations already quietly revolutionising the world but which will gain tremendous momentum in about 10 years from now. Consult an ophthalmologist today!