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The Relationship Between the Development of External Power and Inner Power · Sri Aurobindo Studies

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  Developing external power through the use of technology
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  has several unexpected or unintended consequences.
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  One of these, of course, is to give us powers of observation
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  and action that were not available to us through the
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  normal progression of physical, vital and mental development.
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  In order to develop such powers, a corresponding inner
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  development is of course also required, as it requires a power
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  of insight, intuition, imagination, perseverance,
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  reasoning, et cetera. Thus, the development of any
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  external power has a corresponding inner movement
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  associated with it. At the same time, we tend to
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  become reliant on these external powers, and in some cases the
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  acuity and natural capacity is left to atrophy or erode.
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  For example, with the development of calculators and
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  the development of powers of AI in our phones and computers,
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  much of humanity has stopped trying to do mathematical
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  calculation. Mentally, the prodigious feats
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  of mental math are very much lost to most of us, as we find
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  it easier to simply ask our computer or phone to tell us the
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  answer. It can be reasoned that by
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  taking away what is essentially a basic and time consuming task,
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  we are freeing up our concentration and mental
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  capacity to take on more interesting or expansive tasks.
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  At least we have the opportunity to do so even if we fail to
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  exercise it. Doctor Delal cites a particular
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  instance, the Development Tools to enhance visual power with the
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  corresponding weakening of the eyesight.
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  There may be a general correspondence between the two,
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  but not a causal relationship. The microscope and the telescope
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  provide visual powers into areas that humanity was previously
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  unable to explore fully, but it is not the use of these things
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  which has resulted in the erosion of eyesight in the
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  youth. There are different factors that
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  cause the diminution of eyesight, such as increased UV
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  ray exposure due to weakening of the ozone protective layer, new
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  forms of radiation, new demands being made on the visual sense,
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  including the use of computer monitors, television sets and
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  mobile phones, as well as increased demands for the use of
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  the organs of sight for fine detail.
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  As our lives become more complex and a greater demand is placed
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  on focusing the eyesight, the two events occur at a similar
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  time in our evolutionary cycle but may be coincidental to one
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  another. Similarly, the rise of
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  autoimmune diseases can be seen to take place side by side with
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  our increased ability to prevent or treat disease conditions
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  through development of pharmaceutical drugs or through
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  surgery and advanced therapies that rely, for instance, on
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  laser technology, radiation or other means.
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  In some cases, there may be a direct causative relationship
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  due to unintended or known but unavoidable consequences of the
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  treatment modality on the body. Such is the case with the use of
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  chemotherapy, for instance, which is known to have serious
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  side effects but is nevertheless the best tool available to
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  modern medicine to treat certain forms of cancers.
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  In other cases, we may again find coincidence, but not
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  causality. Causality may be due to the vast
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  increase in toxic substances in the earth, air and water.
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  The contamination of our environment.
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  Our increased use of radiation in the world, including the
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  residual effects of the nuclear weapons testing that occurred in
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  many parts of the world and which is left behind.
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  Residual effects and radioactive energy, as well as the increased
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  exposure to UV radiation from the sun due to the
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  aforementioned weakening of the ozone layer.
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  The development of synthetically developed foods and the
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  increased reliance on factory farming, which uses growth
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  hormones, antibiotics and other chemical additives to create our
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  modern, dramatically deficient food supply which provides in
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  many cases less bio active nutrition while promoting
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  obesity and dysfunction of various internal organs.
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  The climate change that humanity has created as a result of the
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  industrial revolution also has as one of its impacts increasing
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  both the range and potency of various diseases and disease
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  vectors, and our modern worldwide mobility enhances the
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  potential for the spread of pandemic diseases.
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  Add to this the increase in stress with the enhanced speed
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  of modern life and the demands made on people, and we have a
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  recipe for weakening immune response that correlates in time
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  with the increased technologies to treat disease but is not
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  necessarily causatively related. The development of external
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  powers has both its advantages and its disadvantages.
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  In terms of our inner development.
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  The challenge is to recognize that all external power must
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  proceed from and be controlled by a corresponding growth in the
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  inner power, and that is the area of development we are
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  called upon to understand and undertake at the present time.
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  It is also likely that as the evolution takes place, we begin
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  to place less reliance on the external physical senses.
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  The development of external powers of observation based on
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  technology corresponds to an inner development of
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  consciousness that can and eventually must provide new
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  methods of observation and understanding, Doctor de Lal
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  writes Quote. Power can be derived from
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  external things or from our own being.
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  For example, power for fighting illness can come from the use of
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  external means such as medicines, or it can be summoned
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  from within in the body's innate power of resistance.
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  Until now, humanity, in its efforts for gaining more and
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  more power, has endeavoured to obtain power in different areas,
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  predominantly from without. Through technological and
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  scientific developments, development of the powers within
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  us has received far less attention, so that internal
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  power has not only lagged far behind external power, but has
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  also deteriorated in some respects.
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  Thus, whereas great strides have been made in combating disease
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  with the aid of external means, namely more powerful drugs and
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  more advanced technology, there is an increasing prevalence of
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  diseases related to the body's own immune system, such as
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  cancer, arthritis, AIDS, and others, indicating a
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  deterioration of the body's own natural mechanisms of healing.
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  Apropos of the decrease in personal power that has resulted
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  with the increase in technology, Joseph C Pierce writes in his
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  book The Bond of Power, publisher Dutton, 1981 quote.
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  We have long spoken of our technological devices as
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  extensions of personal power. In practice, though, every
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  technological achievement really undermines, erodes, even
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  replaces in one way or another our ability.
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  It extends and enhances. End Quote, Doctor Delal
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  continues. As an example, Pierce states
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  that whereas we have extended our powers of aided vision
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  through technological devices such as the telescope and the
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  microscope, our own visual power has deteriorated.
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  Thus, in Texas in 1900, about 12% of children at the age of
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  eight had short sightedness. In 1962, even at the age of 6,
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  approximately 80% of the children were found to have
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  short sightedness. End Quote.
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  Reference. Srioro Bindu and the Mother.
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  Powers within introduction pages.
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  Roman, 13 to 14.