The purpose of all technological advancement

Following is an excerpt from a samvaad (dialogue) session with Acharya Prashant.

Question: Acharya Ji, we are sitting here in an air-conditioned room. Had somebody not felt uncomfortable with the conditions, why would somebody invent it?

Acharya Prashant: Has the fan helped you understand what I am saying? You are sitting near the Television, but do you still understand what I am saying? What is of more value to you — the television, the air-conditioner, or what I am saying?

You are wearing this suit which is a product of technology, and human development. Has it helped you understand anything? And if you could not understand anything, irrespective of this watch and this suit, what is the worth of all this?

I will switch-on the air-conditioner. How will that help you know? And if you can’t know, what do you live for? For the air-conditioner? You live to be cooled? You live to wear this watch when you do not know ‘time’. All you know is that it is 2 p.m., but you do not know what ‘time’ is. What will you do with the watch?

It’s better to get out of that suit, be naked, and understand.

You do not live for all this — the air-conditioner, the television, the fan. All these are there so that you can understand. Unfortunately, they become the end…