by Prof Dr Ng Kwan Hoong
Throughout history, human ingenuity has been driven by a desire to make life easier. The discovery of fire allowed early humans to cook food, making it safer and more palatable.
The invention of the wheel revolutionised transport, enabling people to travel further with less effort. Every major breakthrough, from the printing press to the internet, has been fuelled by the pursuit of convenience.
Today, with just a smartphone and an internet connection, we can summon food, conduct financial transactions, and even consult a doctor without leaving home.
The COVID-19 pandemic underscored just how indispensable these conveniences have become. Yet, as we revel in this effortless accessibility, we must also ask: what are we sacrificing in the name of convenience?
Søren Kierkegaard, the 19th-century Danish philosopher, once argued that much of humanity ‘sleepwalks through life,’ moving passively through existence, driven by habit and ease.
We focus on immediate comfort, rarely pausing to examine the deeper realities that shape our decisions.
Do we see ourselves in this predicament? Are we so accustomed to convenience that we have stopped questioning its impact on our autonomy, relationships, and intellectual growth?
The paradox of convenience is that while it is born out of innovation, it can also stifle it. Creativity and problem-solving often emerge from necessity, yet we have outsourced much of our decision-making to technology.
Consider a simple question: can you get a meal without using a smartphone? The answer is, of course, yes. But the thought of enduring traffic, waiting in line, or choosing a restaurant without online reviews feels unnecessarily troublesome.
Have we become so dependent on instant solutions that we no longer explore or adapt to new challenges? As our routines become dictated by algorithms, we risk falling into single-track thinking, where discovery and spontaneity give way to passive consumption.
This convenience-driven passivity extends beyond consumer habits. “On-demand” culture has reshaped our expectations of time and efficiency. We have grown impatient with delays, however minor. If an online order arrives late, if a streaming video buffers for a few seconds, or if a message is not immediately responded to, frustration sets in.
We are no longer conditioned to wait. This shift is reminiscent of a scene in Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, where society prioritizes pleasure and instant gratification over depth and contemplation. Have we become so fixated on avoiding inconvenience that we are losing our tolerance for patience and effort?
More profoundly, this obsession with immediacy is eroding the way we build relationships. Social interactions have been compressed into short messages, emojis, and voice notes, replacing meaningful conversations.
We have become accustomed to instant connectivity, yet paradoxically, we are lonelier than ever. Studies suggest that despite being more digitally connected, people today report feeling more socially isolated than previous generations.
The rise of convenience has not necessarily translated into stronger bonds; rather, it has created a culture where delayed responses cause anxiety, and in-person conversations are replaced by fleeting digital interactions.
Call for recalibration
At times, human behaviour swings between extremes. There was an era when people overshared on social media, documenting their lives in real-time, only to later withdraw into hyper-privacy, wary of surveillance and online exposure.
We crave connection yet struggle with the vulnerabilities it entails. Is it ironic, or simply the inevitable byproduct of a world where convenience has supplanted human engagement?
Reclaiming depth in our lives does not require abandoning convenience altogether, but it does call for conscious recalibration. Instead of defaulting to digital interactions, we can choose to engage in more meaningful ways.
A handwritten letter carries an emotional weight that a text message cannot. A conversation over coffee fosters a level of connection that a string of emojis never will.
Choosing to wait, to engage fully in a moment, to resist the urge for instant solutions — these are small yet significant ways to reclaim autonomy over our time and relationships.
Technology will continue to evolve, offering ever more effortless solutions. But true fulfilment does not come from taking the shortest path; it arises from the journey itself.
The increasing impatience we witness today is not just shaping individual habits but also defining broader societal values. If we lose our capacity for patience, effort, and deep engagement, what kind of world are we creating? Perhaps it is time to step back and ask:
Are we controlling convenience, or is convenience controlling us?
The author is an Emeritus Professor of Biomedical Imaging at the Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Malaya. A 2020 Merdeka Award recipient, he is a medical physicist by training but also enjoys writing, drawing, listening to classical music, and bridging the gap between older and younger generations.
WE