Cyber Ikigai 3: Where do we go from Here

Where do we go from here? Let us see what has been our understanding so far.

The existing works in the field fall into two categories. Cybersecurity and Digital Minimalism. The Cybersecurity approach emphasises ways and means to protect the devices, the networks and the cloud assets from fraudsters and secure a safe cyber experience. The Digital Minimalism approach category emphasises the need to detach ourselves from the cyberspace as much as possible so that the ill effects of screen do not spoil our lives.

I would argue that the cybersecurity approach has a major limitation. But before that we must appreciate the immense worth of this approach. There can be no mistaking the craving for cybersecurity as it is of foundational importance. Abraham Maslow and his admirers keep reminding us that the safety needs are the second basic human need, after the physiological needs. However, if we emphasise safety and security too much, we get stuck there. Security is a basic stage, but there are more stages. The current stage of human cyber evolution invites us to think beyond the basic need of security, even as we ensure we meet the basic needs first.

Digital minimalism is important and laudable and has saved many lives from the snares of the screen. However, there is a potential flaw here. Digital minimalism increasingly looks like an impossible task as cyberspace is creeping in even as we try to minimise the unnecessary entrapments of the cyberspace. It is quickly taking over the functions of the physical space for the good. We may have reached a stage where we have to learn to live in this space with grace rather than attempting to dodge it.

What we need is perhaps a paradigm beyond these two approaches. It is in this context that I thought of writing a book where one acknowledges and incorporates both the streams, but attempt to take the discussion beyond these. Life is one integral whole. Whether you spend your time in the physical world or the cyberspace, it is our life that is being lived.

The proposition of the book is this: we need is a good life, eudaimonia or ikigai, in the cyberspace. And it warrants a new paradigm that incorporates cybersecurity but attempts to effect corresponding changes in the attitudes and norms of the human behaviour.

The idea of a good life has a long and rich history. From eudaimonia proposed by Aristotle to Ikigai, the Japanese Way of Good Living. It is high time we juxtaposed the requirements of living a good life with the realities of cyberspace so that the eudaimonia proposed by Aristotle survives well into the era of cyberspace. The emphasis is good living across all the realms of human life, whether it is at the level of the basic needs or self actualisation, be it the life of a student or that of a nun.

Let me hasten to add that this is thinking aloud rather than pontificating. I do not claim to know everything about cybersecurity or to be a practicing guru of digital minimalism and cyber eudaimonia. But I did come across several cases of cyber frauds up close, saw how hard-earned money and dignity vanish into thin air in no time because of an error of judgement in a split second. I did try hard to practise digital minimalism and do feel strongly about having a framework towards eudaimonia in the cyberspace, or what I call the Cyber Ikigai. I would deem my job complete if at least a few of my readers take one small step in that direction.

(Continued)

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