revolutions
One way of looking at human history is that we have been and are going through three major revolutions.
Firstly there was the Agrarian revolution. Before this revolution took place most people had no idea it was going to happen and what the effects would be. At the end of it, looking back, everything that happened seemed fairly obvious. What did people in the middle of it think?
The second major revolution was the Industrial revolution. As with the agrarian revolution it was a bit of a surprise when it happened. Also, looking back on it, it seems really obvious as most radical changes do. But what of the people in the middle of the revolution? Some could see where it all was going (or at least a part of it) and were wholeheartedly embracing it and encouraging it. Some were fighting tooth and nail for the “good old days” and doing everything they could to sabotage it.
Which brings us to the third revolution which I believe we are in the middle of right now. Some people have called it the I.T. revolution, in which case we are probably starting to approach the end of it. However we could view it as being an “ideas” revolution in which case we are only just starting.
Maybe the I.T. revolution has been necessary so that ideas can be transmitted cheaply, easily and rapidly all around the world. This would then be only a necessary precursor just as the printing press was for the industrial revolution.
So here we are in the middle of it. Some people want to go back and some people are starting to glimpse what it might look like at the end of it. Maybe t his could explain a lot of the seemingly diverse bits of stuff that are going on at the moment such as:
- A fascination with technology.
- The difficult time that conventional business structures are experiencing.
- The interest in some of the applied (and wacky) areas of psychology and pseudo psychology.
- Movements to free up and constrain the flow of information.
Surely this would be exactly what it would be like if we were going through such a revolution? If this is the case then what would the end of this revolution look like?