Beacon// OF/// Lite

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It is perfectly obvious that we are undergoing a period that reflects the most rapid and exponential change in human history in an all-encompassing fashion. Many signs point toward this, and people of all walks of life are aware of this. You can say that many of us can feel how fast life is changing. There is a dramatic acceleration of overarching trends and a convergence of economic and cultural cyclic change. Astrologists in their analysis of the stars also conclude that this is a most radical time. Our world leaders and elites openly declare we are in such a time. Klaus Schwab, chairman of the World Economic Forum (which organizes the Davos meeting that is exclusive for world leaders, states people, bankers, highly influential billionaires, such as Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates and NGO collaborators and "philanthropists") wrote the book "The Fourth Industrial Revolution". Within the book, Schwab reflects on emerging disruptive technologies that will challenge the social paradigm and impact every aspect of our life. “The fourth industrial revolution, however, is not only about smart and connected machines and systems. Its scope is much wider. Occurring simultaneously are waves of further breakthroughs in areas ranging from gene sequencing to nanotechnology, from renewables to quantum computing. It is the fusion of these technologies and their interaction across the physical, digital and biological domains that make the fourth industrial revolution fundamentally different from previous revolutions. ”

(You can read my review of this book on Goodreads)

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4394648621?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1

GOODREADSDec 17, 2021Liam’s review of The Fourth Industrial Revolution4/5: This book lives in infamy and is inflamed in controversy. Very rarely throughout history have the elite written so directly to “the masses” about the challenges they see us facing. Few times before have we had such insight into the thoughts technocrats have on current and future technology. Kla…

The book addresses the societal situation we face here in the 21st century, now coming to be known as the "Digital Age". In Klaus Schwab's words, “The changes are so profound that, from the perspective of human history, there has never been a time of greater promise or potential peril.” Indeed, the changes are so profound, that our relationship to epistemology, hermeneutics, teleology and our notion of humanity will all be put to question by these changes in our techno-societal superstructure. In one part of the book, while discussing genetic engineering and the potential for consumer purchase of "designer babies", Schwab points out that the very concept of what it means to be a human will be reexamined. These questions are already prominently on the mind of all forward thinkers, from billionaires to anonymous internet personalities and spectators. Interestingly, Bill Gates's favorite novel of 2021, "Klara and the Sun" was a novel that raises the question of what it truly means to be human. Although Schwab's book "The Fourth Industrial Revolution" definitely sets off some alarms for anyone who is concerned about the possible impacts of technology, the book does not truly encapsulate nor address or put into detail the fundamental danger and responsibility that this revolution entails for humanity and in particular, individuals and the working class. Schwab, the World Economic Forum, and his book are plagued by a disconnection between their ideas of "stakeholder capitalism" (which is Popperite "open society" newspeak), and the collective struggle of communities around the world against global imperialism and technocratic determinism.

The Technologies that are being developed require careful reflection, analysis, and ultimately, regulation. This task is up to the conscious public and responsible leaders from diverse interest groups, communities, and identity groups. We must carefully negotiate regulations that ensure privacy, sovereignty, transparency, and distributed value issuance.

If we fail to meaningfully and thoughtfully address the contradictions and dangers of the digital information age, we give up the construction of the new world to the masters of the old world. Without the proper care, thought and oversight, the social and economic changes brought by these technologies will result in creating a societal system that resembles digital feudalism and complete, all-encompassing, nightmarish authoritarian control and monopoly on power. Surveillance technology empowered by AI with machine learning is becoming all the more capable and panoptic than could even be imagined. Digital Identification poses new threats to the privacy, security, and sovereignty of individuals and collective identity groups. Biological data collection and nanotechnology threaten us with the possibility of biohacking. Virtual and altered reality technology and applications, as well as algorithmic information streaming, threaten us with algorithmic socialization and technologically determined epistemology and hermeneutics. When information becomes the most valuable commodity, as it has in today's world ("The Information Age"), the Central Intelligence Agency and other intelligence institutions (the aggregators and arbiters of information) become the defacto superstructure if left unchecked by the public. Politics is the field of negotiation between different individuals, identities, parties, and interest groups. The battle and negotiation of sociotechnical culture IS a political battle. If we wish to develop "what should be", we first need to reflect upon what is. Understanding what is requires deep critical reflection not only of history but of the self and the influence culture and socialization have had on the self. Only once the veil of our own cultural lens has been removed, can we begin to truly see "what is". And once we see what is, we can work pragmatically toward creating "what should be". It is my honor and privilege to be born in this most dynamic century. With the possibilities of decentralization, never before have individuals had so much opportunity to participate in the creation of a new social paradigm. Remember, every time you change yourself, you change the world around you.