Order Out of Chaos

We are living in “interesting” times. More than that we are watching history unfold a page at a time. My long time business slogan has always been “The Future is Now” and indeed it is. Perhaps a better one would be “The more things change….the more they stay the same”. It’s a matter of perspective. In less than 200 years the entire human race has gone from relatively small and isolated groups of people in cities, towns, villages and farms across the globe to a world united in Facebook, Instagram and Tiktok….go figure.

I’m not an historian. Whatifalthist (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5Dw9TFdbPJoTDMSiJdIQTA) does a much better job of that than me. Whatifalthist looks at historical alternatives to explain the current human conditions, from geopolitics to religion. Another one of my favorite cliches, “Knowledge is power…” may be most appropriate.. Today, 6 year olds carry their own cell phones, knowledge is ubiquitous, it’s everywhere…with a simple “google” you can find out just about anything about anything you want. And with all that knowledge what do we do with it? Polarization, narcissism, mass hysteria and living for the “ping”…who cares about interpersonal relationships, family bonds and trust when we always have a screen to cozy up to. I’m not a luddite, I have nothing against all this tech, J’m addicted too.

It is what it is. But as tech grows more powerful, we as humans become more powerful and perhaps with a very different kind of power…the kind that does not rely on brute force and the threat of violence, real or imagined. Perhaps, if humans can connect with the humanity hidden behind those screens then that power can only do positive things as opposed to the viciousness of the last 2000 years and beyond. At least it’s something to hope for.