Benefits of continuous progress
Looking back at the major milestones of all industrial revolutions, you can catch that the pace of technology development has been steadily increasing. We never cease to wonder at the speed at which some innovations are replaced by others. It’s happening so fast and it’s taking over so many areas of our lives, it’s fascinating and even scary for some people.
Indeed, our generation will deal with so many changes that it could drive a person who lived 100 years ago insane. The speed of information flow has changed dramatically. If you put some office clerk from 1921 in today’s manager’s shoes, the poor guy will be astonished by the complexity of duties, multitasking, and variety of tools he must use to carry out his job. For him, it would be incredibly hard to fathom how it’s possible.
So much has already been saying about how technology will change the physical world. Looking at current examples of technology we can predict that the adoption of the blockchain can shift and change even the political system in this world and the broad adoption of electric vehicles can make our cities cleaner and more livable. But I’m sure that nonmaterial changes will be even more influential. Just imagine how it will change people’s habits and what regular new activities it will bring in our lives.
Reasoning about the future, some people look ahead with a deep-rooted fear. Someone might say that it is natural for us to be afraid of unknown things. But the real reason is a bit deeper, let’s bring it down. It turns out that when we encounter some new technology, a new device, or just new people, we’re dealing with changes and some degree of uncertainty. It’s pretty uncomfortable for your brain to be in this situation and he strives to avoid it in every possible way. This buddy always prefers the easiest way. But how can you really appreciate something that comes easily?
However, keep your chin up, I’ve brought some cookies for you. These days, not every job implies constant learning of new things and dealing with really new issues and many people are used to considering this as a heavy burden that requires additional efforts and spending a lot of energy. But I believe it’s a great privilege our ancestors didn’t have. And doing this constantly you’ll make your personal reality so much brighter and you’ll receive much more energy than you’ve spent. Just remember some moment in your life when you’ve learned how to use some new tool, how to install some new program, or just took some uncomfortable but important step. Maybe it wasn’t a real pleasure at the beginning, but when you’ve finished I bet that feelings were pretty cool. And dealing with new things and solving new problems, you will be in a great mood quite often. Our self-development is a necessary ingredient for happiness. And we will all receive that amazing pill against boredom for free.
Eventually, humanity will be forced to take a plunge. I prefer to take a look at this as a great opportunity. If you research biographies of the most successful people you will find out that they embrace changes constantly. And now you can see where it has brought them. The overabundance of tasks forces you to learn the art of prioritization. Time management comes naturally into your life. Finally, we will adapt to the noize of social media, messengers, and apps which distract us every couple of seconds. And we will learn new ways how to keep our mental health under this informational pressure. How do I know that for sure? At least several million people have been through this before. They are not robots and they look happy.
Some groups of people are really concerned about the outcomes of constant progress and especially about changes that global automatization can bring. Their imagination sketches the future of our planet enslaved by soulless robots with millions of hungry unemployed people who are left behind. Sounds good enough and I think it’s worth making a movie on this story. But I’m not afraid of the rebellion of machines because of the mass use of artificial intelligence. It’s a powerful tool for some activities but this technology is nothing compared with a human brain. In addition, it’s important to understand that the world will not change overnight and people will have enough time to adapt. Undoubtedly, new professions will replace obsolete ones as has been the case many times in our history. Some of these professions will really surprise you for sure. And once again, new opportunities will emerge.
It only remains for me to wish you enjoying this exciting and inclusive process. And don’t worry, there are far more appropriate emotions for that. Something tells me that sooner or later we’ll all get the front-row tickets on this show.