256
ticed due to the success of the second phase of the
first curve (I), and the road can go only down
after that. Opportunities hidden in new technology, new market, new approach, new partnerships have to be recognised, and future have to be
invested in. For example, Kodak missed the
chance to recognise opportunities in digital photography and they fell behind in the race.
It is important that everyone understands that
a new age brings new problems that cannot be
solved using the old methods, therefore rigid persistence in old traditions have to be challenged.
To implement several changes a new generation is required. According to Handy, we are
approaching the “do it yourself” society. Internet
is a good tool for it as it can be used for creating
and using virtual money, car sharing and an economy based on rent. Handy thinks people begin to
realise that ownership is too expensive. (In the
author’s opinion, this is not the case yet in many
countries.) Machines and tools can be hired to
realise our ideas. We do not even notice that service providers make customers do the job in an
increasing number of fields: we print out flight
tickets and boarding cards, we measure purchased goods, we assemble the purchased furniture (flat pack furniture), etc.
Self-responsibility will be a typical characteristic of the forming new society as our dependence on the state and government decreases and
a more independent, freer society is under progress. This also means that the state gives less, and
we have to sort out our own financial future, pension for example.
Several activities return to our home via computers (internet), and the significance of personal
contact will become smaller. (The authors of the
present book are not sure whether this is a beneficial feature of the society of Handy’s future or
not. Human relationships need personal contact
as metacommunication holds information that
cannot get through the internet, nor even Skype.)
Organising our work and life will be covered
by the infosphere (the network of means created
by the informatics revolution, including software). New jobs emerge that did not exist before
(nanomedical student, organs trade agent, alternative currency speculator, waste data manager
for organising our disordered data, etc.). Open
access information will reorder power, hierarchies will be replaced by networks, borders
blurred, power and authority vanish.
At this point the authors of the present book
put forward a “rhetorical question”: how will
this new society work if authority is not known?
Some kind of organisation will be necessary and
that presumes a sort of hierarchy. This applies
even to networks where “centres” (intersections)
influence the operation of the network more than
other nodes. Experience in history, however, suggests that those in power never give their power
away easily and state power enforcement is at
their disposal to keep their power. Dictatorship
exists in many forms even today. There are examples of dictators accommodating to changed conditions, and their means are not as rough as in
the middle of the twentieth century, but their goal
is the same, oppress dependants, limit their freedom including information, and provide the thin
layer of people serving the power with the majority of material goods. In the long-term maybe
social networks developing on the internet could
promote the spreading of democratic state structures; however, the power often tries to control
the internet as well.
Survival of autocratic regimes is helped by
that power intrudes increasingly into several
fields of our life. Personal data in state register
systems and even in trade informatic systems
grow, and this information could be used not only
for criminal investigations but also for regulating
those thinking differently. True enough, if selfemployment becomes widespread, intervention
possibilities of the power will decrease in, for
example, sacking. Confinement, however, remains
a state monopoly.
According to Handy, invisible algorithms and
mathematical formulae will control more and
more fields of life. These algorithmic societies
will be borne very hardly by many. (In the
author’s opinion as the degree of tension caused
by the above cannot be estimated social explosions could be triggered.)
Virtual connectivity may reach a very high
level making our laptop our office. This maybe
convenient (sometimes too convenient as we
6 Steps Towards Realising Global Sustainable Development
ticed due to the success of the second phase of the
first curve (I), and the road can go only down
after that. Opportunities hidden in new technology, new market, new approach, new partnerships have to be recognised, and future have to be
invested in. For example, Kodak missed the
chance to recognise opportunities in digital photography and they fell behind in the race.
It is important that everyone understands that
a new age brings new problems that cannot be
solved using the old methods, therefore rigid persistence in old traditions have to be challenged.
To implement several changes a new generation is required. According to Handy, we are
approaching the “do it yourself” society. Internet
is a good tool for it as it can be used for creating
and using virtual money, car sharing and an economy based on rent. Handy thinks people begin to
realise that ownership is too expensive. (In the
author’s opinion, this is not the case yet in many
countries.) Machines and tools can be hired to
realise our ideas. We do not even notice that service providers make customers do the job in an
increasing number of fields: we print out flight
tickets and boarding cards, we measure purchased goods, we assemble the purchased furniture (flat pack furniture), etc.
Self-responsibility will be a typical characteristic of the forming new society as our dependence on the state and government decreases and
a more independent, freer society is under progress. This also means that the state gives less, and
we have to sort out our own financial future, pension for example.
Several activities return to our home via computers (internet), and the significance of personal
contact will become smaller. (The authors of the
present book are not sure whether this is a beneficial feature of the society of Handy’s future or
not. Human relationships need personal contact
as metacommunication holds information that
cannot get through the internet, nor even Skype.)
Organising our work and life will be covered
by the infosphere (the network of means created
by the informatics revolution, including software). New jobs emerge that did not exist before
(nanomedical student, organs trade agent, alternative currency speculator, waste data manager
for organising our disordered data, etc.). Open
access information will reorder power, hierarchies will be replaced by networks, borders
blurred, power and authority vanish.
At this point the authors of the present book
put forward a “rhetorical question”: how will
this new society work if authority is not known?
Some kind of organisation will be necessary and
that presumes a sort of hierarchy. This applies
even to networks where “centres” (intersections)
influence the operation of the network more than
other nodes. Experience in history, however, suggests that those in power never give their power
away easily and state power enforcement is at
their disposal to keep their power. Dictatorship
exists in many forms even today. There are examples of dictators accommodating to changed conditions, and their means are not as rough as in
the middle of the twentieth century, but their goal
is the same, oppress dependants, limit their freedom including information, and provide the thin
layer of people serving the power with the majority of material goods. In the long-term maybe
social networks developing on the internet could
promote the spreading of democratic state structures; however, the power often tries to control
the internet as well.
Survival of autocratic regimes is helped by
that power intrudes increasingly into several
fields of our life. Personal data in state register
systems and even in trade informatic systems
grow, and this information could be used not only
for criminal investigations but also for regulating
those thinking differently. True enough, if selfemployment becomes widespread, intervention
possibilities of the power will decrease in, for
example, sacking. Confinement, however, remains
a state monopoly.
According to Handy, invisible algorithms and
mathematical formulae will control more and
more fields of life. These algorithmic societies
will be borne very hardly by many. (In the
author’s opinion as the degree of tension caused
by the above cannot be estimated social explosions could be triggered.)
Virtual connectivity may reach a very high
level making our laptop our office. This maybe
convenient (sometimes too convenient as we
6 Steps Towards Realising Global Sustainable Development