Thomas Kuhn introduced the world to the concept of the so-called Structure of Scientific Revolutions. He claimed that the generation of new knowledge is not linear and the paradigm shift eventually occurs, transforming the particular field of science abruptly. I think that the same theory may be used to describe the development of mankind: the Stone Age ended not because the stones ended.
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The old paradigm (I prefer to call it the paradigm of the Pyramid of exploitation) doesn’t answer many questions of the new world, the amount of anomalies builds up and the world is about to reach the point of crysis.
Why? Let’s try to sum it up!
The concept of the exploitation of a human by other human is now obsolete. We can use robots - both physical machines and virtual chatbots, literally creating the workforce out of thin air. Most modern companies and businesses benefit from capitalization and stock market a lot more than they do from exploiting any workforce.
The cornerstone of our civilization - the intermediation - also grows obsolete. This may seem both miraculous and creepy. In the past we needed intermediaries even to take the energy from the sun - we had to eat something meaty that used to eat something leafy that gleamed the energy of our star. Today we can take solar energy directly from the Sun and use it to grow vegetables on our vertical farms, and we can also grow meat in a lab. The “kill to live” concept may fade away completely! In addition to that, the “uberization of everything” may purge the society of intermediaries and social parasites.
The final cornerstone of the mankind is conflict. We are born different. Men differ from women, people use far-fetched beauty standards and fight over the best partners. Our desires initiate sublimation. The interesting part begins with the introduction of the VR. The implementation of and extra “virtual” dimension to our reality will erase all borders between people. In the VR each of us will be able to be anyone! The prime conflict will be gone.