(This essay was originally published at the now defunct Disinfo.com)
However, this revolutionary sharing of the global experience is merely the "how" of its existence. It is causally self-referential. I think the topic of interest on the matter should be directed at our actions. Our actions make the changes that take place in the world. It is true that the internet can organize revolution quicker than the printing press, but we are not revolting because such technologies exist. We revolt because there is cause for revolt. This realization is the second part of the 21st century enlightenment. (This too we share with many aspects of the original Enlightenment.)
Just like in ye olde Enlightenment we have politicians telling us one thing and another, sides to choose, ideologies to ponder and artists commenting on the times. In ye olde Enlightenment we had books, plays and paintings. Today we can add moving pictures and Hollywood is rife with social commentary. As part of my writing workload I am a film reviewer for my local newspaper, so I see all these films, whether I want to or not.
The 21st Century Enlightenment is
simple. In much the same way as the Enlightenment of the late middle
ages, when the printing press was invented, (amongst a multitude of
other "modernations") technology has once again brought us
into a new paradigm of existence. In this so called "network
intelligence" we become an amalgam intellect. In the old
Enlightenment we shared books. In the new enlightenment we share each
other, in real time. If this is not hyperreality, it doesn't exist.
However, this revolutionary sharing of the global experience is merely the "how" of its existence. It is causally self-referential. I think the topic of interest on the matter should be directed at our actions. Our actions make the changes that take place in the world. It is true that the internet can organize revolution quicker than the printing press, but we are not revolting because such technologies exist. We revolt because there is cause for revolt. This realization is the second part of the 21st century enlightenment. (This too we share with many aspects of the original Enlightenment.)
Just like in ye olde Enlightenment we have politicians telling us one thing and another, sides to choose, ideologies to ponder and artists commenting on the times. In ye olde Enlightenment we had books, plays and paintings. Today we can add moving pictures and Hollywood is rife with social commentary. As part of my writing workload I am a film reviewer for my local newspaper, so I see all these films, whether I want to or not.
See any film about a dystopian future
and you are seeing the left over fears from the end of the 20th
century extrapolated into a plausible totalitarian outcome. The real
world hasn't ended, the apocalypse remains nigh. All these films
feature a corrupt and misguided government and a peoples revolution.
These films are aimed at teenagers and are carefully crafted vehicles
of effective social engineering. They even introduce the idea of
world shaping to very young kids now, with animated movies about
Plato's cave, the downfalls of societies, perfect psychologies
inside, perfect philosophies outside. This engineering via art is not
a new phenomenon, but it is currently rampant in entertainment. As a
reflection of society, art's commentary is a wish for change. In the
21st Century Enlightenment such wishes come through loud and clear,
instantly.
Like the french Revolution had JJ
Rousseau and his Social Contract, we have a new standard by which we
measure that which we consider fair and just. We can know no better
than Rousseau as to our correctness in our times and places, but we
both agree that something stinks about the state of affairs we find
ourselves inhabiting. It seems too, that in our new enlightenment as
in the old, the problems come down to the machinations of (perceived)
money and (perceived) power. However, now, unlike then, we don't
imagine such noble futures for merely France, or any other nation,
but we dream globally. Furthermore, in the old enlightenment such
imaginings we're left to the educated, some would say, elite of our
societies, the Rousseaus of the world. Whereas now, anyone with a
computer can become a philosopher.
What these new age philosophers are discovering, uncovering and beginning to act upon is a key correlation of the 21st century enlightenment: The gap between the elite advantage and the rest of us is not dissimilar to the gap between the "western world" and the rest of the globe. It's not just the rich that are the problem, because, on a global scale, Canada is rich. I am rich. We are all guilty in our affluence. We owe our wealth to inappropriate institutional realities, systemic dichotomous beliefs and misguided intentions.
What these new age philosophers are discovering, uncovering and beginning to act upon is a key correlation of the 21st century enlightenment: The gap between the elite advantage and the rest of us is not dissimilar to the gap between the "western world" and the rest of the globe. It's not just the rich that are the problem, because, on a global scale, Canada is rich. I am rich. We are all guilty in our affluence. We owe our wealth to inappropriate institutional realities, systemic dichotomous beliefs and misguided intentions.