Change is coming

Change is coming – not only in the Philippines but to the whole world. In fact, there are those who believe that the change has started; but, that the pace of change will accelerate in the next few years. The change that is coming will be permanent and will not come and go with the rise and fall of political leaders.

Leo Tolstoy, author of War and Peace,once wrote: “ ...historical personages are the product of their times, emerging from the connection between contemporary and preceding events.” He felt that those called great men by journalists and historians were no more than “...labels giving names to events.”

Real change or social change refers to changes in nature, social institutions, social behaviors or societal relationships. These changes are driven by cultural, religious, economic, technological or ecological forces.

The birth and death of Jesus Christ, 2,000 years ago,  which led to the founding of Christianity has brought a fundamental change in world society. The struggle for women’s rights has brought social changes; but, it is a struggle still going on in many parts of the world.

Perhaps, one  factor that has  driven change in the modern world is technological change. During the 20th century, or the post-Industrial Revolution era, technological changes changed the way people met, interacted, learned, worked, played, travel and do business.

Think of transportation and how it changed our lives. In a short span of just a few decades, the steam engine was invented paving the way for railroads and steam ships. Then  the automobile and the airplane were invented and continuously modernized until it allowed man to finally reach the moon. The communication revolution started with the telegraph. Then  the telephone, radio and television were invented.  Then came the internet and that started a whole new revolution.

Often modern technology is actually the result of discoveries made thousands of years ago. For example, Archimedes was a mathematician who lived in the period we now call Ancient Greece. He demonstrated that water could be raised to irrigate parched land above a stream by using a continuous screw mechanism inside a flexible tube. From this invention, during the 17th century, machines were created that came to be known as the pulley system. These were used to irrigate farms and freed men and women from the back breaking work of carrying water. This same system has modern applications in the vacuum cleaner and washing machines. So next time you go to a laundromat, think of Archimedes.

One of the very first historical personality that saw the link between technology and social change was Francis Bacon, a 17th century English philosopher, statesman, scientist, jurist, orator and author. He was a great advocate of the advancement of learning and the scientific method.

At the beginning of the 17th century, Bacon identified the printing press, gunpowder and the compass as the technological innovations which he believed had enabled mankind to make the transition from the Middle Ages to a modern age based on science and an enhanced understanding of nature.

There is no question about the impact, seldom understood, of the invention of the printing press. This is how historian Lisa Jardine explained the change:

“ Cheap, mass produced books in every household encouraged literacy...Instead of gathering around the priest-privileged deliverer of divine truth orally to the faithful – each individual could now own and study the sacred text [Bible]. Print led directly to freedom to think for oneself, to make up one’s own mind on any question, and thereby forged the Western intellectual tradition.

The technology of print may be said to have caused the [Protestant] Reformation – both Erasmus and [Martin] Luther were masterly manipulators of the book – and ultimately contributed to the emancipation and equal treatment of women and ordinary people of all ethnic backgrounds and social classes.” However, the printed word has also become the conveyor of radical ideologies and other destructive forces in society.

Today, we are already hearing predictions that the printing press is obsolescent and will soon be obsolete. The new world of digital technology will very soon be upon us.  There will be many – like me – who will continue to rely on books and the printed word as the source of information and enjoyment. But, there is a new generation that will be more comfortable with these new technologies. Their lives will be reshaped by the social revolution that the internet and digital technology will foster.

For example, the sense of community has begun to change. The community, in my time, was composed of people with whom you have regular physical contact – neighbors, classmates, gangs, and work related contacts. Today, the internet and smart phones have given birth to other communities – viber groups, facebook friends, and twitter followers. This new technology has allowed online communities to exist literally spanning the globe. It has also given us more freedom of choice to determine who will be our social friends. Will these freedom lead to more openness and understanding; or, will it lead people to belong to more smaller and like-minded communities?

Reading a newspaper gives the reader the opportunity to scan all the different sections; and, perhaps chance upon a story that he or she would not have originally planned on reading. But the digital age has allowed readers the capability to focus on specific topics and only on  stories that they are interested in reading. More and more, writers are targeting specific groups since the concept of a “general reading public” is disappearing. Other forms of technology – medical, artificial intelligence, biotech – will bring about change that may alter the way we think, communicate, learn, and behave.

Let us hope that each new discovery in this new world of technology should be undertaken in the interests of the many rather than for those who are already well fed and comfortable.