Problems of modern man: Communication. Modern man. Man in the modern world

Parameter name	Meaning
Article topic:	Modern world
Rubric (thematic category)	Policy

The modern world is indeed contradictory. On the one hand, there are positive phenomena and trends. The nuclear missile confrontation between the great powers and the division of earthlings into two antagonistic camps are over. Many nations of Eurasia, Latin America and other regions that previously lived in conditions of unfreedom have embarked on the path of democracy and market reforms.

A post-industrial society is being formed at an increasing pace, which is radically restructuring the entire way of life of mankind: advanced technologies are constantly being updated, a single global information space is emerging, a person with his high educational and professional level is becoming the mainspring of progress. International economic ties are deepening and diversifying.

Integration associations in various parts Lights are gaining more and more weight, turning into a significant factor not only in the global economy, but also in military security, political stability, and peacekeeping. The number and functions of international institutions and mechanisms in the UN system are growing, bringing humanity together into one whole, promoting the interdependence of states, nations, and people. There is a globalization of the economic, and after this, the political life of mankind.

But just as obvious are phenomena and trends of a completely different order, provoking disunity, contradictions and conflicts. The entire post-Soviet space is going through a painful process of adaptation to new geopolitical, ideological and economic realities. After decades of calm, the situation in the Balkans exploded, painfully

recalling the events that led to the outbreak of the First World War. Conflicts are breaking out on other continents. There are attempts to fragment the international community into closed military-political blocs, competing economic groups, and rival religious and nationalist movements. The phenomena of terrorism, separatism, drug trafficking, and organized crime have reached planetary proportions. The proliferation of weapons of mass destruction continues, and environmental threats are on the rise.

Globalization, along with new opportunities for socio-economic progress and expansion of human contacts, also creates new dangers, especially for lagging states. The risk of dependence of their economy and information system on external influences is growing. The likelihood of large-scale financial and economic crises is increasing. Natural and man-made disasters are becoming global in nature, and environmental imbalances are worsening. Many problems are spiraling out of control, outpacing the world community's ability to respond to them in a timely and effective manner.

The fact that a new, stable system of international relations has not yet emerged exacerbates friction and contradictions. In this regard, in the scientific and political environment, alarmist scenarios for the development of world politics are born and become widespread - in particular, clashes between civilizations (Western, Chinese, Islamic, East Slavic, etc.), regions, the rich North and the poor are predicted The South even predicts the total collapse of states and the return of humanity to a primitive state.

There is, however, reason to believe that in the 21st century. The main actors on the world stage will remain sovereign states, and life on earth will continue to be determined by the relationships between them. States will continue to cooperate or compete in accordance with their interests, which are complex, multifaceted, diverse and do not always coincide with civilizational, regional and other vectors. Ultimately, states' capabilities and positions will continue to rest on their combined power.

To this day, only one superpower has survived: the United States, and many begin to think that an era of unlimited American domination “Pack America” is dawning. The United States undoubtedly has grounds to claim the role of a powerful center of power for the long term. They have accumulated impressive economic, military, scientific, technical, information and cultural potential, which is projected onto all major spheres of life in the modern world. At the same time, America has a growing desire to lead others. The American official doctrine proclaims the existence of a US zone of influence in the world (the so-called core zone), which is supposed to ultimately include the overwhelming number of states. The United States is favored in this policy by the fact that alternative social models (socialism, non-capitalist path of development) at this stage are devalued, have lost their attractiveness, and many countries voluntarily copy the United States and accept its leadership.

However, the world will not become unipolar. First of all, the United States does not have enough financial and technical resources for this. Moreover, the unprecedentedly prolonged rise of the American economy will not last forever; sooner or later it will be interrupted by depression, and this will inevitably reduce Washington’s ambitions on the world stage. Secondly, there is no unity in the United States on issues of foreign strategy; voices are clearly heard against overloading the United States with international obligations and interfering in everything. Thirdly, there are states that not only resist American influence, but are capable of being leaders themselves. This is, first of all, China, which is rapidly gaining overall state power, in the longer term - India, possibly a united Europe, Japan. At some stage, ASEAN, Turkey, Iran, South Africa, Brazil, etc. may apply for leadership on a regional scale.

As for Russia, despite the difficulties it is experiencing, it does not intend to enter the zone of foreign influence. Moreover, our state has the necessary potential to gradually transform into a prosperous and respected center of power in a multipolar world - this is a huge territory, colossal natural, scientific, technical and human resources, and profitable geographical position, and military power, and traditions, and the will to lead, and, finally, the relevance of Russia as an influential power in various regions globe(CIS, Middle East, Asia-Pacific, Latin America).

The movement towards multipolarity is a real and natural process, because it reflects the will of existing or promising centers of power. At the same time, the transition period, being associated with the struggle for influence, with changes in the balance of forces, is fraught with conflicts. There are no guarantees that rivalry between major powers and associations of states will automatically disappear after the formation new system international relations. It is known from history that the multipolar system created as a result of the First World War did not prevent the outbreak of a new, even more destructive conflict two decades later.

Nobody knows how new centers of power will behave in the 21st century, having sensed their own superiority. Their relations with medium-sized and small countries may well continue to carry a charge of conflict due to the latter’s reluctance to submit to the will of others. This can be seen in the example of current relations between the United States and the DPRK, Cuba, Iraq, Iran, etc. It is also characteristic that even those countries that, of their own free will, enter the zones of influence of centers of power defend their rights much more energetically than in the era of “ cold warʼʼ. Thus, the Europeans are still ready to cooperate with the United States, but at the same time they are strengthening regional institutions, thinking about purely continental defense efforts, and refusing to “march to American drums” in all matters. Many differences and disagreements exist between Washington and its partners in Latin America, in the Middle East, in Southeast Asia. There are problems in the relations of China, Russia, Japan, India with their smaller neighbors.

Another reality of the modern world, which will obviously persist in the 21st century, is the contradictions between medium-sized and small states themselves. After the end of the Cold War, their number even increased due to the elimination of the previous bloc discipline, when the superpowers kept their wards in line, the absence of regional leaders in a number of regions of the globe (primarily in Africa and the Middle East), the collapse of the USSR and Yugoslavia.

Humanity is entering the new millennium with the burden of numerous territorial, religious, ethnic, and ideological disputes. Conflicts, as before, can give rise to such motives as the struggle for resources, ecology, migration, refugees, terrorism, possession of nuclear weapons, etc.

Distinctive feature The current era is the presence of a significant number of states that are experiencing serious internal difficulties. Moreover, as the recent financial crisis in Asia showed, dynamic economic systems. A threat to stability in the state may come from political system- both totalitarian, sooner or later doomed to collapse, and democratic. Rapid democratization gave free rein to various destructive processes: from separatism to racism, from terrorism to the breakthrough of mafia structures to the levers of state power. It is also obvious that even in the most developed countries, knots of religious and ethnic contradictions persist. Wherein internal problems They are increasingly breaking out beyond state borders and invading the sphere of international relations. Despite, however, the high potential for conflict that remains in the modern world, there is still reason to look at the 21st century. with a certain optimism. It is inspired, first of all, by the already mentioned growing interdependence of states. Gone are the days when large countries tried their best to bleed each other dry. Russia does not want the American economy to collapse or chaos to spread across China. In both cases, our interests will suffer. Chaos in Russia or China will hit America equally.

The interdependence of the modern world will continue to increase under the influence of factors such as:

the accelerating revolution in means of transport, communications and microelectronics;

ever more complete inclusion in world relations of the former communist countries, as well as the PRC, the states of the “third world”, which have abandoned the non-capitalist path of development;

unprecedented liberalization of world economic relations and, as a consequence, deepening interaction national economies most states;

internationalization of financial and production capital (transnational corporations already control 1/3 of the assets of all private companies);

general tasks humanity to counter growing global threats: terrorism, drug trafficking, organized crime, nuclear proliferation, famine, environmental disasters.

The internal development of any state now depends on the external environment, support and assistance of other “players” on the world stage, in this regard, globalization, with all its flaws, “pitfalls”, dangers, is preferable to the complete separation of states.

The mitigation of contradictions in the international arena should be facilitated by democratization, which has covered a significant part of the planet. States that adhere to similar ideological principles have fewer grounds for mutual contradictions and more opportunities to overcome them peacefully.

The cessation of the arms race between the “superpowers” ​​and their blocs, the awareness of the danger of a reckless buildup of nuclear missile potential contribute to the demilitarization of the world community. And this is a factor that also works for harmonization international relations.

Reasons for optimism are also given by the fact that in the era of globalization the system of international law is being improved, its norms are increasingly recognized. Most modern states subscribe to such concepts as renunciation of aggression, peaceful resolution of conflicts, submission to decisions of the UN Security Council and other international institutions, fight against racism, respect for the rights of peoples and human rights, electability of governments, their accountability to the population, etc. .

Finally, another treasure of humanity on the threshold of the 21st century. - this is the already mentioned growth of the system of global and regional organizations that have a mandate to deepen interaction between states, prevent and resolve conflicts, carry out collective actions on political and economic issues, etc. The UN is a universal forum that is gradually capable of evolving towards becoming a kind of world government.

If this trend continues to develop, then there is hope that power politics and unbridled rivalry between states will begin to fade into the background.

The modern world - concept and types. Classification and features of the category "Modern World" 2017, 2018.

What is the main competitive advantage in the modern world? How important is the speed factor? Why did the US fight in Iraq, Afghanistan and Yugoslavia? How they change driving forces evolution? Where is humanity going along the path of personal freedom?

Perhaps, main feature modernity is the colossal speed of changes occurring. Understanding this circumstance is the focus of attention of economists and sociologists around the world. Z. Bauman’s book “Fluid Modernity,” which was published in Russian translation in 2008 and has long been well known to Russian specialists, is devoted to this problem. This work was written by a famous sociologist and interpreter of modernity and, apparently, it will not become outdated for a long time. As sometimes happens, this book has accumulated the key changes that have occurred in the world community over the past two decades. And in this sense, this work can be considered a landmark phenomenon. The abundance of ideas and observations in this book requires us to dwell on them in more detail, collect them into a single concept and fill them with additional examples, facts and interpretations. This need is aggravated by the fact that Z. Bauman himself, strictly speaking, did not complete this work completely.

1. Disadvantages of the new concept. The book under discussion is strange and unusual in many ways. First of all, you should determine what genre this work belongs to. The author himself is a famous sociologist and sincerely believed that he was writing a sociological text, whereas, in our opinion, this is not entirely true. It would be more correct to evaluate this work as philosophical and journalistic; This is not an academic scientific treatise, but some kind of extensive philosophical essay. Perhaps Z. Bauman’s book should be classified as social journalism, and perhaps it makes sense to talk about another representative of futurological literature.

This feature of the author's style has its pros and cons. The advantages include ease of reading, the disadvantages include the lack of a complete concept. In fact, Z. Bauman does not have any theory of what is happening in the world, there are only some analogies and metaphors. However, his vivid examples and subtle observations so accurately reflect the specifics of the modern world that they cannot be neglected and should be brought to some complete concept.

The above does not deny the merits of Z. Bauman in creating a new look at modern world. He managed to form a kind of web of theses and metaphors, which with some degree of convention can be called concept fluid reality . Below we will try to give a systematic presentation of it. At the same time, we will adhere to Z. Bauman’s not entirely academic idea of ​​​​the essence of sociology. According to him, sociology should aim to discover the possibility of living together differently, with less suffering. This intention sets the vector for further presentation of the material, which we will adhere to in the future.

2. Speed ​​of movement and thinking as the main evolutionary characteristics. An analysis of the modern world begins with the main change that has occurred over the past few decades - the incredible increase in speed. And here, paradoxically, the concept of fluid reality acts as a kind of social arrangement of the theory of relativity, linking space with time. Let's look at this point in more detail.

The fact is that there are two incomprehensible attributes in the world - space And time. And, at first glance, it seems that they are not connected in any way, but exist independently of each other. However, philosophers solved this problem by introducing motion as an additional attribute of the Universe. Physicists concretized this position by introducing the concept speed(V), which represents the time (T) required to master (overcome) space (S): V=S/T. However, the theory of relativity made this connection even more rigid and fundamental, because the speed limit turned out to be the speed of light (c). This value cannot be exceeded and it itself is a “world constant”. And if this is so, then light has become the element that “glues” space and time. Through the speed of light, these two attributes turned out to be strictly connected with each other, which became the basis for further research into the patterns of space-time curvature.

As you know, the apotheosis of the theory of relativity was the famous formula of A. Einstein E=mc 2. This analytical construction has many simple physical interpretations, but perhaps the most accurate and original is the interpretation of P. Yogananda: The Universe is a mass of light. This formula can be rewritten even more specifically: the world is the mass of the speed of light (or the mass of moving light). Thus, the entire Universe acts as a certain set of speed or, so to speak, a speed structure.

All these points have been known for a long time, but only in recent decades have they acquired social resonance. This happened due to the fact that the world gradually moved to a knowledge economy, and this very knowledge through modern means communications began to be transmitted at the speed of light. Consequently, the most important economic resource and main product human activity began to move in space almost instantly. Other resources began to adapt to this speed, and although they cannot achieve it, the dynamism of all processes has increased immeasurably.

IN social systems the speed characteristic has two dimensions - external And internal. The first is associated with the speed of a person’s real actions in the outside world and his social interactions, the second is with the individual’s thinking, with his inner world. Moreover, mental processes are a complex set of electrical signals in the brain, which again propagate at the speed of light. It is in this sense that they speak of the instantaneity of thought. As for a person’s specific actions, they are largely predetermined by the speed of his thinking. Thus, the two dimensions of the speed of social processes are organically interconnected.

Based on the fact of increased speed, Z. Bauman comes to a completely natural conclusion: in the modern world, space is gradually losing its value, while the value of time is increasing. Space has ceased to be a limiting factor in life, while time has gained O greater versatility than before. A person can travel halfway around the world within a few hours and end up on the other side of the earth. The very possibility of such movements is determined by the economic capabilities of the individual.

It must be said that the very consideration of speed as the basis for understanding the modern world has deep economic implications. Time, along with money, energy and knowledge, is one of human vital resources. In this regard, the speed of movement in space, the speed of transformation of resources, and even the speed of thinking are just different ways measuring the efficiency of a person's time: the more work per unit of time, the higher the economic efficiency of time. Thus, the concept of fluid reality amazingly combines natural and humanitarian sciences, physics and economics.

3. Speed ​​as a method of social dominance. The speed factor, due to its exceptional importance, has become in the modern world the main factor of social stratification and social dominance. It is the speed of a person’s thinking and actions that acts as the main indicator of his economic efficiency, and, consequently, his opportunities. It is speed that forms the divide between social elite And by the masses.

A distinctive feature of the modern elite is extremely high mobility in space, while the poor are characterized by low dynamism. Representatives of the elite are almost not localized in space: today they are here, tomorrow they are there. Moreover, among the elite it is no longer common to be overweight; business people cultivate not only sports and healthy image life, but are also distinguished by quick actions and quick thinking, allowing them to take effective solutions in real time.

At the same time, it is the elite that generates new ideas and solutions and creates new markets. It is the elite that changes the face of the world, while the masses only accept or do not accept this new world; they are assigned the role of passive consumers of innovations. Here it should immediately be noted that in Russia there is no elite in the modern sense of the word, because successful businessmen and officials, as a rule, have not created anything new. This is in sharp contrast to the contributions of, for example, B. Gates and S. Jobs, who created a new virtual reality and enriched the world with new technical capabilities. However, even Russian rich people strive in every possible way to increase their mobility by acquiring different points the world of real estate and private jets, obtaining multiple visa travel regimes and dual citizenship, opening accounts in different banks and using plastic cards, etc. All these signs indicate a wider range of possibilities.

It is curious that the division of society into the elite and the masses occurs both within one country and within the entire world economy. If at the country level one can observe two very different classes (elite and masses), then the world as a whole is differentiated into advanced countries, where the majority of the population is mobile, and secondary countries, where the overwhelming majority of people are characterized by a high attachment to the territory of their own state. An example of the former is the USA, Canada and the UK, whose residents have the opportunity to travel without a visa to about a hundred countries in the world, an example of the latter is Russia, which is still heavily dependent on the visa policies of other countries.

This division strongly correlates with the level of wealth of people and countries, indicating once again the correctness of the concept of fluid reality. At the same time, the difference in the mobility of residents of the two blocs of countries is quite obvious. For example, at one extreme of culture are hyperpunctual countries such as Japan, where pedestrians walk quickly, transactions are completed without delay, and banking hours are always accurate. And, on the contrary, in third world countries there is a total inhibition of the inhabitants. Research conducted by R. Levin showed that the highest pace of life is observed in Switzerland, and Mexico closes the list of countries surveyed; Among American cities, the fastest are Boston and New York.

At the same time, in the two groups of countries there are serious differences in the value systems of their citizens. For example, in developed countries, people easily leave their place of residence if moving to another city or country promises them new opportunities. In third world countries, on the contrary, people try to acquire not only a city apartment, but also a country house, which ultimately ties them to their territory of origin. It is curious that in developed countries even the concept of a dacha has changed somewhat. For example, for many Germans the island of Mallorca has long acted as a kind of summer cottage. Accordingly, in the countries of the world elite, cosmopolitan views reign, and conservative peoples often live according to the principle of pre-revolutionary Russia: “where you were born, you fit in.”

Based on the idea that higher speed generates greater opportunities, Z. Bauman makes a striking statement. According to his ideas, the very unification of people into any social groups and classes occurs due to their lack of opportunities. This is what makes them cluster into massive formations, which contrast their “human mass” with the enormous individual capabilities of the elite. From this we can draw a more general conclusion: Opportunities divide people, while lack of opportunities unites them..

Surprisingly, this thesis can be very beautifully interpreted in terms of the theory of relativity. So, in accordance with A. Einstein’s formula, the potential force (energy) of a social group (class) is equal to E=mc 2. However, the actual energy (E*) of a group depends on its mass (m) and the average speed of movement of its representatives (V): E*=mV 2. Accordingly, the elite surpasses the masses in terms of speed, but the masses take revenge due to their numbers. Moreover, the influence of speed is much stronger than mass. For example, if the reactivity of representatives of the elite is 3 times higher than that of representatives of the masses, then in order to maintain the balance of power in the social system, the number of the latter should be approximately 9-10 times greater than the former. (These figures are easily obtained from the equation (balance of forces): E E -E M =m E (V E) 2 -m M (V M) 2, where taken following designations: E E and E M - the strength (power) of the elite and the masses, respectively; m E and m M - mass (number) of the elite and masses; V E and V M - speed (reactivity) of the elite and the masses. Based on the balance of forces between the two social groups(classes), that is, E E -E M =0, then the required equation for estimating the ratio of their masses will take the form: m M /m E =(V E /V M) 2)

The above example can be continued and thereby explain the colossal differentiation of the population in terms of wealth and power that is occurring in the world. The fact is that the differences in speed and mobility between people in the modern world can be truly enormous. For example, wealth allows a person to fly every week on vacation to warm countries, make instant electronic payments, pay for the delivery of goods, eat in pre-ordered restaurants, etc. At the same time, even a person of average income will drive country house, spending half a day traveling one way, spending significant time in banks and shops, standing idle in traffic jams and in the kitchen, etc. As a result, the gap in the speed of life can reach several orders of magnitude, which in itself gives the elite a colossal head start in functionality, finally consolidating its privileged position. For example: a 100-fold speed gap between classes suggests that for the balance of power between them, the “lower classes” must be 10 thousand times larger than the elite. It turns out that even such a small number of the ruling class may be quite enough to keep power in their hands. Wherein middle class will be washed out, and its role and importance will be reduced, which is what we have seen in recent decades.

4. Fluidity and permeability of the world: devaluation of space. A world in which speed is critical must be special, namely: it must have the properties turnover And permeability. These properties are largely self-evident. High mobility of people makes the world fluid and rapidly changing, and the condition for the implementation of high mobility is the openness and permeability of the world.

Understanding these properties, Z. Bauman uses elegant metaphors. For example, he talks about liquefaction world, paying attention to the fact that it is easy to give a liquid any shape, but it is difficult to maintain this shape. The modern world is the same - it is constantly changing, and therefore it is difficult to understand and difficult to manage.

The permeability of the modern world, according to Z. Bauman, reflects increased human freedom. Everything became open, permeable, dynamic. Consequently, the fluidity and permeability of the world embody the main value modernity - freedom. And if this is so, then everything that restrains freedom and limits mobility needs to be destroyed and destroyed. This intention is superimposed on the main economic pattern of the concept of fluid reality: in the modern world there is a devaluation of space and a revaluation of time. Whoever masters time better and who is not attached to territory owns the modern world.

At the junction of these two lines of development, Z. Bauman notices the specifics modern wars. It's about actually about new doctrine conduct of hostilities. Classic example new military strategy can serve as military operations carried out by the United States in Iraq, Afghanistan and Yugoslavia. In all these cases, the American leadership did not set itself the task of conquering the territory of these states. According to Z. Bauman, no one needs these territories in themselves. Moreover, space creates problems. For example, the American military contingent is stuck in Iraq: for political reasons it is impossible to leave there, and by remaining there, the United States suffers human losses. In fact, the United States is “bogged down” in space, which once again confirms the thesis about the need to reconsider the role of the territorial factor.

From the above, a logical question follows: if the United States did not want to “seize” foreign territories, then why did they carry out military operations at all? What did the American establishment need?

And Z. Bauman gives a rather elegant answer to this question: the United States, being a bastion of freedom, fluidity and permeability, wants to extend this same freedom, fluidity and permeability to the rest of the world. Their task is removing barriers, interfering with fluidity and permeability individual countries. Otherwise, islands of “hardness,” “closedness,” and “incomprehensibility” will appear in the world, over which the ruling elite, which will not tolerate any territorial restrictions, will “stumble.” Such political enclaves go against the modern trend of overcoming state borders. It is not surprising that the leading country is sweeping away these islands of “impermeability.”

In the context of the above, the attitude of the United States towards Russia in the last two decades becomes more understandable. The United States never set itself the goal of physically conquering Russia, but always fought for its “opening” to world economic flows: goods, services, capital, information, institutions, work force. In other words, the focus of American policy was not the territory of Russia, but its “border” and the barriers to entry and exit it generated.

Speaking about the peaceful consequences of the devaluation of space that has occurred, we should consider territorial inversion, which consists of changing the nature of competition on the world stage. So, If earlier there was competition between people for territory, today the situation has completely changed and there is competition between territories for people. If earlier efforts to move in space were carried out by people themselves, today entire countries are pursuing certain policies to attract trustworthy individuals. This applies primarily to developed countries that attract qualified personnel from abroad, but recently developing countries have also been doing this. Thus, the Latin American state of Costa Rica and the African state of Namibia have seriously improved the “quality” of their population due to wealthy migrants from other countries. At the same time, in parallel with the new trend, old trends are also developing. For example, Russia, not falling into the category of leading countries today, still cultivates the old policy of high value of space and low value of people, the immediate result of which is bare, economically undeveloped territories, the departure of the most qualified and cultural people abroad, and the immigration of low-quality labor. quality.

5. Fluidity and permeability of the world: weakening social ties. Ensuring the high dynamism of the modern world is ensured by: external circumstances(permeability of the world) and internal (staff turnover). In this section we will focus on the second aspect of the problem.

The fact is that the mobility of the subjects themselves in the modern world requires maximum freedom from them. In this regard, the question immediately arises: freedom from what?

Here two aspects of the problem can be distinguished: weakening dependence on “heavy” material of things and weakening dependence on “heavy” social obligations. It was already mentioned above about unconstructive attachment to the territory. However, this thesis extends further - to all “rough” material artifacts.

The less an individual is attached to material wealth, the easier it is for him to move in space, the faster, more efficient he is, and the greater his power over his peers. There is an apparent paradox: the less “rough” property a person has, the more powerful he is.

This thesis is confirmed by numerous striking examples from the life of the modern business elite, who are weakly attached to “heavy” goods. A typical example is Bill Gates, who, as Z. Bauman rightly claims, throughout his life accumulated nothing but an expanding range of available opportunities. B. Gates does not feel any regret, parting with the property that he was proud of just yesterday. Such freedom makes him completely unpredictable. This is the key to the decisions of the richest people in the United States, B. Gates and W. Buffett, to transfer their multi-billion dollar fortunes to charitable purposes. Thus, the most high-ranking and powerful people of our day avoid any kind of longevity and any material attachments, while the social lower classes try in every possible way to prolong the existence of their insignificant property. It is in relation to “gross matter” that the divide between the social upper and lower classes lies. And it is freedom from “rough matter” that allows the top to realize the high-speed capabilities of the modern world.

Here it makes sense to recall the genesis of the global financial crisis of 2008. Thus, in the absence of fundamentally new benefits and innovations, US business circles in the modern fluid knowledge economy offered their citizens a cheap mortgage with its traditional benefit - housing. However, only those who could not pay for it took it, and those who could, rejected it en masse. Thus, it was the lower strata of the masses who “coveted” the crude material asset, while the elite simply ignored it. In our opinion, the dichotomy of advanced American society in relation to “burdening” values ​​was manifested here.

However, a person’s independence from things in the modern world is accompanied by his liberation from social obligations. This, using M. Granovetter’s term, leads to the formation of a society with “weak ties” between subjects. Moreover, this weakness spreads in two directions: in space (in depth) and in time (duration of connections). The spatial aspect suggests that relationships between people become maximally superficial, shallow. For example, each family member lives by his own interests, which in no way correlate with the interests of other family members. No one delves into the problems of their friends and relatives, no one shows a desire to help them. People are not interested in the motivation of their employees and employers. Even between the closest people, relationships are transferred into economic, exchange channels. Moral duty is perceived as a relic of the past. Instead of a full-fledged family, people prefer temporary cohabitation; human communication and the art of dialogue are disappearing from everyday practice. In other words, a total tendency towards social autism is emerging in society.

Temporary O The th aspect suggests that the duration of relationships between people becomes maximum short, unstable. For example, spouses quickly divorce when problems arise, and a person can enter into marriage many times. Friends forget each other at the slightest change in their social status. Relatives communicate only on rare occasions - at funerals and christenings. Helping your neighbor is limited to calling the appropriate service, etc. In fact, it is established in society tendency towards rapid self-disintegration of all social ties.

The considered effects greatly deform the entire human value system. Even the presence of a family and children is perceived as a burden that reduces the mobility and functionality of the subject. And, of course, altruism is losing its attractiveness. The increased speed simply does not allow such quality to be demonstrated. The results of R. Levin's research confirm what has been said. Thus, he found that people in American cities with the maximum high speed life turn out to be the least ready to help their neighbor. For example, Rochester, whose rate of life is relatively low, turned out to be the most “helpful” city in America. New York, which ranked third on the list of fastest cities, demonstrated the lowest level of willingness to help others. And the cities of California, with a relatively low speed of life, turned out to be less “helpful” than fast cities. This fact suggests that a low pace of life is already a necessary, but not sufficient condition for altruism; Californians, for example, tend to help only themselves to live better, thereby demonstrating a kind of social autism.

So, increasing speed in the current world implies greater freedom, and freedom means superficial and short-term social connections.

6. Brownian motion in the world of weak connections. Modern society“weak bonds” is characterized by numerous, light and short contacts between people, which is very reminiscent of Brownian motion with its chaotic collision and contact of molecules. This fact cannot but be alarming.

The fact is that a social system is a collection of elements and connections between them. And the more stable and stronger these connections are, the stronger the system itself. We are currently witnessing the transformation of connections into contacts (interactions). Moreover, if connections are a systemic phenomenon and property, then simple contacts and interactions, as a rule, are of a random nature. And here we come to the point that the weakening of ties at some point reborn into simple casual contacts. It is difficult to determine in the general case the moment of this transition, but in mass manifestations this leads to the destruction of the system as such. Just as a connection, for example, between spouses is qualitatively different from a random collision of passengers on public transport, so a social system is different from a community of almost autonomous individuals.

A typical consequence of the formation of a society of weak ties and the acquisition of colossal freedom by the individual is the corrosion and collapse of the institution of citizenship. Indeed, the interests of an individual can no longer be associated with any particular society and with any particular territory. If an individual needs to leave this society and this country in order to improve his well-being, he can and even should do so. This choice is determined by the primacy of individuality over public interests and any national objectives. Thus, hypertrophied individualism automatically leads to cosmopolitanism.

However, the weakening of connections is superimposed on additional properties modern world. Thus, Z. Bauman quite rightly speaks of two important effects. He calls the first, using another metaphor, the “melting” of conditions human life, the second can be called by analogy the “melting” of goals.

Indeed, goals are blurred, changing as in a kaleidoscope, and therefore they can no longer serve the basis of rational behavior modern man. This leads to "ignorance of ends instead of ignorance of means" in the new "light" capitalism. At the same time, blurred living conditions, in the figurative expression of Z. Bauman, lead to the formation of a certain symbolic “container of opportunities”, both not yet discovered and already missed. And there are so many of these possibilities today that they cannot be explored in any single lifetime, no matter how long and rich it may be. These opportunities, intertwined with the freedom of the modern individual, lead to a colossal inversion of life strategies. An absurd principle begins to operate: “We have found a solution. Let's find the problem now." Superimposed on the “molten” living conditions, blurred goals create a chaotic lace of people’s thoughts and actions, where there is no clear core.

Accepting such a description, it makes sense to once again use analogies from the world of physics. In systems in which bonds are weakened, entropy increases, and they themselves, in accordance with the second law of thermodynamics, move towards “thermal death”, i.e. towards a complete alignment of energy and complexity. Accordingly, the modern social system is literally overflowing with entropy, moving away from a state of equilibrium. However, from I. Prigogine’s research it is known that only systems that are in a state far from equilibrium evolve. But too strong a deviation from equilibrium can completely destroy the system. Thus, the modern world seems to be at a bifurcation point, when the question of where society will go next is being decided - to degradation and destruction or to qualitative transformation. Consequently, modern society has approached some important evolutionary milestone.

The main problem of the modern world is that it has not yet decided vector evolution of personality and society. This fact gives rise to enormous uncertainty about the future, if not to say fear of it.

7. Civilization zigzag or inversion of history. When faced with an uncertain future, it is logical to take a look at history, which many believe can sometimes provide clues to the possible trajectory of society's upcoming evolution.

Following this path and rethinking history, Z. Bauman makes one extremely interesting observation. We are talking, first of all, about the “civilizational zigzag” that we can observe today. IN in this case what is meant is the following. Developing as a coexistence of nomadic and sedentary peoples, the current civilization was created primarily by sedentary ethnic groups. This is due to the fact that any material creativity presupposed stability and sustainability. Moving with herds across the steppe and desert, it is difficult to create any significant artifacts. Crafts, arts, science and cities required settling down. And it is not surprising that it was the sedentary peoples who were traditionally assigned the role of “civilizers.”

A typical example of the lack of significant influence on world culture can be the nomadic Arab tribes, who in their campaigns mainly improved their language; architecture, science and art in field conditions did not develop. Later, when the Arab states emerged with their inherent elements of sedentism, a richer Arab culture began to emerge.

However, today the situation is completely reversed: the newly-minted nomadic peoples are becoming the vanguard of social and technological progress. Moreover, extraterritorial mobility becomes a symbol of progress, and excessive sedentism - a sign of degradation. The role of “civilizers” is moving from sedentary peoples to highly mobile ethnic groups. In global competition, the fastest win. Progress itself is unthinkable without flowing flows of information, capital and goods. Those who integrate into these flows move with the times. Thus, a kind of civilizational zigzag arose when the dominant ethnic groups changed from “sedentary” to “nomadic.” This phenomenon can be considered as a kind of paradox of history, because such reshuffles of leaders are observed extremely rarely.

The described civilizational zigzag receives an additional elegant interpretation from Z. Bauman himself: “history is a process of forgetting to the same extent as a process of learning.” It seems that today humanity must “forget” those values ​​that have been so important over the past few millennia: stability, the presence of excess time, leisurely and deliberateness, attachment to a specific point in physical space, etc. They were replaced by their antipodes.

From a psychological point of view, the civilizational zigzag represents a serious challenge to humanity. This is due to one important contradiction. Exactly delay has always acted as the basis of progress. It was calmness and thoroughness that allowed people to improve themselves and improve their artifacts. Moreover, sometimes the mind itself is interpreted as a delayed action, a delayed reaction. Speed ​​is not conducive to thinking, at least not to thinking about the future, to long-term thinking. Thought requires pause and rest to “give yourself enough time” to take stock. Today's culture is waging a war on procrastination. This has never happened before in recorded history.

What does this threaten?

Without trying to answer this question, we will only note the following for now. The presence of a civilizational zigzag reveals the possible existence of certain deep and truly gigantic historical cycles that underlie the development of society and civilization. Thus, a shift towards strengthening the role of “fast” peoples records a certain civilizational wave and suggests that it will continue in the form of a reverse trend. Thus, we can talk about the presence of a role cycle, when the importance of sedentary peoples first decreases for a long time, and then increases again. Now we are seeing the first half of this cycle and it is possible that in the future we will see its second half. Already today, an alternative to physical movement is visible in the form of a quiet stay in one place and communication with counterparties around the world using modern means of communication. And although the idea of ​​such a full-scale return wave and the presence of a “high-speed cycle” of history is just a hypothesis, the presence of a “half-cycle” can be considered an irrefutable fact.

It is interesting that intuitive insights about the need for the “migration-settlement” cycle can be seen already in biblical times. Thus, E. Fromm argues that Jewish history begins with the command to Abraham to leave the country where he was born and go to unknown lands. The Jewish people accomplished the first round of this cycle when they left Palestine, heading to Egypt, and returned again to the Palestinian lands. Subsequently, the situation repeated itself after the destruction of Jerusalem, when Jews migrated throughout the world and returned to their ancestral lands only in the 20th century, recreating their state. Thus, the considered civilizational wave can be seen in the example of individual nations, which gives reason to assume that it may have larger-scale incarnations.

8. The evolution of man and society under the pressure of speed. So, the concept of fluid reality states that the main competitive advantage in the modern world is speed or reactivity. From here, as a special case, follows the phenomenon of the “Trout error”, the essence of which is that in the current conditions of global competition no one has the right to make a mistake. Any miscalculation in such circumstances results in a complete and utter fiasco; it is almost impossible to win back lost positions; The market punishes any mistake in the most severe way.

According to J. Trout, companies that achieved success in the middle of the 20th century acted literally in greenhouse conditions. At that time, they had the right to make mistakes - and they corrected these mistakes relatively easily. Today no one has such a right. Competition has become global, not only “their” competitors want to “destroy” you, but also aliens from other countries, who, as a rule, have all the attributes necessary for this. An important corollary follows from this fact: no one is guaranteed against failure. This failure itself becomes a consequence of interruptions in the speed of functioning. The slightest unfortunate change in the reactivity of an economic agent leads to the loss of its position in the market.

Without taking into account the “Trout error,” the concept of fluid reality would be incomplete. The fact is that the modern world is a world of colossal inequality. But the “Trout error” leads to instability of the elite and thereby disrupts the general tendency towards stratification of society. Even large brand companies today quickly find themselves among the bankrupt. Others take their place. This circumstance not only softens the initial inequality, but also leads to a constant upgradability the elite itself. Such a world increasingly resembles the “Babylonian lottery” of H. L. Borges, where everyone has a chance to succeed. In a sense, the “Trout error” plays a stabilizing role feedback in the system, increasing the evolutionary potential of society.

Extending the effect of the “Trout error” to the global economy, one cannot resist trying to rethink Russia’s current position in the world market. Then the picture of the fall of Russia appears as follows. After the collapse of the USSR, Russia lost many of its positions: defense industry, space, science, education, etc. It is curious that the further course of events went clearly according to J. Trout. Russia's place was quickly taken by other countries. Typical example: in Tunisia higher education, obtained in the Soviet Union, was rated very highly. Now Tunisian citizens who received their education in Russia are faced with the fact that their diplomas are not recognized in their homeland, but no such problems arise with diplomas from the countries of the British Commonwealth. The result is simple - the education market, which belonged to the USSR, passed to the universities of Western countries. Moreover, many signs indicate that in the foreseeable future Russian education will no longer be able to regain lost positions. The main thing is that the loss of the Soviet Union was due to the loss of its reactivity. Labor productivity in the USSR was several times lower than in the USA in almost all sectors of the economy. This means that the Americans worked many times faster than the Russians. This fact predetermined the castling of forces on the world political arena, followed by a full-scale reformatting of the composition of leading and outsider countries.

From an evolutionary point of view, the combination of the concept of fluid reality with the “Trout error” generates a challenge for all economic agents in the form of the need to increase responsibility. Moreover, this need is absolutely pragmatic and even selfish in nature, because responsibility for one’s actions is dictated by the desire for success and the fear of fatal failure.

We have already noted earlier that in social systems the speed characteristic has two dimensions - internal (speed of thinking V M) and external (speed of action V D). The relationship between these two characteristics is usually ambiguous. Ideally, quick thinking leads to quick actions (∂V D /∂V M >0), but in practice this is not always the case and the opposite relationship is often observed (∂V D /∂V M<0). Данный факт требует своего объяснения, которое, на наш взгляд, было дано Дж.Фаулзом, рассмотревшим связь между energy, information And complexity. In particular, he noticed another important analogy between the physical and social worlds, namely: in atoms, as in humans, complexity leads to a loss of energy. Developing this idea, we can say the following. Complicating the personality by processing large volumes of complex information in itself requires colossal internal energy. Moreover, the complication that has taken place also requires a lot of energy to maintain this complexity; otherwise, this entire complex structure can easily fall apart. Considering the analogy between atoms and humans, we can assume that this pattern is universal. Then its direct consequence is the fact that intellectuals do not actively strive to express themselves in the external environment. In other words, an increase in mental abilities leads to a decrease in external activity (∂V D /∂V M<0). Таким образом, в современном мире избытка информации возникает contradiction between internal and external speed.

This effect is enhanced by another circumstance - the combination of a high level of intelligence and weak will. According to J. Fowles, highly developed intelligence leads to a plurality of interests and sharpens the ability to foresee the consequences of any action. Accordingly, the will seems to be lost in a labyrinth of hypotheses. Thus, high personality complexity requires increased energy expenditure to comprehend and select alternatives. It is this circumstance that explains the traditional passivity of the intelligentsia. We can say that active and straightforward volitional actions are the lot of primitive people.

The above reveals another danger that the growth of speed in the information community brings: the social elite includes people not with high internal speed (V M), but with high external speed (V D). And here Z. Bauman gives a classic example of the new “elite” - business people talking for hours with an important air on a mobile phone at the airport. Thus, it is formed pseudo-elite, the destructive impact of which is completely obvious, but completely unpredictable.

The formation of a pseudo-elite is another serious challenge from the modern world. The solution to this problem lies in the plane of the evolution of man himself and, in particular, in the restoration of the positive connection between internal and external speed (∂V D /∂V M >0). This development of events is possible only with the development of new mental abilities in people.

At the same time, a society of weakened ties also contains entirely new opportunities. Now all this is quite difficult to strictly substantiate, but some facts are already known that provide food for thought. For example, R. Florida, speaking about the activities of special creative centers in the United States, where high-tech production is concentrated, notes that among their special advantages were an above-average level of diversity, as well as a low level of social capital and political activity. According to R. Florida, it is precisely these weakened social ties that act as a key mechanism for mobilizing the resources, ideas and information necessary for effective job search, decision-making, launching new types of products and organizing enterprises. Thus, the weakening of social ties underlies the emergence of many high-tech companies that have determined the vector of development of modern society over the past 20-30 years.

9. Evolution as a constant escape. The begun question about evolution requires continuation. And here we need to clarify the following issues. First, how can one live in a state of constant race and flight? Can such a lifestyle be considered normal, much less evolution? Secondly, can all dynamic people be considered elite? And what qualities are generally characteristic of the social elite?

Let's try to outline the answers to these questions. First of all, about the race. In this case, we are talking about the fact that evolution is always accompanied by the complication of personality and an increase in the effectiveness of its actions. Speed ​​is a special case of efficiency, and therefore, without increasing it, evolutionary shifts, as a rule, do not occur. At the very least, we can safely say that the low dynamism of the subject denies the possibility of its evolution and entry into the social elite.

The stated thesis shows that modern man faces a challenge that must be accepted. However, it should be noted here that the problem of increasing dynamism does not face all of humanity, but only those individuals who want to enter the ranks of the elite; people who want to live a quiet life can ignore the challenges of the modern world and remain among the masses. Thus, a person’s freedom of choice is in no way violated by fluid reality and does not cause any social drama. Another way to sum it up is that evolution is a problem for the elite, not for the masses.

At this point we come to the main issue of evolution - the relationship between the masses and the elite. In fact, the actions of the elite are always a kind of escape from the masses. The lack of reasonable segregation and mixing of the elite with the masses makes it difficult for them to identify each other and thereby reduces the evolutionary potential of the elite. It was this circumstance that caused the introduction of the caste system in Ancient India.

However, the constant flight of the elite is determined by the dynamism of the modern world. This means that all changes in it occur so quickly that no problem can be solved once and for all - it must be periodically solved again. For example, you cannot buy a good house in a good location, because in 10-15 years this place will change beyond recognition and it will need to be changed. You cannot find a good job, because in 1-2 years everything may change, and you will have to look for a new job, etc. In other words, in fluid reality, the life cycle of all traditional values ​​is shortened. Moreover, in all these cases, the dialectic of interaction between the elite and the masses is visible: the elite sets the vector (direction) of development (movement), and the masses pursue it. As soon as the distance between the elite and the masses is reduced to a certain minimum, the elite ceases to be an elite and in order to maintain its privileged position it must again increase its efficiency and break away from the masses. Thus, it again faces the need to find (or redefine) a new vector of development, rush there and thereby widen the gap with the masses. Thus, the masses act as a kind of stimulant for the elite.

From what has been said, it is already clear what basic quality the elite should have - the ability to determine new directions for the development of society. As a rule, in practice this happens by generating new technologies that change the world and society around us. R. Florida calls such people the “creative class”. It is these individuals who ensure technological and social progress. And here clarity is immediately brought into the understanding of who is not a representative of the elite. Simply running around on mythical errands does not in itself make a person superior to other members of society. This kind of action should be perceived simply as an unsuccessful attempt by a person to enter the ranks of the elite. If such people become rich without giving the world any new ideas and technologies, then this only indicates that we are dealing with a problem of negative selection, from which no evolutionary trajectories are guaranteed. Ideally, the “creative class” acquires wealth commensurate with its contribution to the development of society.

It must be said that the understanding of the evolutionary relationship between freedom (reactivity) and inertia (conservatism) developed a long time ago. For example, E. Fromm argued back in the 1950s that any return from freedom to artificial rootedness in a state or race is a sign of mental illness, since it does not correspond to the achieved level of evolution and leads to pathological phenomena. Thus, the increased fluidity of the social world is an inevitable consequence of its progressive evolution.

10. Obstacles to fluid reality. It would be wrong to underestimate the destructive potential that the modern dynamic, fluid world carries within itself. However, it would be just as wrong to see only one negative in “rapid progress”. The fact is that overcoming the “speed barrier” is a condition for human evolution, the formation of a completely new elite and the improvement of the entire society on this basis. In this case, we are faced with such a property of developing systems as the emergence at each new stage of the evolution of society of new, specific mechanisms for selecting its best representatives.

What is needed for this? Is it possible? Are there any built-in mechanisms in a person, the inclusion of which will allow one to reach a new level?

All these questions are already moving into the field of futurology, which is closely related to sociology. However, today several human properties have already been revealed that give hope for the positive evolution of all humanity.

The first one concerns nature good deeds, which, according to J. Fowles, are by definition disinterested, i.e. they are not related to the achievement of any internal interests of the individual. This means that good deeds are not the fruit of a rational decision. And since this is so, then any good deed in itself is a counteraction to the inertial course of development, which is possible only due to the release of excess, unnecessary from a biological point of view, energy. Consequently, the activities of true intellectuals are most often expressed in good deeds. It is not surprising that such actions are less noticeable than the selfish actions of primitive individuals. The increased energy of intellectuals simply manifests itself in a different form than the energy of less developed egoists.

At the same time, according to J. Fowles, good deeds are carried out because they lead to the so-called functional pleasure, like the acts of eating and breathing. But this is only possible when the personality becomes so complicated that new natural needs to perform good deeds are formed in its architectonics. It is then that the mechanism turns on when the lack of good deeds leads to discomfort and destruction of the individual, and, ultimately, to the death of society. Thus, the complication of personality leads to the fact that excess energy is released in the form of good deeds. Here J. Fowles knits such categories as energy, information, individual difficulty And public good.

Thus, humans have mechanisms that resist inertia in the form of simple rationality. Consequently, society itself may well move to a qualitatively different level of development. Today there are already quite acceptable ideas about the mechanism of evolution of man and society. Thus, every person is characterized by three basic instincts - self-preservation, reproduction and freedom (development). At the same time, development occurs thanks to the generation of innovations by an individual based on his understanding of the society in which he is located; Such people, as a rule, are few in number, but they form the social elite. Then the generated innovation spreads throughout society, thereby transferring it to a qualitatively different level of development. Subsequently, this cycle is repeated by other representatives of the elite, who rethink a different, more complex and perfect society, and, consequently, they generate other, even more complex and perfect innovations. At the same time, the creative process is generated by a person’s individual desire for freedom and creativity, which in turn is driven by the collision of social forces of inertia and entropy.

It is curious that in the concept of fluid reality there are implicitly three personnel strata that carry out the corresponding evolutionary missions. Thus, the intellectual elite, which has a high speed of thinking, generates innovations and forms the vector of social development directed upward (third instinct, vertical movement); the business elite, which has a high speed of action, carries out expansion, dissemination and promotion of innovations, forming a horizontal line of development (second instinct); the masses accept and consume innovations, consolidate, preserve and preserve them (first instinct, movement in place). Thus, the concept of fluid reality is in good agreement with the theory of evolution, which serves as an additional argument in favor of its validity.

In the context of the above, the concept of fluid reality no longer seems as fatal and apocalyptic as it might seem at first. The age-old desire of people for freedom has led to the modern world, in which freedom and, as a consequence, human reactivity have become truly enormous. At one time, P.A. Sorokin analyzed in detail the pros and cons of human mobility. His verdict is simple: increased mobility has always led to mental emancipation, intensification of intellectual life, and the generation of discoveries and innovations; on the other side of the scale are the increase in mental illness, a decrease in the sensitivity of the nervous system and the development of cynicism. This once again confirms the fact that freedom in all its forms is a challenge for humanity in general and for each individual in particular.

As already noted, among other things, freedom leads to the formation of a society of weak ties. At the same time, the desire for its self-disintegration is balanced by the totality and globality of connections in the modern world economy. “Soft” social systems of this kind carry a lot of dangers, which in turn initiate the development of new technologies and alternative social models of human interaction. Sooner or later, the current model of fluid reality will be replaced by some other model, which will further increase the level of individual human freedom, but at the same time will not allow society to disintegrate.

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The effect of "Trout's error" is called the "fatal error effect".

N.A. Ekimova brought this connection to our attention, for which the author expresses sincere gratitude to her.

Every year, Ford publishes a report that provides an analysis of key trends in consumer sentiment and behavior. The report is based on survey data conducted by the company among thousands of residents of different countries.

Rusbase reviewed the global research and selected 5 main trends that are now defining our world.

Trend 1: New format of a good life

In the modern world, “more” no longer always means “better,” and wealth is no longer synonymous with happiness. Consumers have learned to derive pleasure not from the very fact of owning something, but from how this or that item affects their lives. Those who continue to flaunt their wealth only cause irritation.

“Wealth is no longer synonymous with happiness”:

• India – 82%
• Germany – 78%
• China – 77%
• Australia – 71%
• Canada – 71%
• USA – 70%
• Spain – 69%
• Brazil – 67%
• UK – 64%

People who flaunt their wealth annoy me.»:

• 77% of respondents aged 18-29
• 80% of respondents aged 30-44
• 84% of respondents aged 45+

Examples from real life confirming the growing popularity of this trend:

1. The benefits of labor results are more important than profit

Example 1:

Rustam Sengupta spent a significant part of his life following the traditional path to success. He earned a degree from a top business school and landed a high-paying consulting job. And so, returning one day to his home village in India, he realized that the local residents lacked the simplest things, suffering from problems with electricity and the lack of clean drinking water.

In an effort to help people, he founded the non-profit company Boond, designed to develop alternative energy sources in the northern regions of India.

Example 2:

When New York lawyer Zan Kaufman started working at her brother's burger joint on weekends as a way to break up the monotony of her office work, she had no idea that the job would change her life so much. Having moved to London a year later, she did not send out resumes to law firms, but bought herself a truck to sell street food, founding her own company, Bleecker Street Burger.

2. Free time is the best medicine

Millennials (ages 18-34) are increasingly looking to escape the hustle and bustle of the city and their addiction to social media by choosing a vacation that is more unique and interesting than lying on the beach at an all-inclusive hotel. Instead, they want to make the most of their holidays, opting for yoga clubs and culinary tours in Italy.

The total volume of the global industry of such extraordinary travel is currently estimated at 563 billion dollars. In 2015 alone, more than 690 million wellness trips were organized worldwide.

Trend 2: The value of time is now measured differently

Time is no longer a valuable resource: in the modern world, punctuality is losing its appeal, and the tendency to put things off until later is considered absolutely normal.

72% of respondents worldwide agreed with the statement “3 Activities that I previously considered a waste of time no longer seem useless to me».

Over time, the emphasis shifted and people began to recognize the need for the simplest things. For example, to the question “ What do you think is the most productive way to spend your time?” the answers were as follows:

• sleep – 57%,
• surfing the Internet – 54%,
• reading – 43%,
• TV viewing – 36%,
• communication on social networks – 24%
• dreams – 19%

British students have a long tradition of taking a gap year after leaving school and before starting university to better understand what path to take later in life. A similar phenomenon is gaining increasing popularity among American students. According to the American Gap Association, over the past few years the number of students who have decided to take a gap year has increased by 22%.

According to Ford survey results, 98% young people who decided to take a gap year after school said that the break helped them decide on their life path.

Instead of “now” or “later,” people now prefer to use the word “someday,” which does not reflect a specific time frame for completing a particular task. In psychology, there is a term “procrastination” - a person’s tendency to constantly postpone important matters until later.

Number of people surveyed around the world who agreed with the statement “ Procrastination helps me develop my creativity»:

• India – 63%
• Spain – 48%
• UK – 38%
• Brazil – 35%
• Australia – 34%
• USA – 34%
• Germany – 31%
• Canada – 31%
• China – 26%

1. We don’t know how not to get distracted by small things.

Have you ever encountered a situation where, after several hours of searching for the necessary information on the Internet, you find yourself reading completely useless, but extremely fascinating articles? We've all experienced something similar.

In this regard, the success of the Pocket application is interesting, which postpones the study of fascinating publications found during the search until later and helps to focus on what is really important right now, but without the risk of losing sight of something interesting.

Currently, 22 million users have already used the service, and the amount of publications postponed for later is two billion.

2. Meditation instead of punishment

Offending Baltimore elementary school students no longer have to stay after school. Instead, the school has developed a special program called Holistic Me, which invites students to do yoga or meditation to learn to manage their emotions. Since the program began in 2014, the school has not had to expel a single student.

3. If you want your employees to work efficiently, ban overtime work

The working day of the advertising agency Heldergroen in the suburbs of Amsterdam always ends exactly at 18:00 and not a second later. At the end of the day, steel cables forcefully lift all desktops with computers and laptops into the air, and employees can use the free space on the office floor for dancing and yoga to work less and enjoy life more.

“It has become our kind of ritual, drawing the line between work and personal life,” explains Zander Veenendaal, the company’s creative director.

Trend 3: The problem of choice has never been so relevant

Modern stores offer consumers an incredibly wide variety of choices, which makes it difficult to make a final decision, and as a result, consumers simply refuse to purchase. Such diversity leads to the fact that people now prefer to try many different options without buying anything.

Number of respondents worldwide who agreed with the statement “The Internet offers way more options than I really need.”:

• China – 99%
• India – 90%
• Brazil – 74%
• Australia – 70%
• Canada – 68%
• Germany – 68%
• Spain – 67%
• UK – 66%
• USA – 57%

With advent, the selection process becomes less obvious. A huge number of special offers misleads buyers.

Number of respondents who agreed with the statement “After I buy something, I begin to doubt whether I made the right choice?”:

• 60% of respondents aged 18-29
• 51% of respondents aged 30-44
• 34% of respondents aged 45+

With approval “Last month I couldn’t choose just one thing from so many options. In the end, I decided not to buy anything at all.” agreed:

• 49% of respondents aged 18-29 years
• 39% aged 30-44 years
• 27% aged 45+

This can be explained by the fact that with age, purchases occur more consciously and more rationally, so this kind of question arises much less often.

Examples from real life confirming the growing popularity of the trend:

1. Consumers want to try everything.

Consumers' desire to try a product before purchasing is influencing the electronics market. An example is the short-term gadget rental service Lumoid.

• For just $60 a week, you can take it for a test to finally understand whether you need this $550 gadget
• For $5 a day, you can also rent a quadcopter to decide which model you need.

2. The burden of credit kills the joy of using a gadget.

Expensive equipment taken on credit increasingly ceases to please millennials, even before the loan is repaid.

In this case, the startup Flip comes to the rescue, created so that people can transfer their annoying purchase to other owners, along with obligations for further loan repayment. According to statistics, popular products find new owners within 30 days from the date of the advertisement.

And the Roam service has begun operating on the real estate market, which allows you to conclude just one long-term rental agreement, and then choose a new place of residence at least every week on any of the three continents covered by the service. All residential properties Roam works with are equipped with high-speed Wi-Fi networks and state-of-the-art kitchen equipment.

Trend 4: The downside of technological progress

Does technology improve our daily lives, or only complicate it? Technology has truly made people's lives more convenient and efficient. However, consumers are beginning to feel that technological progress also has a negative side.

• 77% of respondents worldwide agree with the statement “ The craze for technology has led to an increase in obesity among people»
• 67% of respondents aged 18-29 confirmed that they know someone who broke up with their other half via SMS
• The use of technology not only leads to sleep disturbances, according to 78% of women and 69% of men, but also makes us stupider, according to 47% of respondents, and less polite (63%).

Examples from real life confirming the growing popularity of the trend:

1. Technology addiction exists.

Recent successes of the company's projects have shown that people become addicted to watching new TV shows in the shortest possible time. According to a global study, 2015 series such as “House of Cards” and “Orange is the New Black” made viewers eagerly await each new episode in their first three to five episodes. At the same time, new series such as Stranger Things and Anneal managed to hook viewers after watching only the first two episodes.

Modern smartphones have become an important part of the lives of children who can no longer live without them for a day. American researchers have proven that time spent on smartphones has a negative impact on schoolchildren’s performance. Children who use mobile devices for 2-4 hours every day after school are 23% more likely to fail homework compared to peers who are not so dependent on gadgets.

3. Cars save pedestrians

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there is a pedestrian collision every eight minutes in the country. Most often, such accidents occur due to the fact that pedestrians send messages while walking and do not watch the road.

To increase the level of safety for all road users, it is developing innovative technology that can predict people's behavior, thereby reducing the severity of the consequences of road accidents and even in some cases preventing them.

Twelve experimental Ford cars drove more than 800 thousand kilometers on the roads of Europe, China and the USA, accumulating a data set totaling more than a year - 473 days.

Trend 5: Change of leaders, now everything is decided not by them, but by us

Who today has the most significant impact on our lives, the environmental situation in the world, the social sphere and healthcare? For decades, money flows have primarily moved between individuals and organizations, whether government agencies or commercial enterprises.

Today we are more we begin to feel responsible for the correctness of decisions made by society as a whole.

To the question “ What is the main driving force that can change society for the better?” respondents responded as follows:

• 47% – Consumers
• 28% – State
• 17% – Companies
• 8% – abstained from answering

Examples from real life confirming the growing popularity of the trend:

1. Businesses must be honest with consumers.

The American online store Everlane, specializing in the sale of clothing, builds its business on the principles of maximum transparency in relationships with suppliers and clients. The creators of Everlane have abandoned the sky-high markups for which the fashion industry is famous, and openly show on their website what the final price of each item is made up of - the site displays the cost of material, labor and transportation.

2. Prices must be affordable for consumers

The international humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders is actively fighting the high cost of vaccines. It recently refused to accept a donation of one million doses of a pneumonia vaccine because the composition of the drugs was protected by a patent, which negatively affects the price of the final product and makes it inaccessible to residents of many regions of the world. With this action, the organization wants to highlight the importance of addressing the issue of drug affordability in the long term.

3. More and more services should appear for the convenience of users

To attract attention to the l service and reduce the number of cars on the roads, Uber launched drones with advertising posters into the skies of Mexico City. The posters urged drivers stuck in traffic jams to consider using their own car to commute to work.

One of the posters read: “Riding alone in the car? That’s why you can never admire the mountains around you.” Thus, the company wanted to draw the attention of drivers to the problem of dense smog over the city. The inscription on another poster: “The city was built for you, not for 5.5 million cars.”

What does it mean?

These are already part of our lives. They show what happens in the minds of consumers: what they think about, how they make decisions about purchasing a particular product. Businesses must carefully study the behavior of their customers and be very responsive to changes.

People and animals, in Jaipur, India, a truck hit a motorcycle on which a family was riding: a husband, wife and two children. The mother died on the spot. Trying to save the 8-month-old girl, the father and her older brother cried for help for almost an hour. CCTV cameras captured cars passing by and people walking. Nobody stopped. The girl died.

This indifference has become a new reality and not only an Indian one. In Russia, journalists checked who and how quickly would come to the aid of a fallen pregnant woman. The shooting was staged. For 20 minutes, a hidden camera watched a crying, helpless man pass by.

This Wednesday, in the small town of Oktyabrsky, a “nine” was driving through the streets with a man spread out on the hood. Inside is a reckless driver without a license, outside is a downed traffic police lieutenant, Konstantin Kleschunov.

A crowd of teenagers watches this unusual situation with delight. And the next day, the hero of the Internet becomes not Lieutenant Kleshchunov, who drove 2 kilometers on the hood and detained the offender, but someone Albert Abdulov, who shouts off-screen: “Handsome!”

“Maybe people have some kind of delusions of grandeur, they think that this will show how cool they say they are,” says Alexander Nemenov, a photographer at the French Press agency.

Photographer Alexander Nemenov began his career back in the 90s. But at the end of the 2000s, competitors appeared. Amateur photographers get there before professionals. Almost any incident goes online within minutes: be it a fire or a plane crash, when eyewitnesses take out their mobile phones at the same time, as if they were rehearsing. A child is caught hanging from a Ferris wheel; sincere regret is usually caused by a dead battery or insufficient screen resolution.

Some amateur footage sometimes amazes even professionals who seem to have strong nerves with cynicism.

When the Tu-204 plane rolled out onto the highway near Vnukovo airport, Evgeny Zembitsky truly acted heroically. He was not afraid that the engine would explode and was the first to look for the wounded. He was one step away from a real feat. But as soon as firefighters and other volunteers arrived, Zhenya suddenly took out his phone and turned on the camera.

“This adrenaline is so rushing: there are firefighters, there is water on you. And at that moment I take out my phone and just like that: “from the scene,” says Evgeniy Zembitsky.

A mobile phone records how other people pull the wounded out of the rubble.

Evgeny never saved anyone. But he still became a hero. The video was watched by hundreds of thousands and appeared on television. And most importantly, Evgeniy does not regret anything today.

“Yes, maybe it’s cynical. I know that everything you film is misfortune. But, unfortunately, this is how our society is now. To make it more terrible... Maybe it’s somehow transmitted?” - says Evgeny Zembitsky.

The person who became an eyewitness usually has a choice. Try to help or watch from the side. Become a real hero (even if anonymous) or capture the moment on camera.

“This is a new culture. This new psychosis, photopsychosis. It leaves no time to think. Life is not even spent taking photographs, waiting for “likes”, waiting to be noticed,” says journalist Viktor Martinovich.

Journalist and blogger Viktor Martinovich writes an article with the headline “Stop taking pictures!” He believes it's not the cruelty of society. The only thing is that people live on the Internet and for the Internet. They are indifferent not only to trouble, but also to joyful moments. After all, they also go to a concert of their favorite artist with a camera.

Kylie Minogue once asked me to draw hearts with my hands.

But it didn't work out. Instead of hearts, people again raised their hands with cameras.

For many today, constantly taking pictures of everything around them is not so much a hobby, but as if it is a necessity. Here it is in the morning, the first cup of coffee, click and immediately go to Facebook. A view of your desk, a lunch break with colleagues, a self-portrait in the mirror of an elevator or in a hairdresser, or just in the hallway or on a table. New sneakers are a favorite genre, cat - what would we do without it. And of course Friday is a hit on social networks.

Searching, filming and surprising the public is already such a habit that even when seeing someone else’s tragedy, the hand automatically reaches not to the person, but to the phone with the camera.

This was the case this week in the American town of West Texas. When the fertilizer plant caught fire, onlookers with cameras gathered around. Some came to admire the fire with their children.

The camera falls out of his hands and the father and daughter who arrived at the scene of the tragedy themselves become participants in the events. A powerful explosion destroyed half the city and injured hundreds of people. Including the authors of the video. True, they no longer wanted to make a sequel. It’s difficult to imagine yourself in the victim’s place. But there is nothing easier than being on the other side of the frame.

Barry Schwartz, a psychologist specializing in the psychology of choice, gave a very interesting mini-lecture () on the topic of the complexity of choice and hypothesized that the complexity of choice is one of the main reasons why depression is so common now and why people feel unhappy. The topic is so important and interesting that Very I advise you to read it in its entirety. Well, for those who don’t have time, I’ll give here the key points and conclusions.

It is traditionally believed that the more options a person has to choose from, the better, the freer and happier the person will be. But the second part of the statement, about happiness, turns out to be completely wrong. In practice, it really works out better for a person when he has many options, but the more options, the less satisfaction he ultimately experiences from his choice, and the less happy he is. And if there are too many options, then the so-called choice paralysis, in which the choice will be endlessly postponed until tomorrow, this will create tension, then feelings of anxiety, guilt and, ultimately, depression.

Moreover, this applies to all situations of choice in life: from choosing a morning outfit and buying a new phone to choosing a profession, spouse, pension fund, treatment options for a serious illness.

The abundance of options causes 3 negative effects, forming a vicious vicious circle:
1. Raising expectations. With an abundance of options to choose from, it seems that we can certainly choose an option that will satisfy us completely and completely. And the more options, the easier the problem seems to be solved, and the higher our expectations from the chosen option.
2. Frustration and guilt. The existence of an ideal option is, of course, an illusion. Any option has disadvantages, even if they are not visible at the time of choice. But when it turns out that the chosen option is not ideal, then another illusion arises - that the wrong choice was made! Some other, unselected option now seems better. This results in disappointment and a feeling of guilt due to the wrong choice.
3. Expectation of disappointment. When the situation described in paragraphs 1 and 2 is repeated many times, a person gets used to the fact that any choice he makes brings disappointment. Here the third illusion arises - that he does not know how to make the right decisions, that he is stupid and unlucky. The result is low self-esteem, procrastination in decision-making, avoidance of decisions, loss of joy in life, anxiety, and depression.

Barry Schwartz believes that this vicious circle is one of the main causes of depression in the modern world. It is perhaps difficult to disagree with him.

And finally, the main secret of happiness from Barry Schwartz: LEARN TO FINALLY LOWER YOUR UNREALISTIC EXPECTATIONS!