ABSTRACT
I am fairly sure that the world does not want, or need, another author telling it at great length that business and technology – indeed the very fundamentals of human society – are undergoing dramatic changes. Legions of journalists, pundits, academics and bar-room philosophers have already done plenty to analyse, measure and quantify what is happening and then predict the outcomes. I wish them the best of luck with their efforts. Many people – including myself – shy away from contemplating these things at length. When we stop to consider the myriad possible implications of the huge shifts that we are experiencing, trying to make even basic sense of it all can lead to feelings of overwhelming confusion and, worse, hopelessness. We crave reassurance from some figure in authority that there is a way to understand what is going on, and when – as is so often the case – we are not given it we feel a debilitating sense of despair. I am convinced that this despondency is a widespread problem, and one that will have serious consequences unless we tackle it. Of course one cannot quantify it, and it is self-evidently mistaken in many respects, but there can be no doubt that there is a general sense of malaise out there, an ill-defined feeling that ours is a period afflicted by unique crises and that things are only going to get worse. The immense and far-reaching effects of technological
progress are the most visible manifestations of the unsettling changes we have recently experienced, but to make matters worse the political and economic landscape seems equally convulsed by uncontrollable and menacing events:
z a new and widespread fear of science, ecological collapse and environmental disaster;
z a process of globalisation that has turned and now threatens to consume us …
Need I go on? If you want it to be, the list of intractable problems can seem endless; no wonder the gloom is palpable.
