The New Decade

As Arthur C. Clarke rightly critiqued at the start of '2001: A Space Odyssey,' the third millennium didn't start in 2000 AD, but in 2001 AD. After all, who counts only up to the nine of something? 

Likewise, this new decade, the third decade of the new millennium, started on the 1st of 2021, not 2020. After all, it's called a 'decade' or a counting to a ten, for a reason.So now, we are in a new decade. What will it bring, what can we expect different from past decades? 

Well for a start, like it or not, we are now thrust into the age of remote communities, of peoples scattered by distance, but who nonetheless are able to function together through the power of internet communications. Likewise, an increasing number of our activities will be performed beneath the gaze of potential inquirers, meaning the Dark Web. Both these spheres of activity will unfortunately promote already growing physical isolation, but may ultimately free up great landscapes for mental activity, for the mind of man to grow and flourish and interact with others outside normal physical and societal  restrictions.

On the other hand, the increasingly centralized and authoritarian nature of the Information Age will drive many potential users and their expressions off the platforms and result in a greater homogenization of expression akin to what has already been the case with mass media. The two trends will probably drive the formation of autonomous mini-communities who will communicate and develop in ways akin to clans and secret societies of the past. Entry will be by trust and sponsorship and the heady days of the early Digital Frontier will soon be forgotten.

As far as larger physical trends continue, few bode well either for the individual nor for mass society in general. Climate change and other crises will continue to develop out of control, with an increasingly aggressive power structure continuing to twist the raw data to suit its own requirements. The astonishing pace of technological development we were accustomed to in the previous century will continue to be artificially suppressed, at least partially in the name of an 'orderly' society.

We'll see how this goes if, in the name of 'peace,' the powers that be in fact initiate the ultimate driver of technological development, a new cycle or cycles of conflict, of war.  For now, we project from what we have now, what the future has in store. Hopefully, the material sciences continue to advance and develop a new round of, most importantly, new medical breakthroughs. 

Hopefully, though even in the realm of mercy, one must acknowledge the presence of overriding factors of economy and advantage, that ultimately stand like vultures over every facet of human existence. Then again, maybe it really is for the best, lest the Faustian lust for knowledge and the power it brings, so aptly described by Spengler, brings on the Correction of Overreaching (the erroneously named 'Lathe of Heaven') described by Ch'uang Tzu. Life and fortune to any reading these words in whatever course the path of this new decade takes.