We need complex technology to cope with complexity.
One way to organize and categorize the human past is by using the breakthroughs in technology as historical landmarks. According to this approach, our present, the moment we are living now fits in what we call the information age, also known as the computer age, the digital age or the internet age. Choose your favorite label, all ages make reference to the same story. Computers represented a big leap in how humans store, retrieve, manipulate and transmit information, and then the Internet extended the power of computers and transformed us into a digital society.
I agree with the rationale behind the guiding philosophy of Douglas Engelbart in order to face the increasing complexity of the world’s problems. It says that “any serious effort to make the world better would require some kind of organized effort that harnessed the collective human intellect of all people to contribute to effective solutions”.
As humans, we expand our abilities by developing new technologies, and Engelbart envisioned back in 1950 that “computers could be the vehicle for dramatically improving this capability”.
Now, 70 years later, computers are an integral part of our daily lives and we are in the process of connecting the entire planet to the same information exchange network.