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GLOBALIZATION
AND RESPONSIBILITY
Alexander
N. Yakovlev
pdf.version
Ladies
and gentlemen,
I
am not an expert in cybernetics, and least of all in
cyberspace and their social function. I am a historian.
Therefore I would like to share my reflections with you
regarding our informational future in its human dimension in
the process of globalization.
It
is in this context that I deem it possible to put the theses
of my statement within a somewhat different philosophical
framework than is usually accepted.
"If
there is a future, I would like to know where it is". This
is what was asked by St Augustine. Indeed, where is
it?
The
answer would seem evident: the future is within ourselves.
But mankind, in order to begin building life on new
foundations, cannot rid itself of its principal
contradictions: intellectually man has reached breathtaking
heights in terms of science and technology whereas his
social behavior has remained that of a barbarian replete
with blood and lies. This contradiction holds mankind in a
vast grip which blocks development of its ethical
function.
Suppression
of the ethical function leads to the washing out of
distinction between the good and the bad to a strictly
technocratic treatment of the individual by the state and of
nature - by the individual.
1.
Informational systems
Let
me start with expressing my deep conviction that information
lies at the basis of life and that development of the human
society is measured by stages of informational epochs and
not by economic-political schemes. Nature is a kind of
energy backup for information and the spirit is information
&endash; received, adapted, systematized and processed by
the human brain.
It
is man's gift which allows brain to create culture &endash;
material and spiritual. An atom, a molecule, a nation, a
society, a human being, a country, the Universe are by and
large information systems. Matter only fills them in and
serves their development and self-improvement, changeover of
information from one form into another, etc..
Information
is endless in its manifestations. What a great man leaves
behind is only information &endash; be it paintings by
Leonardo, music by Mozart and Tchaikovsky, Don Quichote by
Cervantes, Eugene Onegine by Pushkin or the Dead Souls by
Gogol. The fall of the Roman Empire was the end of an
informational system which passed its peak and began
degrading.
So,
information is primary, and matter and spirit are secondary.
It is spirit, a better organized information, which is more
efficient and projected onto some or other specific matter.
For example, atomic or hydrogen bombs could not have
exploded if there were no human brain, the ideal information
synthesizer. That would not be possible, but man touched on
the energy of enormous, world-creating power and as a result
humankind became mortal because it raised hand against the
primary nature of information.
Humans
are mortal &endash; information is immortal. Mankind's
immorality is in perpetuity of information, in its lasting
image &endash; culture.
2.
Man in the informational environment
Here
I proceed from the following considerations:
Man
was born in the first environment &endash; nature. Then,
having acquired and processed information which was
available to him: language, alphabet, crops and
stockbreeding, science, arts, dwellings, etc. &endash; he
lived in two environments: first, nature proper and second,
in artificial nature.
From
the informational point of view, the second nature, that is
the whole world created by human hand and brain, is ruled by
letters, hieroglyphs, figures, musical notes, lines and
colors. Early in the 1980s the total value of means of
informatics &endash; i.e. computers, radio and TV sets,
telephones, fax and Xerox machines, etc. surpassed the cost
of producing energy resources, which means that man stepped
over into a new, yet unknown epoch. One speaks now of
internetization which might as well signify the end of the
first stage of globalization of the world space of
international life. Let us conditionally call the coming
informational epoch 'an epoch of the second
alphabet'.
The
second alphabet begins a new renaissance era. Convergence
through information of culture, religion, music, science and
a way of life has set in. As a result of advances in science
and technology society is gliding from a managerial
revolution to an informational stage and probably to an
intellectual revolution.
Universal
dissemination and mastering of the second alphabet make it
possible to process both huge information fields as much as
tiny ones at personal and family levels. The second
alphabet, or our transition into the third informational
environment so far is akin to ancient Egyptian scrolls, a
primitive kind of writing. In due time, perhaps in the 21st
century, the second alphabet will bring forth its
Shakespeares, Pushkins, Leonardos and Newtons.
3.
What will happen to us?
So,
in the coming century toward which we are directing our
glances, we are not going to live in the world of socialism,
or capitalism, or convergence of the two systems. It will be
a principally different choice, and it is being made by our
actions today. This can be a world of common sense and
rationalism, a world of competence and responsibility and,
which is more, a world of unconditional sovereignty of the
individual.
Industrialization
will fade out little by little. Already now the growth of
super cities, the megalopolises is slowing down. New
principles of an informational civilization will not need
cities to such an extent as in the past. The collectivity
connected with industrialization will certainly stay. But
its scale and forms will be substantially
changed.
Interstate
borders will be wiped out, there will be no need for visas
or customs. Militarization will be lost in the
Leta.
Autonomization
of the individual will probably bring forth new forms of
collectivity and of individualism. Expectedly, biotechnology
will lead us in the first quarter of the next century into
an era of optimization based on precise methods to determine
and meet needs and wishes both of an individual and of the
world community as a whole.
Since
especial value in the eyes of man will be given to arts,
handicraft skills and services, any man will be able, with
the help of new technologies, to engage in the work which
will bring him the joy of creation and discovery.
Technology
of optimization will secure stable, social rules. Science
and culture will ensure man's relative harmony within nature
and society and, to a degree, intrinsic harmony. There will
come a fuller understanding of the spiritual life phenomenon
which will be determined more and more by psychogenetics
which, in its turn, will open the door to yet another era.
We shall approach an epoch of global change in which
struggle for survival will disappear.
Wisdom
and goodwill will replace ignorance and greed and will
become a real moving force in society; peace, life and
happiness will acquire the highest, tangible value in the
eyes of people. The new society's religion will be humanism.
Today these statements sound banal, usually resorted to for
political speculation. Tomorrow they may start acquiring
real and not political content.
In
my opinion, internetization will inevitably lead to a new,
principally different stage of material and spiritual
advancement of civilization on a global scale. I call it
ecodevelopment.
From
the economical point of view ecodevelopment is a process of
the world economy gradual transition towards the maximum use
of biotechnology in production without waste as it happens
in life, thus achieving harmony between society and
nature.
From
the social point of view this is an effort to merge
knowledge and humanism which will make it possible to create
a system of self limitations and, eventually, eradicate
famine, poverty and destitution.
From
the philosophical point of view this a departure from
barbarity in which we still live since mankind has not
stopped taking human lives.
From
the political point of view this is fraternity and
co-operation among peoples and states overcoming social,
national and other strife.
The
ecodevelopment principles should be laid down at the basis
of an overall strategy of world development &endash; both
short- and long-term. Otherwise all our disputes about the
fate of man, the beauty and joy of living, the lasting value
of the arts will prove fruitless and beyond the
point.
This
is how I view the vector of civilized countries' development
in the first half of the 21st century. But not all is fine
as it may seem. I must come back to my misgivings mentioned
above.
1.
One certainly may be tempted to forcefully draw the
developing countries onto the informational field of the
developed countries. That is possible. But, honestly, I
fear that such jumps would lead to serious psychological
dislocations. Moreover, a chauvinistic hysteria may
result from the interference with the natural course of
events leading inevitably to conflicts, bloodshed and
degradation.
2.
Even if I do not share the apocalyptic ideas at all, I am
concerned about the consequences of 'internetization'. I
ask myself: can it be that the development of information
nets in the 21st century, while putting the wealth of
information at man's disposal, will weaken him
spiritually?
The
individual, comfortably ensconced in his armchair at home,
can summon practically the whole world onto his screen
&endash; any event, great or small &endash; and they will be
all at the call of a small, soulless button. I am afraid
that the analytical, diagnostic and prognostic functions
will be in the domain of machines even if they are
biomachines. One would only hope that love, childbirth,
dissemination of goodness and justice, conscience and
enjoyment are to remain the privilege of man.
Apprehensions
are not without ground that a gradual universalization of
life and of its values, a kind of 'unification' of a way of
life will come about. Not globalization, which is
inevitable, but rather universalization and unification. To
a degree it stands to logic; but will it not mean triumph of
all-embracing individualism and a particular form of growing
wild, a time of squeezing out everything human from a human
being?
There
arises a legitimate, difficult question: what will happen to
culture? Will it continue its mission of a guardian of
common human ideals and values, or will a strictly technical
civilization take the upper hand?
Will
the national cultures dim in the third informational
environment? How will they develop in cyberspace in which
time flies at an incredible speed? For time is but the speed
of information transfer.
The
world is one and single and multifaceted. And for that
reason it is colorful with all the races and nations. There
has never been, and I hope that there will never be, a
single culture for all living on the earth. There was and
there will be a culture which is made up of thousands of
ethnic cultures.
All
people will gradually become patriots of the planet earth.
Everybody will soon feel to a degree not so much a Russian,
a French, a Japanese, an American or a Nigerian, but rather
an earthling because the biosphere is one and only for all.
So is the earth, and the world ocean and the
atmosphere.
And
the main question is: will the second alphabet of electronic
means of information become the common denominator of
culture and, perhaps, of a monoculture?
Historically
the time during which man has been conducting scientifically
reliable monitoring is still too short. Nevertheless, we are
to expect a crisis changing the cycle at any moment. Every
major event may signal the beginning of a counter
phase.
History
shows that morally deficient forces and tendencies triumphed
sooner or later in the societies where the process of
historical choice was put in the reverse, as it were. It
would be naive to presume that those processes have ceased.
That is why a world built on some latest dogmas is possible;
and in that instance it would not matter much whether people
say prayers to capitalism, socialism or democracy; live with
market or without it; in a rule-of-law state or in a
totalitarian one as the world built on fanaticism regards a
human as a renewable resource and by no means as the product
of supreme creation and purpose.
4.
Responsibility
And
now turning to the main things. And here I revert to the
problem of information. The democratic future of humankind
depends, directly and indirectly, on prospects of its use.
Democracy, a noisy, collectivity phenomenon, will begin to
change its forms. Historically speaking, time can only be
compacted through democracy and not by force, but rather by
informational impact on our own kin tired of wars and
violence.
Thus,
amassing information means acquiring greater freedom. But
let us ask ourselves: is the problem of responsibility of
man becoming especially topical, particularly in the sphere
of mass media? I had, to a certain extent, to do with the
struggle for glasnost in the Soviet Union and Russia. Those
were dazzling years of upswing of freedom or word. Alas, I
cannot say the same about nowadays for it becomes evident
that media under economic pressure fairly often present an
unseemly sight of intolerance infringing on elementary human
rights that demonstrates irresponsibility. I have to admit
it with bitterness. At the same time democracy without
freedom of press is inevitably transformed into totalitarism
&endash; which is the nature of power and here, too, arises
a question of responsibility.
In
this connection I would like to bring the following to your
attention. So far there is no world democratic constitution.
That is de jure. But it exists de facto: that is to say in
human rights.
I
do not think that enough information has been amassed to
allow the establishment of a world rule-of-law state. But it
must be set up. Apparently this will take the whole of the
21st century. I believe that there will come a time when the
problem of balance between freedom and responsibility must
be dealt with in all seriousness. And, if a man dreams of
ruling a state, he accordingly is to raise the level of his
obligations.
The
idea is by far not new. Thinkers, both of the olden times
and of today, standing on the foundation of democracy have
persistently tried to impress upon injudicious society that
ignored responsibility, deforms freedom; that
irresponsibility is inconsistent with freedom.
Let
us remember Mahatma Ghandi who wrote about modern sins which
are: politics without principles, commerce without morality,
wealth without work, education without character, science
without conscience and worship without sacrifice.
I
happened to participate in the meetings of the Inter-action
Council, an organization of former heads of states in which
the problem of the need to adopt a UN Universal Declaration
of Human Responsibilities was discussed as a priority topic.
If we are to speak about the right to live, then we have a
responsibility to cherish it and not to destroy one another;
if we are to speak about the right to personal freedom, we
have a responsibility first of all to respect the freedom of
others; if we are to speak about the right to personal
security, we have a responsibility to seek security for all;
if we are to speak about the right to take part in the
political life of our country, we have a responsibility to
choose the best leaders; if we are to speak about the right
to work on just conditions, we have a responsibility to work
to the full capacity of our forces and capabilities; if we
are to speak about the right to education, we have a
responsibility to study ourselves and, where appropriate, to
share our knowledge with other; if we are to speak about the
fight to use the wealth of the earth, we have a
responsibility to respect and spare nature.
This
is the foundation for creating a society of humanism in
conditions of globalization of life of the world community,
the foundation of ethics.
Without
devotion to humanism, mankind will never be able to create a
society in which there will be no place for lying
politicians and corrupted officials, for deceit and
arrogance, for demagoguery and populism, for blood-letting
fight for power and property.
Despite
all the difficulties of a special transitory period towards
globalization of human life on earth, it is my belief that
we are moving to the era of triumph of common sense, to
social and ecological responsibility which will replace
unrestrained egotism of today.
Evolutionary
change must become a way of life of mankind and a capability
to make them possible &endash; a basic criterion of morality
of the global system which is taking shape, of its vitality.
To my mind history takes on some integrity even though there
is no single concept of how to shape the world, but the
probability of mankind getting free &endash; and on that
basis entering a humanistic civilization, a new
informational epoch - is going to take real shape already in
the course of the next century.
I
personally think, I am even sure, that conditions of
globalization of life of the world community and of
internetization, adoption of the Declaration of Human
Responsibilities becomes inevitable.
The
two great declarations of human rights and of human
responsibilities could form the basis of a great world
constitution.
Emanzipation
Humanum,
version 02. 02, criticism, suggestions as to form and
content, dialogue, translation into other languages are all
desired
http://emanzipationhumanum.de/english/responsibility01.html
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