Main Page/Introduction
Not even close. Our present culture is conditioned by centuries of scarcity that with our technical capabilities ought to have disappeared by now. This scarcity still persists today due to many factors such as self-interest (at many levels), short-term thinking, outdated institutions, and in no small part monetary economics.
But automation is becoming ever more sophisticated, steadily climbing the human career ladder, and in parallel we are developing increasingly efficient ways of collaborating and openly sharing knowledge. This means it will become increasingly unacceptable to let needless scarcity continue in the face of what is possible.
Via the internet a new fluid grouping of minds is evolving that is adhoc, distributed, self-organising and yet potentially far more effective than anything we have seen before. These peer-to-peer activities combined with advanced automation will give us the capability to do things that were previously impossible, both technologically and socially. It is the new enlightenment. In some areas, notably software development and knowledge gathering, it is well under way. But this is just the beginning.
Here we explore the emerging possibilities, focusing on concepts to take us to the next phase of civilisation — an ecologically sympathetic post-scarcity age where knowledge is freely shared and almost anything becomes possible. It sounds unlikely perhaps but it's absolutely within our reach, and this new era is coming at a rapid pace so you might want to prepare yourself... or perhaps join in.
