The Information Renaissance and Un-secreting

Throughout history, there have been several transformative time periods involving technology and related progress. These time periods are often referred to as Technology or Industrial Revolutions.

Some of these Industrial Revolutions were also accompanied by thought revolutions, which have a slightly different nature. Thought revolutions are a leap in human understanding of the world and our existence. Examples of these types of revolutions are the Italian Renaissance and the French Enlightenment.

During these time periods there was not only a significant progress in technology, but also a significant progress in human thought.

An important trigger for these types of revolutions are increased connectivity and increased information flow.

The currently occurring 4th Industrial Revolution has significant connectivity and information flow nature, therefore it will lead to significant changes in human thought and our understanding of the world.

It will also lead to something I call un-secreting!

Un-secreting is a phenomenon related to truths about individual reality, that people do not discuss openly or reveal about themselves.

Because of significant connectivity and the emergence of social networks, specifically Facebook and Clubhouse, it is becoming increasingly harder to maintain these secrets.

Overtime, as more and more of these individual hidden truths get exposed, our understanding of collective truths and collective reality will increase.

It is interesting that Rene Girard’s landmark book is titled “Things hidden from the foundation of the world”.

There are a lot more things hidden from the foundation of the world than what Girard discusses.

How much truth can a society handle until it becomes unstable?

It is interesting that most things that we hide are not determined at the individual level but at the hierarchical level from the top. Because the people that are at the top seem to have the most to hide.

To be continued…