Abstract
Never before? Every age tends to think it is special, facing problems that have never occurred before mdash the ‘arrogance of the present’. Disruption has occurred before, yet this generation (or the last, or the next) might well be facing unique problems. There is good evidence that special times are here or hereabouts. Globalisation is new mdash mankind has always totally remade or devastated small areas of the planet, but now we have the capacity to affect everywhere at once. The Max Plank Institute predicts demographic trends. One such prediction says that around 2070 the human population will start to decline for reasons other than disaster or disease mdash that will be the first time in history that material success has led to fewer people on Earth. So maybe there are some truly new effects to be considered. What might be new about disruption this time are its speed, strength of impact, and the global compass of its effect.
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Hughes, P.M., Cosier, G. What Makes a Revolution? Disruptive Technology and Social Change. BT Technology Journal 19, 24–28 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1013718227208
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1013718227208