이 글은 4차 산업혁명과 민주주의의 관계에 대한 철학적 해명을 시도하는데 목적을 둔다. 특히 4차 산업혁명이라는 시대적 현상의 토대에 위치하는 인터넷, 인공지능 알고리즘, 빅데이터 등과 같은 과학기술이 시민의 삶과 민주주의에 미치는 영향들을 비판적으로 검토하는데 초점을 맞춘다. 4차 산업혁명은 산업 전반의 패러다임의 전환에 대한 근래의 시대적 규정이다. 그러나 이러한 규정이 과연 적절한 것인지의 문제는 여전히 열려있다. 역사적으로 볼 때 산업혁명이라는 개념은 증기기관, 전기, 컴퓨터 같은 새로운 기술이 생산과 소비의 변화를 단기간에 혁명적으로 불러오고 사회문화적 지형의 변화를 동반하는 시기에 적용되었다. 때문에 이미 컴퓨터와 인터넷을 (...) 통한 생산과 소비의 변화가 이루어진 3차 산업혁명의 시기를 고려하면 최근의 상황에 패러다임의 전환이라고 할 만한 것이 있는지에 대한 의문을 제기하는 것도 무리는 아니다. 하지만 단순히 컴퓨터에 의한 생산자동화 시스템 도입과 인터넷 통신기술의 발달로 인한 정보의 공유라는 현상만으로 포괄하기 어려운 사회적 사태들이 등장하고 있는 현실을 부정하기는 어렵다. 대표적으로 인터넷과 인공지능 알고리즘 그리고 빅데이터의 활용을 통한 산업의 성장과 사회문화적 지형의 변화가 그것이다. 인터넷과 인공지능은 사물과 사물, 사물과 사람, 사람과 사람을 연결시키면서 기존에 추구해 왔던 생산과 소비의 방식을 바꾸고 있으며 이것은 다시 우리의 삶과 사회의 변화로 연결되고 있는 것이다. 이렇게 볼 때 4차 산업혁명이라고 부르는 사태에 패러다임의 전환을 의미할 만한 혁명이 있는지의 문제에 대해서는 그 경계를 달리할 수 있겠지만 새로운 과학기술의 등장이 우리의 삶과 사회의 문화를 빠르게 변화시키고 있거나 변화시킬 것으로 보인다는 생각은 일견 타당해 보인다. 우리는 먼저 4차 산업혁명으로 규정되는 사회적 현상 내지는 일련의 사태들이 시민의 삶에 미치는 영향들을 다루는 것으로 논의를 시작할 것이다. 이어서 그러한 영향들이 어떻게 우리의 기대와 달리 사유의 무능을 겪는 시민들을 만들어낼 수 있는지를 살펴볼 것이다. 동시에 사유의 무능이 사회에 일으키는 일련의 현상들을 고립적 개인주의와 무비판적 집단주의로 규정하면서 그러한 주의들이 어떻게 민주주의의 토대를 침식하고 새로운 형태의 통제사회를 가져올 수 있는지 보여주고자 한다. 결론에서는 4차 산업혁명의 기대를 뒷받침하는 과학기술이 우리를 사유의 무능과 통제 사회로 이끌 수 있으며 이는 곧 시민적 역량의 훼손과 민주주의의 위기를 의미한다고 주장할 것이다. 더불어 사유의 무능으로부터 벗어난 시민들만이 4차 산업혁명과 인간의 삶이 맺어야 할 관계에 관한 비판적 논의를 민주적으로 통제할 수 있다고 주장할 것이다. (shrink)

The emergence of the “4th Industrial Revolution,” i.e. the convergence of artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, advanced materials, and bioengineering technologies, could accelerate socioeconomic insecurities and anxieties or provide beneficial alternatives to the status quo. In the post-Covid-19 era, the entities that are best positioned to capitalize on these innovations are large firms, which use digital platforms and big data to orchestrate vast ecosystems of users and extract market share across industry sectors. Nonetheless, these technologies also have (...) the potential to democratize ownership, broaden political-economic participation, and reduce environmental harms. We articulate the potential sociotechnical pathways in this high-stakes crossroads by analyzing cellular agriculture, an exemplary 4th Industrial Revolution technology that synergizes computer science, biopharma, tissue engineering, and food science to grow cultured meat, dairy, and egg products from cultured cells and/or genetically modified yeast. Our exploration of this space involved multi-sited ethnographic research in both the cellular agriculture community and alternative economic organizations devoted to open source licensing, member-owned cooperatives, social financing, and platform business models. Upon discussing how these latter approaches could potentially facilitate alternative sociotechnical pathways in cellular agriculture, we reflect upon the broader implications of this work with respect to the 4th Industrial Revolution and the enduring need for public policy reform. (shrink)

제4차 산업혁명 시대는 인류의 삶을 근본에서부터 뒤흔들 것으로 예측되고 있다. 이러한 제4차 산업혁명의 영향으로 인해 인류는 이미 새로운 시대를 경험하고 있다고 해도 과언이 아니다. 새로운 시대는 새로운 사회로 변화를 야기하고, 새로운 인간상의 교육에 대한 기대가 커지고 있다. 오늘날의 현대교육은 미래교육의 비전으로서는 한계를 가지고 있다.BR 현대 초등교육의 문제점을 분석하고 새로운 교육의 지평을 모색하기 위해서, 소학에서 그 지혜를 발견해 보고자 한다. 왜 소학인가? 소학에서는 초등교육의 전통적인 교육목표와 방법을 확인할 수 있고, 오래되었지만 미래교육에서 활용할 수 있는 지혜가 있기 때문이다. 이를 위해서 먼저, 제4차 (...) 산업혁명 시대의 인간상과 초등 인성교육의 의미를 살펴보고, 다음으로 소학에서 발견할 수 있는 인성교육의 지혜를 분석해 볼 것이다. 마지막으로 이러한 연구가 가지는 의미를 고찰해 볼 것이다. (shrink)

Resumo: neste artigo pretendo estender a evidenciação do encobrimento do mundo da vida formulada por Husserl ao uso das tecnologias disruptivas da 4ª Revolução Industrial, mais precisamente o uso da inteligência artificial (IA) nas plataformas sociais. Primeiro, apresento o conceito de mundo da vida que se mantém consistente ao longo das obras de Husserl; em seguida, apresento seu encobrimento derivado da matematização da natureza e do rompimento com o telos, o que originou a crise da humanidade europeia. Segundo, mais (...) camadas de encobrimento do mundo da vida vão se sobrepondo com a 3ª e 4ª RIs. Em mais detalhe, o encobrimento e o afastamento do mundo da vida provocado pelo uso da IA e seus efeitos negativos, individual e coletivamente. Terceiro, a proposta Husserliana de retorno ao mundo da vida através de uma epoché radical. Concluo que a solução proposta por Husserl para a crise ainda é atual e urgente. Abstract: in this paper I intend to extend the disclosure of the cover-up of the lifeworld formulated by Husserl to the use of disruptive technologies of the 4th Industrial Revolution, more precisely the use of artificial intelligence on social platforms. First, I present the concept of lifeworld that remains consistent throughout Husserl's works; then, I present its cover-up derived from the mathematization of nature and the break with the telos, which originated the crisis of european humanity. Second, more layers of cover-up of the lifeworld overlap with the 3rd and 4th IRs. In more detail, the cover-up and detachment from the lifeworld caused by the use of AI and its negative effects, individually and collectively. Third, the Husserlian proposal of return to the lifeworld through a radical epoché. I conclude that the solution proposed by Husserl to the crisis is still actual and urgent. (shrink)

The purpose of this paper is as follows. First, we can see the ethical problems of biotechnology and characteristic of BT-ICT convergence products in the era of BT-ICT convergence centered on the paradigm shift from IT industry to ICT industry and 4th industrial revolution. Second, as the issue of biotechnology ethics in the era of BT-ICT convergence, we can see the main areas of interest and issues of bioethics, the ethical development process of clinical ethics related to bioethics, (...) and new ethical issues in the era of BT-ICT convergence. Third, the principles and ethics of bioethics - the principles of bioethics of Hood’s P4 Medicine, Robert Merton's CUDOS, M. F. Atiyah’s Responsibility, David B. Resnik - reveal the ethics and social responsibilities that biotechnologists need as professionals. Fourth, as biotechnologists, autonomy and social responsibility of professionalism, and moral literacy and ethical personality to be possessed by biotechnologists. (shrink)

4차 산업혁명은 지능형 사이버물리시스템(CPS)을 토대로 ‘초연결적 완전 자동화와 최적화’를 추구하고 있다. 이미 많은 기업과 국가들은 ‘초연결적 자동화의 가치’를 실현하기 위해 정책적으로 기존의 제조공장을 지능형 기반의 스마트팩토리(Smart Factory)로 바꾸고 있다. 디지털 지능에 의한 자동화가 극대화된 스마트팩토리가 늘어날수록 인간 ‘일’의 가치는 상실되고, 일자리는 더욱 빠르게 사라질 것으로 예견된다. 4차 산업혁명의 기술이 혁신해 나갈 미래는 디지털 자동화를 완성하는 것이 아니라 인간의 암묵적 지식, 사회적 규범, 문화와 디지털 기술이 적절하게 조화를 이루어야 한다고 본다. 본고는 ‘디지털 시민제작공방’으로서 팹랩(Fab Lab)에 나타난 ‘인간 제작경험-지능형기술 융화의 간이(簡易) 자동화’가 (...) 컬쳐팩토리(Culture Factory)로서 ‘인간행위-공유플랫폼 기술의 상호적응형 자동화 모델’의 토대가 되어 ‘인간과 기술의 협력적이면서도 공공적 가치’를 지닐 수 있는가를 아렌트(Hannah Arendt)의 장인적 제작과 공공적 행위에 관한 사유, 시몽동(Gilbert Simondon)의 기술 자동화와 기술공동체 관한 기술철학에 근거해 모색해 본 것이다. (shrink)

Maintenance decision errors can result in very costly problems. The 4th industrial revolution has given new opportunities for the development of and use of intelligent decision support systems. With these technological advancements, key concerns focus on gaining a better understanding of the linkage between the technicians’ knowledge and the intelligent decision support systems. The research reported in this study has two primary objectives. To propose a theoretical model that links technicians’ knowledge and intelligent decision support systems, and to (...) present a use case how to apply the theoretical model. The foundation of the new model builds upon two main streams of study in the decision support literature: “distribution” of knowledge among different agents, and “collaboration” of knowledge for reaching a shared goal. This study resulted in the identification of two main gaps: firstly, there must be a greater focus upon the technicians’ knowledge; secondly, technicians need assistance to maintain their focus on the big picture. We used the cognitive fit theory, and the theory of distributed situation awareness to propose the new theoretical model called “distributed collaborative awareness model.” The model considers both explicit and implicit knowledge and accommodates the dynamic challenges involved in operational level maintenance. As an application of this model, we identify and recommend some technological developments required in augmented reality based maintenance decision support. (shrink)

Scholars in Central Asia have long started exploring the nexus between law and technology. Contemporary Central Asian legal academia is producing research which stands at the junction of law, philosophy, and technology. Central Asia is comparatively not advanced in technology production and imports most the technologies from neighboring tech giants. These technologies are imported as a package along with the laws and regulations proposed by the technology manufacturing country. It has been observed that these regulations don‘t correlate with the existing (...) local and regional legal systems. To meet these demands, this article proposes a new discipline / branch of legal sciences named as ―Central Asia Tech Law to accommodate the technological progression of the 4th industrial revolution. This branch of law strives to promote globalized legal mechanisms to treat technology as per the demands of the Central Asian region and in line with the international norms and standardization. Another purpose of Central Asia Tech Law is to increase the interaction with regional social and applied scientists to set regional technological standards and preferences for Central Asia. (shrink)

Industry 4.0 The present work enables us to take the first steps in the world of the 4th Industrial Revolution, a world where robots, artificial intelligence and digital manufacturing technologies will change forever the way we design, produce and buy products and services. The first characteristics of this revolution is globalization: for the first time in history, an industrial transformation is taking place simultaneously on a global scale. The second key-factor is the word ecosystem: unlike the (...) first three industrial revolutions (steam engine, electricity and computers) over the past few years, no technologies nor machines were invented anew, but we understood how to keep together different technological platforms by using the same language (bit). If the revolution in place will complete the transformations announced, in twenty years we will look at today’s society the same way we nowadays look at the 19th Century society. (shrink)

During two centuries of industrial revolution, history's most powerful ruling class has been produced, equipped, and armed to the teeth --not just with bullets but also with powerful media and an aggressive ideology of domination. Increasingly, the democratic institutions crafted at the dawn of capitalism are being undermined or overrun by corporate and financial overseers. Despite the fact that history gives ample reason to fear the worst for the future, social and political theory can be a form of (...) resistance and hope. The papers in this volume express this hope, exploring progressive and liberatory institutional conceptions; analyzing multiple experiences of alienation and culture; reconceiving gender, sexuality, and desire; and scrutinizing humanitarian intervention for both corrupted elements and future possibilities for the just defense of the defenseless. These papers were selected from among the best of those presented at the RPA's 4th biennial conference, held in November 2000 at Loyola University - Chicago. (shrink)

In recent years it has become commonplace to downplay notions of an industrial revolution and argue instead that Britain's transformation was gradual and incremental. In _The Industrial Revolution and the Atlantic Economy_ Brinley Thomas contests this view, arguing that change in the energy base and hence in technology has enabled Britain to overcome an energy crisis and sustain dramatic population growth. Throughout these essays illustrate the organic approach to economic growth that Brinley Thomas pioneered.

Techno-colonialism, which I argue here to specifically mean the transfer of technology and its values and norms from one locale to another, has become a serious concern with the advancement of socially disruptive technologies1 of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), like artificial intelligence and robots. While the transfer of technology from one locale, especially economically advanced countries, to developing countries comes with economic benefits for both regions, it is important to understand that technologies are not value- neutral; they (...) come with the values, cultures, and worldviews of their designers. However, despite the nonvalue-neutrality of the technologies of the 4IR, they are still relevant for subSaharan Africa’s development. Thus, using a phenomenological approach, especially the sub-Saharan African experiences of past histories of colonialism, I prescribe cautionary measures that sub-Saharan Africans ought to take in approaching the current industrial revolution and its technologies. (shrink)

Discussions on the impact and future directions of technology often proceed from an empirical point of view that seems to presume that the ebb and flow of technological developments is beyond the control of humankind, so that all that humanity can do is adjust to it. However, such an approach easily neglects several crucial normative considerations that could enhance the standing of individual human beings and whole communities as rational users of technology rather than its slaves. Besides, more often than (...) not, technological products are designed in ways that neglect the needs of persons with disabilities, thereby perpetuating their exclusion from society. Consequently, this article proposes four normative considerations to guide the initiatives of African societies in their deployment of the technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, namely, inclusiveness to meet the needs of all human beings, affordability to bridge the digital divide, respect for cultural identity to guard against cultural imperialism, and an ethical orientation as the overarching guide to building a truly human society. (shrink)

Francis Fukuyama postulated that there are two powerful forces at work in human history. One, he calls, ‘the logic of modern science’ and the other, ‘the struggle for recognition’. I agree with Fukuyama that human developmental progression is propelled by these twin principles. It is my position that these principles have been the drivers of geopolitics. In this paper, I argue that, in addition, knowledge production is a major factor in geopolitics and that the Euro-American worldview has occupied the place (...) of hegemony by reason of knowledge production. Africa has been denied having any form of epistemic tradition by the Euro-American world to sustain itself in the position of hegemony. In the era of Fourth Industrial Revolution, it will be antithetical for Africa to continue to adopt or consume technologies driven by Eurocentrism without projecting its contribution to the global space. Hence, using a critical hermeneutical approach, I contend that Africa needs to make a unique African contribution in the era of Fourth Industrial Revolution. It is Africa’s unique contribution that will guarantee Africa a place in geopolitics. (shrink)

The Fourth Industrial Revolution has become a global buzz word since the World Economic Forum adopted it as an annual issue in 2016. It is represented by hyper automation and hyper connectivity based on artificial intelligence, big data, robotics, and Internet of things. AI, big data, and robotics can contribute to developing hyper automation that can increase productivity and intensify industrial production. Particularly, robots using AI can make decision by themselves as human being on complicated processes. Along (...) with the hyper automation, the hyper connectivity increases not only at national, but also global level by using information and communication technologies. IoT is the core technology to create the hyper connectivity in Cyber Physical System that connects technology, nature, and human being. Accordingly, a perfect convergence between ICT and manufacturing can be completed in the Fourth Industrial Revolution era and an extremely efficient flexible production system by spreading IoT in CPS will be established. Under such a condition, innovative clusters must play their traditional roles in cradles of technology innovation and commercialization. It must be difficult challenges for innovative clusters to meet their targets and to be adjusted by the changing new environment at the same time. This paper argues how the Fourth Industrial Revolution can change the global production chain and how core technologies function in industries. Furthermore, it focuses on how innovative clusters have to evolve to respond the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Last, but not least it also analyzes whether or not innovative clusters can play their roles as technology innovation hubs in the real world and CPS in the Fourth Industrial Revolution era. (shrink)

In this paper, we argue that antecedents of modern corporate social responsibility prior to the Industrial Revolution can be referred to as “proto-CSR” to describe a practice that influenced modern CSR, but which is different from its modern counterparts in form and structure. We develop our argument with the history of miners’ guilds in medieval Germany—religious fraternities and secular mutual aid societies. Based on historical data collected by historians and archeologists, we reconstruct a long-term process of pragmatic experimentation (...) with institutions of mutual aid that address social problems in the early mining industry, and thus before the rise of the modern state and the capitalist firm. Co-shaped by economic and political actors, these institutions of mutual aid have influenced the social responsibility programs of early industrialists, modern social welfare legislation, and contemporary CSR. We conjecture that other elements of proto-CSR might have evolved according to similar trajectories. (shrink)

The Industrial Revolution was the heyday of entrepreneurial activity, fuelling an unprecendented expansion of the UK's industrial base. The entreprenuer is a central figure in modern business economics, and this set draws together some of the classic studies of this subject. The volumes reprinted include important historical studies, as well as discussions of entrepreneurial behaviour.

Since the Industrial Revolution, human societies have experienced high and sustained rates of economic growth. Recent explanations of this sudden and massive change in economic history have held that modern growth results from an acceleration of innovation. But it is unclear why the rate of innovation drastically accelerated in England in the eighteenth century. An important factor might be the alteration of individual preferences with regard to innovation resulting from the unprecedented living standards of the English during that (...) period, for two reasons. First, recent developments in economic history challenge the standard Malthusian view according to which living standards were stagnant until the Industrial Revolution. Pre-industrial England enjoyed a level of affluence that was unprecedented in history. Second, behavioral sciences have demonstrated that the human brain is designed to respond adaptively to variations in resources in the local environment. In particular, Life History Theory, a branch of evolutionary biology, suggests that a more favorable environment should trigger the expression of future-oriented preferences. In this paper, I argue that some of these psychological traits – a lower level of time discounting, a higher level of optimism, decreased materialistic orientation, and a higher level of trust in others – are likely to increase the rate of innovation. I review the evidence regarding the impact of affluence on preferences in contemporary as well as past populations, and conclude that the impact of affluence on neurocognitive systems may partly explain the modern acceleration of technological innovations and the associated economic growth. (shrink)

This chapter presents the text of a lecture on the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain given at the British Academy's 2009 Keynes Lecture in Economics. This text suggests that the Industrial Revolution was Britain's response to the global economy that emerged after 1500 and that Britain's success in world trade resulted in one of the most urbanised economies in Europe with unusually high wages and cheap energy prices. The text here also highlights the contribution of Britain (...) in the invention of the steam engine and the cotton spinning machines and in scientific discoveries relating to atmospheric pressure. (shrink)

This volume is by no means out of place for a reader in the twenty first century as resemblances between the age of the machine and our own digital age are surprisingly numerous, particularly with reference to the patterns of intellectual response to unprecedented stimuli. The worrisome parallelisms and analogues are purposefully kept off stage for the imaginative audience to complement the plot of the real drama of the Industrial Revolution as it was witnessed by such imaginative medievalist (...) 'knights' as Carlyle, Cobbett, Southey, Pugin, Ruskin and Morris, intelligent thinkers who performed the universal 'type' rather than the subjective or egocentric in so far as their intellectual responses to the discrepancy between two dissimilar epochs was concerned. The reader is, therefore, expected to be engaged with the arguments of the 'neo-feudal', the 'moral-aesthetic' and the utopian 'social-aesthetic' arguments at the core of the book both imaginatively and intellectually. On the first level, he is requested to shuttle between two centuries separated by the length of a different century. On the second, however, he is expected not only to appreciate the artistically excellent literary works of prominent belletrists, but also to examine the clever polemics they developed as methods of treatment and persuasion aiming at a solution of the social and psychological problems that arose from the incongruity between the present and the past, with specific references to such significant concepts as those of time, history, progress and authority which are examined against the superheated touchstones of democratization, liberty, laissez-faire ethics, mechanization, poverty and social protest in the industrial city. (shrink)

During the late-nineteenth and twentieth centuries interpretations of the British Industrial Revolution became embedded within debates over competing systems of political economy, primarily liberal democracy versus socialism. At the heart of this contest was also the question of epistemology. A picture emerged of the Industrial Revolution that reflected such contrasting perspectives; for those with a Western liberal bent Britain industrialized first due to a weak state, an emphasis upon individual liberty, the right institutions and culture of (...) creativity born of free minds and free markets. At the heart of this was the emergence of science; objectivity and Western democracy became a key cornerstone of this perspective. This view was first especially spearheaded by the Austrian economists Ludwig von Mises and, slightly later, Friedrich A. Hayek. The debate subsequently became particularly fierce during the Cold War, and since the fall of the Berlin Wall the role of the state and protectionism within Britain’s industrial history has greatly diminished. Indeed today’s dominant historiography continues to erase Britain’s actual industrial experience and, instead, reflect entrenched liberal and neoliberal prescriptions. A major axiom of this ideological viewpoint is the centrality of science and its history. (shrink)

This paper proposes an ntu’ologically analytical questioning of the contentious Fourth Industrial Revolution phenomenon, as it suggests that an industrial revolution ought to be appreciated in causation or causality terms. The cause of an industrial revolution is required to comprise ‘adequacy quality causing interactions’ among entities of specific ntu categories. These interactions bring into being nine basic ntu’ological adequacy qualities or industrial revolution criteria. For that reason, nine selected modes of interaction, called (...) in this paper, ntu’ological interactions forms, guide the analytical questioning of the possible existence of a Fourth Industrial Revolution. The aforementioned nine criteria are incontestable in respect of the First, Second and Third Industrial Revolutions. This paper, however, takes the agnostic position that: the Fourth Industrial Revolution may exist, but we cannot prove this with theoretical reason. (shrink)

I am grateful to have received so many stimulating commentaries from interested colleagues regarding the psychological origins of the Industrial Revolution and the role of evolutionary theory in understanding historical phenomena. Commentators criticized, extended, and explored the implications of the perspective I presented, and I wholeheartedly agree with many commentaries that more work is needed. In this response, I thus focus on what is needed to further test the psychological origins of the Industrial Revolution. Specifically, I (...) argue, in agreement with many commentators, that we need: better data about standards of living, psychological preferences, and innovation rates ; better models to understand the role of resources in driving cultural evolution and the multiple aspects of the behavioral constellation of affluence ; and better predictions and better statistical instruments to disentangle the possible mechanisms behind the rise of innovativeness. (shrink)

What impelled the Industrial Revolution's spectacular economic growth? Life History Theory, Baumard argues, explains how England's world-supreme affluence psychologically fostered innovation; moreover, wherever similar affluence abounds, a “civilizing process” bringing enlightenment and democracy is apt to evolve. Baumard insightfully analyzes a “constellation of affluence” but proffers somewhat whiggish history given England's prior and unique proto-capitalist culture of economic liberty and individualism.

New technologies are emerging across the globe and are influencing our perceptions of the world, our behaviour and our understanding of what it means to be a human being. In particular, Klaus Schwab and others define the advancement of ‘cyber-physical systems’, coupled with new capacities for both machines and human beings, in terms of ‘The Fourth Industrial Revolution’. The South African Parliament placed the Fourth Industrial Revolution on its national agenda. It serves as a new foundation (...) story for the country, one that justifies, explains and facilitates the perceived shifts from previous understandings of reality, and one that currently plays out on an unevenly distributed continuum. To be an effective agent of change and a relevant voice for the voiceless and the powerless in this Fourth Industrial Revolution era, the church must facilitate immersive, yet provocative performances of the Gospels while simultaneously embodying and empowering others with wisdom to traverse this unchartered terrain of technological innovation with insight and discernment. The church’s message should be that, to live more godly, we all need to become more human, not post-human or trans-human. We cannot avoid the fact that we are entering an era in which technology will redefine who we are. However, the question is not only what technology can do for us but also what we as change agents should allow technology to do. Contribution: This article focuses on the role of the Christian church in our era of massive technological innovation. The creative role that faith communities could play in order to ensure a more humane approach to and interaction with various 4IR technologies are addressed. A short investigation is offered of a new ‘hermeneutical performance’ of the Bible as an immersive text in an interactive 4IR world. In this regard the emphasis on a new ‘metanoetic alignment with the mission of Jesus, which is explored in the article, links on to the theological scope of HTS Theological Studies in terms of new theological insights and new vistas for academic investigation. (shrink)

Artificial intelligence (AI) is the ability of a digital computer or computer-controlled robot to perform tasks commonly associated with intelligent beings. Artificial intelligence can be both a blessing and a curse, and potentially a double-edged sword if not carefully wielded. While it holds massive potential benefits to humans—particularly in healthcare by assisting in treatment of diseases, surgeries, record keeping, and easing the lives of both patients and doctors, its misuse has potential for harm through impact of biases, unemployment, breaches of (...) privacy, and lack of accountability to mention a few. In this article, we discuss the fourth industrial revolution, through a focus on the core of this phenomenon, artificial intelligence. We outline what the fourth industrial revolution is, its basis around AI, and how this infiltrates human lives and society, akin to a transcendence. We focus on the potential dangers of AI and the ethical concerns it brings about particularly in developing countries in general and conflict zones in particular, and we offer potential solutions to such dangers. While we acknowledge the importance and potential of AI, we also call for cautious reservations before plunging straight into the exciting world of the future, one which we long have heard of only in science fiction movies. (shrink)

Wallerstein states that the only social revolution, or the «great turning point» of Modern Times, is the formation of the European capitalist world–economy during the «long» XVI century. Contrary to this, the author argues that two more great fractures can be distinguished in the history of Modern Times. The first of them was the industrial revolution of the XIX century, when three processes coincided, pro­voked by the invention of the steam engine – the mechanization of factory production, (...) the energy rev­olution and the change of logistics. The emergence of globalization required a combination of several circumstances that developed into a single complex at the end of the twentieth century: the absorption of the remaining large external zones by the capitalist world system, the information and communication revolution, the establishment of geopolitical unipolarism, the dominance of the ideology of neoliberal globalism on a global scale. (shrink)

Sub-Saharan Africa is characteristically confronted with poverty, hunger, disease, drought, war, climate change and inequality among other problems. However, the advent of the fourth industrial revolution presents an opportunity for Africa to solve some of these problems through technological innovations offered by information technology, internet of things, networks, robotics, virtual reality, artificial intelligence and superintelligence. These have been absorbed and engrained into human lives and completely changing the way humans live. It is therefore clear that the 4IR is (...) an inescapable reality. Yet the ethical reflection on the relations that ought to exist between human beings and technology seems to be philosophically absurd. One might not expect ethical considerability to be extended beyond humans to include things that cannot directly be harmed such as technologies, although use of technologies has ethical implications on humans and the environment. I argue for the need for introspection on relations between humans and technology. By reflecting from the perspective of African ethics, I consider the positive impact of the fourth industrial revolution in Africa and seek to critically analyse the ethical issues, dilemmas and controversies associated with it. (shrink)

Did affluence lead to psychological changes such as reduced discounting, and did these changes facilitate the innovation associated with the Industrial Revolution? I argue that claims of this sort are best made when they can be supported by causal evidence and good psychological measurement. When we have neither identifying variation nor adequate measures, the toolbox of psychologists is not useful.

South African missiology has seen a shift in its praxis since the late 20th century. David J. Bosch made a crucial contribution in this regard. The shift includes mission as a contextualised praxis and agency. In mission studies, agency has become necessary in postcolonial mission, primarily because of the loss of identity of the oppressed in colonised countries. Through contextual theologies of liberation, African theology, Black Theology of Liberation and postcolonial studies, theologians were able to reflect on the human dignity (...) of the colonised. However, there are still significant efforts needed in this quest, and therefore, the praxis cycle used in missiology is useful to also assess effects on the oppressed and marginalised through the emerging context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). In the task of doing mission in the world differently, the questions that missiologists ask are important. The emergence of the 4IR aims to merge the biological with the technological and will bring more challenges to mission work in Africa. This will bring upon us the responsibility to reflect on the notion of human agency, the theologies espoused in such a time and missiologists’ contextual lenses and strategies employed. These should have to be carefully considered especially in a post-apartheid context. The researcher will, therefore, use the commonly used praxis cycle in missiological research to explore through a Socratic (questioning) approach what the implications will be for missiologists and mission agents in the quest of transforming church and the post-apartheid society.Contribution: Though there has emerged a few theological contributions from missiology, there has not been a missiological contribution on the 4IR. The author therefore uses one of the theological methods in the discipline to put on the table the imperative questions that those doing missiological research should pose in the context of the 4IR. (shrink)

One can say that there is inadequate preparation, in Africa, to embrace the fourth industrial revolution. Two schools of thought argue as to the reason for this state of affair. While the Internalist school blames the situation on Africa’s culture and metaphysics, the Externalist school considers external factors as the ultimate explanation for Africa’s plight. We argue that both internal and external factors considered separately are not sufficient as the ultimate explanation for Africa’s lack of preparation, hence the (...) need for a multi-dimensional approach which offers more than the conventional wisdom but critically considers what constitutes a complex explanation and solution for Africa’s plight. Furthermore, we suggest that more attention should be paid to Africa’s existential situation if she must rise to take her place in the emerging revolution. The study initiates a conversation around the theme of Africa’s fate in the looming fourth industrial revolution using phenomenological methods of research. (shrink)

'This is a very good and important book that is must reading for anyone interested in evolutionary economics and/or the relationship between history and economics. In addition, you get a very well documented and argued interpretation of long run capitalist development from the industrial revolution to the present that will be a standard reference... a first rate contribution to the discussion of how evolutionary economics should develop.' -Journal of Evolutionary Economics 'The book offers numerous insights into particular aspects (...) of technological change... Social theorists and policy advisors today need to be able to understand technological change in relation to cultural, political and economic life, and to situate contemporary developments in a longer term perspective. The authors provide a framework to do exactly that. Their book is a welcome demonstration of the usefulness of historical context for contemporary debates regarding science and technology policy.' -Business History 'A thought-provoking work that is valuable for more than its detailed account of the technological revolutions that shape our economy today. By directing our attention to a perspective outside the current wave, it shapes our thinking about events inside the current wave.' -Academy of Management Review 'This major contribution to economic history is the most impressive and convincing attempt I know to apply the concept of the 'long waves', a basic rhythm of historical development in the era of capitalism, to the entire stretch from eighteenth-century Lancashire to twenty-first-century Silicon Valley. It is also a call for economic history to escape from the handcuffs of narrow retrospective econometrics to the freedom of its vocation: understanding and explaining secular historical transformations.' -Eric Hobsbawm FBA, American Academy of Arts andamp; Sciences, Emeritus Professor of Social and Economic History, Birkbeck College; Author of The Age of Extremes: The Short Twentieth Century 1914-1991The Internet and mobile telephones have made everyone more aware than ever of the computer revolution and its effects on the economy and society. 'As Time Goes By' puts this revolution in the perspective of previous waves of technical change: steam-powered mechanization, electrification, and motorization. It argues for a theory of reasoned economic history which assigns a central place to these successive technological revolutions. (shrink)

Table of contents -- Foreword by klaus schwab -- Author biographies -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction - by armand doucet & jelmer evers -- education in a time of unprecedented change by michael soskil -- education today: a collection of snapshots by elisa guerra -- - overcoming equity gaps in and through education by michael soskil -- Teach me: the learner profile by armand doucet -- the power of learning by nadia lopez -- contextualizing personalization in education by armand doucet -- (...) Evolution of technology in the classroom by koen timmers -- flip the system: the networked activist teacher by jelmer evers -- Conclusion- by armand doucet & jelmer evers -- Epilogue by andreas schleicher. (shrink)

ITC technologies have come to comprehensively represent images and expectations of the future. Hopes of ongoing progress, economic growth, skill upgrading and possibly also democratisation are attached to new ICTs as well as fears of totalitarian control, alienation, job loss and insecurity. Currently, with the terms "Industry 4.0." and ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution”, public institutions, private institutions, and literature refer to the inchoate transformation of production of goods and services resulting from the application of a new wave of technological (...) innovations: interconnected collaborative robots; machine learning; Artificial Intelligence; 3D printers connected to digital development software; simulation of interconnected machines; integration of the information flow along the value chain; multidirectional communication between manufacturing processes and products. According to the main representations of Industry 4.0. by private and public institutions, its effects are expected to be mainly positive, for what regards productivity, economic opportunities and the future of work. The positive potentials now attributed to the new cycle of innovation evoke and expand those attributed to the previous waves of innovation linked to ITC technologies, and, even before, to the transition from Fordism to Post-Fordism. However, these transformations have so far not achieved any of the promises they raised. Improvements for workers in terms of work conditions, work performance and work relationships cannot be determined by any technical innovation in itself, being technological innovation always socially shaped. (shrink)

Cognition played a pivotal role in the acceleration of technological innovation during the Industrial Revolution. Growing affluence may have provided favourable environmental conditions for a boost in cognition, enabling individuals to tackle more complex problems. Dynamical systems thinking may provide useful tools to describe sudden transitions like the Industrial Revolution, by modelling the recursive feedback between psychology and environment.

The recent technological revolution, often referred to as the Fourth Industrial Revolution or the Second Machine Age, has brought significant changes in both the knowledge production process and its outputs. These changes have raised the question of whether a doctoral degree will retain its unique value as a knowledge creator in the future. In addition, the global challenges confronting society, such as climate change and economic inequality, require a better response from doctoral education and raise the question (...) of whether the current form of doctoral education will meet the demands of future society. Doctoral education might harness technological developments wisely to address these challenges, or it might miss this opportunity and thus lose its valuable role in educating advanced researchers. Based on a critical review of the literature, this paper explores the meaning of the profession in the future at a time of technological revolution and imagines possible future scenarios for doctoral education. The paper applies Ronald Barnett’s framework for the imaginative university, focusing on ideological, dystopian, persuasive and utopian universities, and describes the potential changes to doctoral education. (shrink)