The Fourth Civilization, Volume One

The Fourth Civilization: Technology, Society, and Ethics stimulates its readers to consider the ethical and societal consequences of technologies they already use, and others that will become ubiquitous. Its discussions and provocative questions integrate history, science, technology, and ethical and religious beliefs, examining the past and present and preparing for the future. Social changes always follow the adoption of new technologies. The plow drove the transition from hunter-gatherer to agrarian society, and the steam engine began the Industrial Revolution. Computing technology now ushers in an Information Age. What does ethical decision-making look like in a time of rapid transition and beyond? What will society be like once things stabilize in a Fourth Civilization, if indeed they will? How will robots, artificial intelligence, factory automation, and self-driving vehicles affect daily life and work? Discussions about ideas were not common in an era of specialist technicians. They are becoming necessary and routine in a fast-changing and more broadly integrative world, and this book attempts to practice what it preaches. Let it inform, provoke, and become a part of New Renaissance literature, inspiring its readers to become ethically informed New Renaissance people in the Fourth Civilization information age.