Open access
SOME THOUGHTS ON THE FUTURE DEVELOPMENT OF CIVILIZATION
Wiesław SZTUMSKI1
The Future of Civilization – Transformations of the World
Publication language: Polish
Journal article
Transformations No. 1-2 (96-97) 2018, Publication date: 3 June 2018
Keywords: civilization, development of civilization, tendencies in the development of civilization, modern science and technology, digital civilization
Abstract The article contains reflections on the future of civilization in general and possible tendencies of further development of our Western civilization. Civilization is multidimensional and many factors affect its shape and development, but here one limits only to two important: knowledge and technology. In particular, one tries to an-swer questions about the autotelicity of civilization, the possibility of its evenly (sustainable) development, potential development trends and threats. Civilization is threaten by regular or accidental catastrophic, natural phenomena occurring in space and on the Earth, and social phenomena that lead to contradictions, conflicts, revolutions and wars. However, the greatest threat to civilization is human, who under the pressure of ideology, religion or politics becomes increasingly stupider. They behave and act less and less rationally and in spite of common sense, they suicidally strive to destroy the civilization and one's own species. These activities are fostered by the advancement of ever-wider and deeper knowledge in the areas of subatomic physics, subcelular biology, brain neurophysiology and artificial intelligence, as well as technological advances in the fields of nanotechnology, new materials and robotics. The author presented several scenarios of possible ways of civilization development. At the end of the article there are conclusions summarizing the deliberations.
Uniwersytet Śląski w Katowicach
E-mail: ws34@op.pl