The Chosen Generation… Yes, that’s right.
History repeats itself. We are amidst the Creation Stage of history once again and this will not last forever.
Ripples. Compelling, disruptive, and thought-provoking reads.
For many years a concept has been brewing in my mind making me evermore conscious of the importance and the relevance of our lives. Most of the time, people like to emphasise the fact that there are over 7.5 billion humans on Earth with the intent to minimise and make more tangible our own realities. While that is certainly true, there are over 7.5 billion people on Earth, I strongly disagree with the notion that our actions and their impacts are limited.
“You will not change the world. The chances that you achieve that are really low.” they say. My answer is always the same, “Based on what? If others could, what is keeping me from doing the same or more?”
The fact of the matter is that I don’t want to simply be one more life that has existed in time. I don’t want to be a fly on the wall, nor do I believe that I was born less skilled or less intelligent than those who have achieved paramount levels of success and who have made a change in the world. The few men and women who have made history were also challenged many times and they too stood firm in their beliefs and self-assurance.
While this may seem off-putting to people, I have come to terms with it. I have come to the realisation that we must embrace our beliefs and let them guide our every move and action. If we let our emotions regarding others’ perception of us (which tends to be ephemeral in their brains) determine our actions we lose ourselves in the world they would like to see and not the one we deserve to see. That, my friends, is a crime.
Look at the greatest minds of our time, people of the likes of Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Stephen Hawking, Bill and Melinda Gates, Barack and Michelle Obama, amongst many others. What if these people would have blindly accepted the views of others over their own? What if they would’ve compromised their dreams for the sake of doing “what is really possible”? Do you really think they were always, from their earliest years, aware that they would achieve what they have?
No, they probably doubted and continue to doubt themselves time and time again, yet they prevail and continue pursuing what they set their minds to. One success led to another, one idea bred another, and consistent reaffirmation kept them going in the face of adversity.
They dig deep within themselves to find the motivation and the drive to defy the status quo and to see the possibility in the unknown.
History is our biggest supporter.
While in previous generations the demographic, social, cultural, intellectual or financial conditions that composed a person’s life were either deterrent or propelling factors to their success, at this day and age it actually doesn’t matter. These factors are not be as determinant as it was many years ago because with all the advancements that have taken place up until now we have the capability of doing more with less and validating our creations faster, efficiently, accurately, and at a greater scale.
Consider the following — the accessibility to information is almost immediate, the (mental) boundaries that were blockades in the past have crumbled, and the financial affluence required to create something from scratch has been minimised through the creation of crowdfunding platforms, the rise in venture capitalism, and the overall improvements in cost efficiency that technology has experienced. What does this say to you? To me it is evidence and reaffirmation that so many (crucial) elements required for innovation, creation, and advancement have either risen or improved within a very short period of time and this has cultivated a fertile environment for creation. Luckily for us we have more in our favour than simply our intellectual capacity and unwavering determination, we have history on our side.
While I am nowhere close to being a historian, I do like to draw parallels between our Success Potential and the Recurrence of History — two concepts that I have distilled to support my argument.
Success Potential is the probability that we have to succeed in the achievement or consummation of any venture or idea.
Recurrence of History is the idea that history will repeat itself indefinitely at differing stages of time.
Having said that, for the past years I have been thinking about history in the form of time and density.
Let it be said, that in no way, do I propose the redefinition of these concepts. The following is merely an explanation of how I’ve appropriated these concepts to come to terms with my own internal dialogue and quest to make tangible the intangible.
In my interpretation, Time is an instance (or a series of instances) that take place at any given moment irrespective of the laws that govern our common conception of time. We see time as a linear thing that began at the inception of our universe and which will transgress for eternity, or until our universe and the laws that govern it cease to exist. Under this notion, if a Recurrence of History were to occur, it would mean that we somehow went back in time while remaining in our present.
Pfff, tough to explain…
So, to make it more simple for me to structure a logic to my thought process, I decided to view time as simply the measurable instances that occur at any given moment in the life or lives of people or humanity. If any physicist would read this, they would probably consider it a sacrilege to speak so “ignorantly” of these concepts and even to consider making my own interpretation.
I am OK with that.
In order to properly explain my definition of density in the formula of history proposed above, it is important to give some context by looking at how density is defined according to the accepted conception of the word and how it is commonly utilised.
Density, according to Merriam-Webster, is the mass of a substance per unit volume, also represented as,
ρ = m/V
Where ρ is density, m is mass, and V is volume.
While mass and volume have their own scientific definition, when analysing history under my premise, mass represents the products, ideas, inventions, theories, and technologies that have been created at that particular stage in time. Consequently, volume is the measurement of the quantity of mass created.
Under this notion, density would be defined as the measurement of the quantity (V) of products, ideas, inventions, theories, and technologies that have been created (m). Adding the concept of time to this formula would result in my definition of History:
History is the measurement of the density of creation over a specific period of time. Thus, it is possible for one to consider that given the Recurrence of History, our Success Potential would increase depending on which stage of history we are living in.
History is on our side.
How does this all tie into the argument that history is on our side? To answer that, we can look back at the concepts of Recurrence of History and Success Potential that were introduced a few paragraphs back and contextualising them by means of a theory which I call The Spring Theory.
The Spring Theory is my belief that history works in a comparable manner to how a spring works…. yes, I mean a spring like those inside mattresses, chairs, or suspension systems. If you look at a spring you will notice that, in most cases, the coils at the bottom and top of the spring are closer together and are clearly in more tension than those in the middle of the spring. The reason for that is that the top and bottom parts need to be able to take on the loads and the middle coils must serve as a means to absorb, cushion, or suspend the loads.
If we extrapolate this logic to history it becomes apparent that there are periods in time where the density of production and creation is exponentially greater than at other moments.
The Spring Theory states that history behaves like a spring in the sense that there are periods of time in history where the creative, ideation, and production levels of humanity accelerate at tremendous rate, which results in the redefinition and disruption of the status quo — this is the Creation Stage. In contrast, the theory also states that these moments of magnitudinal density of creation will require an Assimilation Stage or a period of time that will help to absorb the immense amount of knowledge and aptitudes required to accommodate the advancements and to ensure the proper transfer of information to future generations. This process will repeat itself throughout history continuously creating an endless chain of springs interconnected to each other.
We are amidst the Creation Stage of the millennium.
Years back when I began to fiddle with this theory, which at the moment was merely a thought, I came to the realisation that the times we live in present endless opportunities for our future. This was a turning point in my life, because along with this realisation came the awareness that the duration of this period is finite and for that reason it is essential to put it to good use while it is within reach.
It also became evident to me that, unknowingly, our generations (GenY and GenZ) have experienced both stages of the The Spring Theory, the Assimilation Stage toward its end and the Creation Stage from its inception. This has given our generations an advantageous position in history compared to what other assimilatory and creative generations have had in the past. We saw and experienced first hand the complexity of the technologies being created and the difficulty in adaptation that the Assimilatory Generations, our parents and grandparents, went through.
The impact of these difficulties in adaptation was not only exposed in the day-to-day usage of the technologies, but even more dramatically in the regulations (or lack there of) set in place by the organisations and institutions that govern our world. Equally as dramatic was the impact it had in the sociocultural domain where it was manifested in a greater disparity between social classes, countries, and even continents as a whole. Those who didn’t adapt quick enough were left behind and fell prey to the more adept creating a global segregation that materialised at different scales.
The fact that our generations experienced this dicotomy gave way to the conception of what I consider to be the most determinant Creation Stage to date. It is a Creation Stage pushed forward by technology and characterised by a hyper-frequency of simultaneous creation, validation, implementation, and adaptation. The stakes are at their peak, since our technologies have now advanced to a point where we no longer ponder on the thought of instantaneous transcontinental communication, nor the thought of a creating a portable device that could contain our entire lives in it.
Now, times call for the creation of technologies that will enable us to achieve successful intergalactic travel and even to be the engine of evolution through the development of a new species of humans by means of the application of the science of extropianism and transhumanism (i.e. humanoids and artificial super-intelligence). We are the utmost representation of the term Creator. We are amidst the Creation Stage of the millennium.
Having history on our side is a blessing and a curse.
To pose that our generations are the epitome of disruptive innovation and scientifically transcendental achievements can be perceived as borderline arrogant and as tactless undermining of the achievements of our predecessors. It is a compelling and highly controversial statement to make, no doubt about that, but while this statement may be misconstrued at first, it should not be villainized by contextomy. The intention is not to stir up upheaval, but rather to inculcate a sense of consciousness and awareness of the times we live to generations that can easily fall prey to the encapsulating side-effect of the world we live in.
Our generations suffer from an extreme form of attention deficit disorder in combination with a continuous existential crisis. These two defects are the gap of opportunity that have fed the tremendous, at times overblown, success that companies like TikTok, Instagram, Vine, Facebook, and Snapchat have had. Our constant need to experience new things, whatever they may be, have made us a very lucrative audience, which is why it is essential that our generations get a wake-up call and that a greater sense of awareness and ownership is instilled into our minds.
Failing to do so, may lead us to become the biggest fluke in history…
…and, by consequence, all the preconceptions and opinions the antiquated and overzealous generations that currently dictate our world will, in their eyes, have been proven right.
Beyond the opinion of the current generations we have an obligation to ourselves. We are at the origins of a very exciting future and our actions today will dictate the fate of human-kind. We are able to be part of history and forge the precedent for generations to follow. The greatest advantage we have is the immense amount of information and knowledge that is at our immediate disposal on the internet and the speed and scale to which our ideas, points of view, concepts, and projects can pollinate. It’s a matter of a click of a button (or tap on a screen) for a thought, message, or even a video that you filmed at home to be placed on a stage for billions to watch, listen, interpret, and propagate. Our reach is limited only by the boundaries of economy and politics… and even then, their best efforts will fall short to the tidal strength with which information travels digitally and analogously.
We are the chosen generation… yes, that’s right. A generation chosen by history and propelled by the relentlessness of our species. Where we are now will not be where we will remain forever. Whether you are an active part of it or you choose to be a bystander, time will keep moving forward and the density of creation will only increase. We are the chosen generation, but the final choice comes down to you.
Will you follow or will you lead? What will be your footprint in history? Those are the questions you should ask yourself.
