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Ever since Frank Schirrmacher, publisher of the FAZ, released his book Payback, there’s been intense debate in Germany about the effects of the Internet and the consequences of the digital revolution. While Schirrmacher’s arguments, in typically German fashion, tend towards scare-mongering and cultural pessimism – we are all becoming subjugated by Google and its ilk! – other leading thinkers see the potential for a brighter future.
Media theorist Norbert Bolz uses the newly coined term “flow control”, referring to the self-discipline needed to deal with the rising tide of information. The author and blogger Tim Cole, meanwhile, talks of cultivating an attitude of serene detachment and joyous equanimity in response to an increasingly interconnected world. And IBM Chief Technologist and multiple author Gunter Dueck even calls for a move towards a “society of excellence”. That everything flows was already known to the Greek philosopher Heraclitus. But quite how much everything now flows probably exceeds even Heraclitus’ wildest dreams. Everything we do these days is dominated by continually rising streams of data. Only a few years ago we were obsessed with the digital revolution, how computers now rule everything, but today all this seems very old hat. Computers have become so everyday and their usability has improved so much, we hardly even notice them any more. Now it is the universal interconnectedness we are preoccupied with. It is this interconnectedness that everything hinges on now, that is allowing us, or – depending on your point of view – forcing us into, a completely new way of life. Let’s take the old example of the internet-enabled fridge that can monitor your eating habits and, ultimately, control your food intake or pass on information about what you eat and drink to your health insurance provider. We flinch at the thought of this kind of total control, but the reality is that we have no idea what happens with all our personal data that’s out there. The global interconnectedness on every level creates vast torrents of data. Billions of dollars are being traded each day that are completely removed from the actual goods traded. They form their own separate bubbles in the overall fabric of data flow. But alongside this are the streams of real goods, financial assets and information, which are continually growing, but without which our globalised world can no longer function. So, we have created a monumental flow that increasingly takes care of itself and organises itself in some kind of flow equilibrium. The individual has less and less influence on this flow, and this creates often rather diffuse fears and anxieties. The only defence against this is self-discipline, or self-management. This is what Norbert Bolz calls “Flow Control”. If you can no longer control the system, you have to control yourself. By doing so you raise the complexity of your own self, which in turn helps to filter the deluge of information in a way that enables its conversion into creativity and ideas. This sounds complicated, but it means nothing more than that we have to learn to distinguish what’s relevant and what’s redundant in this new situation. And fear is a very poor assistant in this task.
That is also Tim Cole’s argument in rejecting the notion that “computers make our brains go sloshy”. He writes: “The concept that our brains would be forced into regression, or be otherwise damaged by the increasing amount of information and communication we expose ourselves to, strikes me as demeaning and rather crude.” He believes firmly that the best tool for dealing with information overload is an attitude of serene detachment and joyous equanimity. Tying in with these thoughts, Prof. Gunter Dueck’s theories offer some logical and realistic conclusions. In his brand-new book “Aufbrechen – warum wir eine Exzellenzgesellschaft werden müssen” (which translates as: “Departure – why we must become a society of excellence”) he writes about the need to place education at the centre of all our thoughts and actions. He also predicts the end of the much cited service economy. Most of today’s seemingly indispensable services, such as, for example, arranging insurance policies, will be fully automated in future – and will be much better for it – while others will simply become redundant. Instead, Dueck calls for a culture that is consistently focused on high-quality education, ethical standards that are anchored in the constitution, and doing away with subsidies for obsolete things. The trivial and the banal must no longer be allowed to have the influence it has in society today. Quality and the qualifications required to ensure it must become the prime objective in business, but also for each individual. “What is considered mediocre today will be unacceptable tomorrow,” says Dueck. The most important aspect in all this, however, is that this excellence must be pursued on a broad scale, and not be confined to a small elite at the top. For decades now, we have been hearing about change and change management. A whole army of consultants has been making a very nice living from it, though its success very rarely matched expectations. Which makes it even more urgent, especially now, at a time marked by crisis, to implement real and profound changes. For us here in Central Europe there is only one possible approach to this: to face up to reality and focus on quality as the prime objective. One of the best ways to go about this is a return to the – seemingly – outdated craftsman’s mentality of “doing a job well for its own sake”, as the American sociologist Richard Sennett puts it. With this kind of “excellence mindset”, no matter in which trade or industry, our future will be bright, secure and prosperous. W.O. Geberzahn More information: http://omnisophie.com http://omnisophie.com