When most people talk about emergence of a new age, it’s quite niche to a particular field or industry. They talk about a new age in science, or food technology, or fashion, transportation, etc. But this article is quite general, encompassing all the aspects of society and all elements that govern our lifestyle. Just like with any change, adaptation will be the only mode of survival.
We can classify the different ages that the human race has gone through as follows:
1) Stone Age
2) Agricultural Age
3) Industrial Age
4) Information Age
5) ‘The New Age’
The Stone Age was dominated by people who knew how to use stones or rocks for different purposes. These people were the most powerful and thus most sought after. The nomads, who could use stones as tools to hunt, make fire and carve, were the leaders and gave direction to human civilisation. Duration: thousands of years.
The Agricultural Age was dominated by people who were good at farming. They got paid a lot, held power and respect. Resources were abundant and humans had realised that the hunter and gatherer model wouldn’t work for long. With the discovery of seeds sprouting into crops, humans stopped consuming seeds directly and instead cultivated land. This helped in human settlement and emergence of civil societies. Duration: a few hundred years.
The Industrial Age was dominated by factory workers. They were in high demand and almost everybody had some income coming from factories. Anybody who wanted to progress in life, had to start his/her own factory and manufacture. Duration: A few decades.
The Information Age is the present age we’re living in. It is believed to have started in the late 1980s with the birth of evolved computing and the Internet. Today, anybody who has information holds power. Data is what all the businesses are after.
But the Information Age isn’t going to be the last age in human history. This has partially to do with the fact that humans haven’t been on Earth for a very long time yet and we are clearly still undergoing evolution. And this evolution is not limited to physical attributes; it also includes evolution of the mind, which is evident from the fact that apart from technological and lifestyle advancements, humans have brought in numerous societal reforms and have started to realise the existence of an unexplored being within themselves. Religion is being replaced by spirituality which points to the fact that humans are no longer willing to follow practices blindly. Instead of looking ‘outwards’ for answers, solutions, peace, etc. we are looking ‘inwards’. It would be fair to say, thus, that the material needs are soon being replaced by the emotional and spiritual needs.
Information today is available abundantly. Just a few days back I had read that PhD thesis are available for Rs.30000 in a market in Delhi. Well, if not that then Google’s always there, right? Therefore, although, people having information are powerful today, but their exclusivity is diminishing fast. Due to this, automation is catching up and everything that includes routine tasks is and will be automated, from accounting to medical diagnosis, everything is being automated. The ‘App Revolution’ is a testimony to this fact. There are numerous sources to gather news – newspapers, TV, internet, specialised apps, radio and thanks to the ever evolving communication systems, people can spread news much faster than ever. Information sharing in form of text, images, videos and sound makes sure that information doesn’t lay hidden in one part of the world. In fact, such rapid and abundant sharing of information around the world is laying grounds for the next age which is just a couple of years away. Many businesses have already recognised this and have altered their marketing strategies and many are in the process.
So, what is this new age and what will it bring forth? Like I just pointed out, the ground work for the next age is almost already laid out. People are not just sharing facts now; they are also sharing opinions and viewpoints which always come hand in hand with emotions. The new age will therefore be dominated by people who can commercialize emotions. Duration: I don’t know yet. This age will place those people quite high in demand who can understand human emotions the best, can empathize, are story tellers, designers, all in all great artists. There will be high demand for artists as people would already have all the information they need and thus would jump to the next stage of evolution where the mind will open up to new vistas beyond the structural elements. People will look for and find hidden meanings in everything around them and to do that, one needs to be a true artist. Businesses will need to be able to design marketing strategies which can touch the emotions of their consumers. They will need to back their offerings with high quality designs as competition would’ve already armed its offering with all the functionalities needed. They would need to tell stories through their offerings. For example, if 2 competitors are offering the same drink but one of them says that their product is based on a recipe invented by a little African girl and by buying their product consumers are indirectly helping that little girl earn for her family, which product do you think consumers would prefer? It doesn’t matter what the ingredients are because they are the same in both but it’s the story behind the product that sells it.
Therefore, the new age might make the MFA the new MBA. There’s no point following the herd when you now have the chance to lead one.
