Are we in a new age?

Recently, many politicians and economists are realizing that, nowadays, technology changes faster than people. I suppose that this “new” idea must have an effect on economy. This is not the first time that humankind reaches this situation. For instance, the steam engine produced a great change in our grandfathers’ lives.

Today is winter in the northern hemisphere. We need a warm environment and our boiler can introduce heat at home faster than it goes out though the walls. Fortunately, a thermostat will stop the boiler to control the temperature at home.

This period comes from a complexity growth. The world increases its complexity faster than governments can adjust their institutions to control it because of the fast technological development. Then, it seems that the world is not under control.

When the thermostat of the boiler is not connected, we are introducing more heat at home than it can be extracted though the walls. Temperature will be increased, and we will need to open the windows and waste energy in order to get a pleasant environment.

We did not need a thermostat before. Technology increased the complexity of the society slower and the changing process could be adjusted by governments and markets. Today we have reached a high level of complexity and we need open the windows to stop its growth. Then, we are misusing technology and spending a lot of money.

I have a lot of functions in my mobile phone that I have never used, but I paid the whole phone. There are new internet applications every day, although there is not a real need that they satisfy. We find more enemies at the social networks than friends, but we feel the need to join more than one.

This could be useful when it was cold, but it can be harmful when it is hot. Perhaps, someone ought to turn on a thermostat in order to take advantage of technology properly.

A technological process does not finish with a new product in the market. A technological process finishes when the technology reaches the end of the last period of its life cycle, and this process must be managed.