IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - September 2017 - 24

and patterns - paradigms -
whose logic and implications
may need to be tested).
■ It might need, at some point,
an awkward discussion about
the extent to which the people
and organizations and interests in the discussion might, in
some respects, turn out to be
part of the problem rather than
part of the solution, or at least
that their contribution to problem and solution is ambiguous
and contested.
Either way, one of the assumptions behind the developing Web
Science field is that these kinds of
brave conversations are essential.
The evolution of the Web itself,
the dramatic shifts and leaps of
capability and competence in the
world of digital and data and the
wide engagement by technology
of virtually every dimension of
what it means to be human, dramatically lifts the imperative for bravery - direct, honest and clear - in
these conversations.

Paradigms, Assumptions
and the Future
(Based on a presentation by
Pia Waugh.)
We're at a point where another big shift in the architecture of
human and technology potential is

The Internet itself has been
instrumental in decentralizing so
many of our traditionally centralized
institutions and organizations. We
are shifting from analogue to digital. And nationalism is giving way, at
least some or the time, to a transnationalism that seeks a more regional
or occasionally global response to
opportunities and risks.
A world of scarcity seems to be
giving way to a world, for many if not
for all still, of abundance, especially
in the ability to access information,
knowledge, and connection.
Mind you, it's possible to take
any one of those paradigm shifts
and find plenty of contemporary
examples of practice and culture
that seem to be heading in exactly
the opposite direction. It's more
realistic, perhaps, to see these
shifts as real and powerful, but
often contingent and contested.
They often depend on particular
circumstances and the actions and
interests of particular leaders
or people in positions of power
and influence. The paradigm shifts
can often be experienced as much
more ambiguou s t ha n t he one way directiona l change that is
often implied by the notion of a
paradigm shift.
Other important observations
emerge from examining some of the

already underway. It comes loaded
with possibility and peril.
The Internet and successive,
and now emerging, versions of
the Web are the latest in a series
of shifts that included printing,
the industrial revolution, the rise
of independence movements and
experiments in self- government
and democracy, the growth of cities
and urban living, and astonishing
revolutions in the way we produce
and distribute food.
In many ways, we have become
more powerful than ever. But the
rate of change is only increasing. We
made all this up, and we can make
it up again.
Some of the big paradigm shifts
are becoming clearer. We seem to
be moving from societies and
systems that are relatively closed,
to ones that are relatively open
(although we're also seeing how
quickly that shift can be reversed,
at least in some places, for a period).

"I believe we are at a significant
tipping point in history. The world
and the very foundations our society
were built on have changed, but
we are still largely stuck in the past
in how we think and plan for the
future. If we don't make some active
decisions about how we live, think
and act, then we will find ourselves
subconsciously reinforcing the
status quo at every turn and not in a
position to genuinely create a better
future for all."

"Since the 1960s, the ... concept of
a paradigm shift has also been used
in numerous non-scientific contexts
to describe a profound change in a
fundamental model or perception of
events."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Paradigm_shift

IEEE TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY MAGAZINE

-Pia Waugh

∕

SEPTEMBER 2017

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

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