#days #eras #labels #innovation #inventions #AI #technology
The 1950s and early 1960s were considered “Happy Days,” as the 1970s TV show called them.
The late 1960s and early 1970s might have been considered “Hippie Days.”
The late 1970s and early 1980s might be called the “Early Tech Days.”
One could describe later periods in various advanced degrees of “Tech,” as the technology revolution proceeded.
But, how would you describe our “Days” today?
Technology continues to advance. AI is coming, if not already here. Many of today’s jobs will either not exist, or be completely revised, in coming years.
The way we interact with institutions and other people changes by the minute.
Decorum, in many instances, has been upended. Individual security – physical and economic – seems to be deteriorating.
So, what will we call this era?
Even more pressing: how will we live through it?
Age will become an important factor. The younger a person is, the more thought must be given to life decisions.
The younger the person, the fewer the expectations there will be for life to be predictable.
The way to survive currently and in the future will be unlike those of the younger generation’s parents or grandparents.
Some principles should remain intact: spend less, save more, be kind to one another etc.
But, even following those principles, what practical outcome will a young life have over the next decades?
We may live longer. We may have fewer children. Old institutions of household, employment and lifestyle may disappear.
How much education we may need will also vary. Expensive education will be, well, optional, particularly if the payoff isn’t worth the cost.
Still, in such a time of upheaval, innovators will emerge.
These innovators will have to reinvent not the wheel, but the circle of life.
Will these inventions pay off for everyone? Will everyone be able to assimilate into this new life?
Perhaps not. But, determination, introspection and pure grit will help people not only survive but also thrive in this new environment.
Not only will people have to choose their paths more carefully, but they may also have to change direction quickly, and numerous times, throughout their lives.
The old song says, “Happy Days Are Here Again.” But the “Happy Days” of decades past will not return, no matter how much we may want them to.
How we label these times may be irrelevant, though it may be a fun academic exercise.
How one finds his or her place in these times will be far more important.
Peter