In the age of information, we are often told that “Knowledge is Power”. In fact, most of us grew up with some sort of variant of this teaching in our schools. So, for this next blog I am going to attempt to propose, concisely, the next developmental phase of our society.
As we all already know, the previous phase of our society was established off the principles of “Capitalism” and in other parts of the world on “Communism”. There was a focus mainly on the idea that wealth itself is power or that labor would grant you power. These ideas established the foundation for the information age on which we are currently standing. Now, besides other developments like the proliferation of nuclear power and the scientific advancements having to do with the internet and computing, the main economic ideas were centered around the previous two already mentioned. Of course, there have been many variations, some more humane than others, but we won’t go into detail since I am assuming that the reader is sufficiently adult enough to know about some of these details without having to delve too much into them.
Now, since the mechanism for world surveillance as well as for world connectivity is already in place having been aided by the internet and the peace treaties that have been accorded due to the situation of nuclear proliferation, the next developmental phase that I am proposing would be a natural offshoot off the already established reality. What I am proposing is something I am calling a “Knowledge” currency. This currency’s function would not serve to strip society of the wealth that has already been accumulated but to introduce a new type of currency into the already existing 2 previously mentioned means of acquiring wealth.
This new type of wealth would be kept track of in online databases in servers around the world, in the same way that the banks keep track of people’s wealth digitally mostly now in servers around the world. The main difference would be that it would serve in the spurring of individuals in the form of incentives for becoming educated. The more educated the individual becomes the wealthier the individual becomes. This currency would follow a correlative mechanism having to do with the knowledge that each individual has gained. This is what I call the solution to Dosoyevsky’s “Raskalnikov” dilemma [1]. In other words, this mechanism of currency in society has been a long time coming.
The reasons for this “Knowledge” currency being an impossibility for previous generations of mankind should be obvious. We mentioned previously that the modern age is now in the stage of world connectivity and digital currency. The means by which a knowledge currency could become a reality are now in place. This “knowledge” currency in my estimation, is the next phase of currency, arising out of the information age. I think that we all know how beneficial it is to have a well-educated populace. Research has shown that those who are the most educated do not cause as much disturbance or mischief as those who are less educated. The previous statements are mostly aimed at those who would surely argue that a “knowledge” currency would be a waste for society. The spurring through the incentives of this knowledge currency would aid in many functions that society will always need. Some of those examples include Agriculture and Manufacturing but would not be limited to those alone. Many English majors and Philosophy majors and even Physics majors often complain that they cannot find suitable positions after graduation. This knowledge currency would hold in esteem all the subjects of knowledge that schools teach, not just those that are used to increase wealth by the means of food or production. This “knowledge” currency mechanism would aid society in balancing some of the issues that a lot of our educated populace faces. It would also aid in the increase of an educated populace and thereby deter much of the ignorance that causes poverty and crime. The establishment of a knowledge currency mechanism is sorely missing from an advanced technological society. If we are to advance along a path that is to lead us on to greater advancements, a “knowledge” currency is a necessary addendum to our idea of “wealth”.
[1] “Raskolnikov’s” dilemma is precisely this: “I am a young educated young man, who could serve society in some function, but I am poor and therefore not respected by the rest of society. In my society, the people who are respected and have the means are those who have acquired wealth under the old society’s paradigms for acquiring wealth.” In other words, Raskolnikov is a man who is in a previous century, yet he is experiencing some of the same distaste that many educated people have felt in our modern age, after graduating and putting in lots of work, only to find that the positions available are not sufficient for taking care of their needs.
