Most social scientists would agree that in 2023, we are still firmly within the Information Age. But 18 years ago, WIRED claimed that the era could be coming to a close. In 2005, the magazine published an adaptation of Daniel H. Pink's latest book, A Whole New Mind. In it, Pink claimed that the Information Age, during which human workers were replaced with new technology and the U.S. offshored masses of white-collar jobs, was about to be overtaken by what he called the "Conceptual Age." Soon, argued Pink, our economy would be ruled by creative types and the emotionally inclined, a.k.a. the Right-Brained.
"We've progressed from a society of farmers to a society of factory workers to a society of knowledge workers," said Pink. "And now we're progressing yet again—to a society of creators and empathizers, pattern recognizers, and meaning makers." He cites myriad examples. Newfangled websites were offering automated legal services like contract drafting. Because of this, said Pink, legal abilities that couldn't be replicated by a website, like convincing a jury or understanding the subtleties of a negotiation were more valuable. Online or outsourced tax preparation meant that the accountant who would normally have earned many hours' worth of income by putting together a client's tax return must now retain clients by offering services involving more creative thinking and personalization. And we couldn't forget, reminded Pink, that basic IT workers were continuously being replaced by English speakers in other, lower-paid hemispheres.
In some ways Pink's prediction was right. Colleges have for years sought out well-rounded and emotionally mature candidates over candidates with simply good scores. Young people today know not to go for the "replaceable" jobs and instead hone soft skills along with their coding abilities. You can now build a solid career in content creation thanks to social media. Silicon Valley is crawling with "outside-the-box" thinkers.
But left-brainers still make the world go 'round. Bezos may have needed the right-brained creative vision to imagine an online Everything Store, but he couldn't have built it into what it is today without a firm mastery over the numbers behind it all. The iPhone, unveiled two years after the publication of Pink's book, was inspired to be sure, but it couldn't have changed our lives as it did without those chipmakers using very left-brained skills to endlessly shrink transistors. This is not to mention that, while we may not be there yet, as generative AI improves it threatens to replace the creative jobs–all the show writers, copyeditors, videographers–added in the last 20 years. As for those "pattern recogizers" Pink describes? Artificial intelligence is literally built for that purpose. What's more, science-minded individuals may be the only ones to deliver us from a virus and climate-change-afflicted planet. I don't know about you, but I don't see us heading into a world ruled by right-brainers any time soon. What do you think? Do you believe the Information Age may soon meet its end? And left or right, what kinds of skills do you think are most valuable today? What might be the ticket to economic power in 2030? 2050? Let me know in an email or a comment below the story.
See you next week!
Sam
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