RCL #8: Paradigm Shift Draft

Thesis: Through the rise of new technologies such as smart phones, the individual has grown stronger over the years due to the changing views of independence as well as the continuous separation of the government from both the church and their citizen’s lives.

Useful poster: https://home.kpmg.com/xx/en/home/insights/2013/10/rise-of-the-individual.html

  1. Historical Significance
    • People were ostracized for being different
    • Huge scientific discoveries weren’t accepted by the public for many years, such as Darwin’s Creationism due to both the prevalent religious beliefs as well as the ubiquitous groupthink at the time
    • Centuries before that, without a tribe, a person had no hopes of protection and by extension, survival
    • Research into what made groups so effective and necessary in the past
    • Limited knowledge and accessibility of the individual, people needed connections in order to accomplish anything
  2. Renaissance
    • Humanism prioritized individual
    • Gave rise to many paintings, da Vinci’s inventions
    •  Dante’s Inferno
    • Niccolo Machiavelli, rather controversial thoughts regarding what makes a king a good ruler (specific traits rather than Christianity)
  3. 20th Century
    • War discouraged individualism
    • Everything was for the state
    • “Doing your duty” for the community to function while the men were fighting overseas
  4. 1950/60s
    • Image of nuclear family
    • Technologies started developing at this time (satellites, domestic appliances)
    • After the war, people wanted to stay together, discouraged individualism
    • Red Scare: no one wanted to stick out for the fear of being a “Communist”
  5. Modern Impact
    • Technologies (WIFI, cell phones, even watches) allow people to be connected to other whenever
    • Kind of strange that greater connection allows for individualism, look into that
    • Information at fingertips for most people around globe (some people can find a mobile cell phone more easily than food and water) eliminates the middle man
    • Separation from government (government and religion doesn’t control everything aspect of a person’s life anymore)
    • Many industries have to make sweeping changes to appeal to new generation due to the radical change in beliefs (Apple Watch, various industries “killed” by Millennials)
  6. Views Toward Individuals
    • Kind of split
    • Elders follow their generation, think the both Millennials and Generation Z are stuck within their phones and as such, grow to be narcissistic
    • I don’t think that people on their phones realize the power they have by being on their phones, bombarded with information non-stop, causes new ideas and inventions, allowing for more individualism, cycle of individualism?
    • SOCIAL MEDIA: big reason that the shift in views toward individualism shifted
  7. Future Implications?
    • Rise of individualism leads to rise in robots and AI, many jobs already being replaced by robots who work continuously without tire unlike humans
    • Succession (think Spain and Quebec)

Conclusion:

The views towards individuals has fluctuated through the years due to the advancements of technologies both in the ancient modern times, leading to a population with narcissistic yet collaborative tendencies.

Sources:

  • http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/opinion/bernard-salt-demographer/all-about-me-the-rise-of-the-individual-is-trending/news-story/986eddce1aab96acc54cb74f346bae8c
  • http://professor-markellos.weebly.com/weekly-class-blog/renaissance-the-rise-of-the-individual
  • https://danielmiessler.com/blog/the-age-of-the-influencer/
Categories: RCL

One thought on “RCL #8: Paradigm Shift Draft

  1. Hi Hinkal, I think you definitively have a really good idea of the paradigm shift. However, I am a little lost on your thesis statement. I think you are trying to emphasize the growth of the independence of individuals away from the dependence on their government and church. But it is a little confusing of the way you included the rise of new technologies and provided a specific example in your thesis. Please be cautious of the chronological order you are presenting in your outline. It might be better to use key point of your and support then with things happened in different years.
    Ruiqi Yin

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