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Humanity in the Digital Age

By VDS Brink

Illustrated by Hanlie van Schalkwyk

Copyright VDS Brink 20!

"isteria #venue$ %aerie &len$ South #'rica

st(dition$ 20! ) ) 0*

e+ISB, -./!0-!-*

ublished by VDS Brink at S1ashwords

wwwcorvusco3a

http://www.corvus.co.za/http://www.corvus.co.za/

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LEGAL INFORMATION AND

DISCLAIMER

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced,

mechanically, electronically, or by any other means including

photocopying without the written permission of the publisher.

Information within this article does not give legal, financial or similar

professional advice. The buyer of this publication assumes fullresponsibility for the use of these materials and information. The

Publisher and Author assume no liability whatsoever on behalf of the

reader of this material. Please consult applicable laws and regulations

and competent counsel to ensure your use of this material conforms to

all applicable laws and regulation.

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Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction

The times we live in

The human mind and behaviour

The road ahead

Putting together

The author

References

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!efa"e

Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue

that counts.

Winston Churchill

This booklet is the result of research for a presentation delivered at the

niversity of Pretoria, !outh Africa, at the !chool of Information

technology.Appreciation to Professor Adeline du Toit for her trust and

cooperation.

The audience and their feedback added to elevate this to a higher

level.

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Int!o#u"tion

It is not the strongest that survive, nor the smartest; it is those

that are the quickest to change.

"harles #arwin

$e live in turbulent times% the world is slowly emerging from the

worst economic decline in &' years and it will take years to recoverfrom the damage. A new generation with a new outlook on life is also

currently gaining prominence.The impact of the internet and fall of the (erlin wall changed the

world. The current way of doing things will simply not work in the

future.

$e can soar in life if we know that lots of data and information

mean very little. )reatness and victory is ours if we can turn data into

knowledge, then into insight and ultimately into wisdom. To do this, it isnecessary to drown the mind with facts, discuss it with diverse people,

test the water, burn some scars, emerge with humility and only then

follow our head.

All industries are in turmoil and stretching the abilities of their

employees to the limit. Newcomers bring new challenges and the e*isting

ones try to stay ahead. To be winners, we need to e*cel as creative

thinkers and, most importantly, be able to work with people.

$e discuss the times we live in and give early ideas to survive and

e*cel in the future.

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The times $e li%e in

I fear the day when the technology overlaps with our humanity.

The world will only have a generation of idiots.

Albert +instein

$e live in the most comple* time in all history. istory takes its

turns due to technological changes and human implosions.

The wheel, writing, printing press, electricity, capturing of sound,nuclear power, internal combustion and many others made life

different from the past.

The Internet and connectivity is by far the biggest to ever happen

and we -ust taste the early beginnings of it.

Any revolution is over uickly, yet the shadows linger on for

generations. The shadows of the internet will be with us for many

decades.It brought workflow software, uploading and outsourcing, in

outsourcing and informing and the human herd is running faster than

ever.

/obile devices partly take us away from each other, yet put

power in our pockets as never before.

The future will be dominated by the uest for clean water, food

available at the right places, energy0energy,0energy and the impact ofour overwhelming carbon footprint.

#ata and information e*ploded, knowledge also, yet real insight

and sound wisdom still need to catch in this race.

Twitter is like sitting in 1234 in the street and shouting personal

e*periences to the passer by while 5acebook is the ointment on the

loneliness caused by the global diaspora.

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$e are now back in 1234 in the shadow of the deepest economic

collapse in &' years. It is a time of despair, yet this is the ultimate time

for entrepreneurship.

$inning in this world is about acute focus, to be smaller, better

and especially different. To win is to put things together in a new way,

to work together with diverse people, to effectively in and out source

to thing big and small simultaneously and to give a way in a world in

need.

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The human min# an# beha%iou!

When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with

creatures of logic, but with creatures of emotion, creatures bristling

with prejudice and motivated by pride and vanity.

#ale "arnegie

$e are herd animals and the behaviour of the herd influences ourthinking and action. $e her e*actly where they were 6''' years ago,

we love to be loved and hate to be heated.

appiness is a healthy body, a sound mind, relationships,

spirituality, some wealth and especially to do sensible work.

!ensible work is where we have a choice, work hard but not too

hard and get immediate feedback for it.

The impact of modern technology sadly shortens our attentionspans and undermines our interpersonal ability. Introverts dig deeper

into themselves as the machine on their laps gives the ideal hide away

where e*troverts become louder than ever.

It is eventually all in the mind. $e have our reptile brains doing

fight or flight, the mammal brains working wit h images and sound,

the analytical mind and the creative mind. To work optimally

ourselves and with other people it is critical to balance it all. Abulleted powerpointed list of long sentences on the wall only

addresses the analytical mind and sadly misses the point.

$e as herd animal all will follow the herd, pursue pulses of -oy,

go for the uick fi*, polari7es things and categori7e it, assume on

vague information, deny if needed and believe ourselves, need rituals

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as graduation, baptisms or a funeral, will e*aggerate, and have

different views of the world.

$inners will be those that are curious, have people skills and can

do things differently.

To think out of the bo*, there must be a bo* as creativity and

personal growth only happens when we are in a state of discomfort.

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The !oa# ahea#

What I tell you, you are going to forget, what I show you, you

will forget also, how I let you feel, you will remember forever.

!teve 8obs

9ive and act on the edge of the parade, never in a area givingdiscomfort yet be surprisingly different. Read before write, listen

before talking.

!trive to be an ambivert with the ability to speak compellingly

yet to listen attentively.

:now that we are emotional beings and interacting with people

as such are key to a winning approach.

The world need specialists that can provide a service e*cellently,people that can work locally, collaborators that can bring people

together, adaptors that can change things, good communicators,

synthesisers that can e*tract the key messages out of given

information, those that leverage things and move it forward and

helpers.

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utting togethe!

eep a diary and on day it will keep you.

!ae West

(e good in something, understand money and the interaction of

finance in business above all understand people.

Read whole books and built the neurons in the mind, be humble,

be humble and be humble.

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About the Autho!

After studying !cience and technology, ;an der !puy worked in mining

IT, a decade on offshore mining development, managed Industrial

+ngineers, :nowledge, Innovation and several mining restructuring

pro-ects

e lectured Innovation and !trategy for nisa

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Refe!en"es

Aburdene, P. ?=''@ /egatrends ='1', ampton Roads

(erger, 8. ?='13 "ontagious, !imon and !chuster.

(ranson, R. ?=''6 !crew it let #ie dans van die (rein, uman en Rousseau.

amel, ) and Prahalad, ":. ?122> "ompeting for the 5uture, arvard

(usiness !chool

5riedman, T.9. ?=''6 The $orld is 5lat, Penguin.

9ehrer, 8 ?='13 Imagine, how creativity works, "anongate.

/c9eod, 5 and Thompson, R ?=''= Non0stop creativity and Innovation,

/c)raw ill.

Naisbitt, 8. ?=''6 /indset, "ollins.

Bllinger, ?=''> /aster

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!chwart7, P. ?=''4 The art of the 9ong ;iew, $iley.

!unter ", ?=''1 $hat it takes to be $orld "lass, uman E Rousseau.

!unter ", ?=''' )ames fo*es Play, uman E Rousseau.

!unter ", ?=''4 !ocrates and the 5o*, uman E Rousseau.