Homo Numericus: The coming 'civilization'

The digital revolution has streamlined and dematerialized human life, reducing costs and creating a new economy and sensibility. It is creating a new way of living that is historically unprecedented, but it also gives rise to an irrational and impulsive Homo numericus prone to addictive behaviors and surveillance. We must seize the new opportunities opened up by the digital revolution without succumbing to its dark side.

Format: Hardback
Length: 172 pages
Publication date: 23 February 2024
Publisher: John Wiley and Sons Ltd

The digital revolution has transformed every aspect of human life, from Amazon to Tinder, Google to Deliveroo. Its primary goal was to cut costs by eliminating face-to-face interactions, a direct consequence of the free-market shock of the 1980s, which aimed to seamlessly expand the marketplace in every possible dimension. Today, we can be entertained, educated, cared for, and courted in ways that were impossible in the old industrial society, where institutions structured the social world. These institutions have been replaced by monetized virtual contact.

As the industrial revolution did in the past, the digital revolution is creating a new economy and a new sensibility, leading to a radical revaluation of society and its representations. While the new digital capitalism seeks to efficiently manage human relations, it gives rise to an irrational and impulsive Homo numericus prone to addictive behaviors and subjected to intensive forms of surveillance. Far from producing a new agora, social media radicalize public debate, where hate-filled speech directed against adversaries becomes the norm.

However, these outcomes are not inevitable. The digital revolution also offers an exciting path, one that leads to a world where everyone deserves to be listened to and respected. It explores a new way of living that is historically unprecedented, one based neither on individualism nor on the hierarchical model of earlier civilizations. Can we seize the new opportunities opened up by the digital revolution without succumbing to its dark side?

Weight: 364g
Dimension: 146 x 225 x 22 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781509560219