Journal 1

I never knew what industrial revolutions are. Looking back, I hear, and I am aware of all changes in the world. But it was after reading pre-workshop materials and the physical lesson that it all linked and pieced together like a puzzle. I felt fear, lost and at the same time excited and wondering. It's such mixed and strange feelings emerging from within.

The 3 takeaways are:

1. Theory U: Letting go of the past, transforming and creating the future with Open Mind, Open Heart and Open Will through presencing (presence + sense).

2. Science fiction coming to life.

3. The effects of the 4th industrial revolution and the future of work and jobs.

It is to my surprise that technological advancements can be unimaginably mind-blowing. How did this happen? Where does it emerge? Why does it have to happen? Is this what it's meant for sustainability or destruction?

When the 3rd industrial revolution or the Digital Revolution kicked in in the late 1900s, I barely remembered it had any effect on me as I was only born in the 1970s. As electronics and computers became more advanced, the Internet came to be, globalization was made possible by technological advances in telecommunications and nuclear energy was discovered. Some much technology is flooding into our lives. I guess I grew up adapting it casually.

However, 50 years later, I did not feel the same before. Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum (WEF) devised the term "Fourth Industrial Revolution" (4IR) in 2016. And now, 2022, we are living during the transformation. The impact was great globally and economically. We see nations, governments, business entities and individuals striving and catching the wave. Everyone is “forced” to ride the wave, whether you like it or not.

I am curious about tomorrow. How will we cope? What will we realize? Where can we find answers? With the current information we gather, how will I integrate it into my daily life? I cannot innovate, create or invent as an individual. My only immediate action would be applying Theory U to accept the present and future.

With the past industrial revolutions, there are positive and negative effects that had brought upon mankind and this planet. Since the past industrial revolutions, it has resulted in the 10 key effects:

1. The factory system

2. Rise of Capitalism

3. Urbanization

4. The exploitation of the working class

5. Opportunity and increase in the standard of living

6. Rise of materialism and consumerism

7. Technological advancement

8. Rise of socialism and Marxism

9. Transfer of wealth and power to the West

10. Pollution and destruction of the environment

How will the 4th industrial revolution take us? I guess I will not get to see this in this lifetime. I guess the younger generations now are going through what I went through in my younger days. Feeling adequate that the change is inevitable, motivating, and forward looking. A journey that is natural and unavoidable. Only the ones who live to the future gets to see and deal with it when it’s their time. It is such irony that I see life circulating itself in different eras and dimensions.