Attractive freedom or illusion of oneness.

This research was carried out as part of business-modeling educational course, attended by representatives of various professions: businessmen, doctors, teachers, lawyers, and consultants.
The goal of the research is to see and unpack such phenomenon of people’s life as Information Technologies and what side effects are brewing inside the society. Any global phenomena in the society demonstrate the dynamics directed both on development of society ant its destruction. (A. V. Zelinsky)

Shorthand report of research.

  AV: When we explore any given space, any participant of the research may see something personal and important for him and his activities. Not all are related to IT. However, even if we are discussing the field irrelevant to your activities it is important to pay attention, because you may observe relations and correlations present in the area of your activities as well.     
Revelations can be made!
Because tendencies are always general and they remain to be an overall course. By using systemic modeling, we can demonstrate stages, processes of transformation of any space. Today we investigated the process of transformation of IT space to show both general trends and aspects characteristic of this field.  
What did we see?
Each time we saw a kind of illusion. At first there was hope for oneness, in fact, this oneness came as a moment of belonging and a good feeling of support. That moment passed, a feeling of detachment came. Hopes didn’t come true. In fact, with such oneness it seemed that everybody has his own world where you feel lonely and weak. The more we are told that we have access and contact with the whole world so any time we can feel the contact with the world, the more we, as humans, come to the conclusion that we are lonely. People run there to escape loneliness. Once again, there is contact and care; it is like network, where we have an illusion of being together.   
The next stage is loneliness again.     
An illusion of omnipotence and freedom will be created. I do not need anyone. If I do not like somebody, I can exclude this person from my world. The hopes associated with this thinking came to nothing. The illusion of oneness grows while loneliness builds up even more.
To develop IT, in particular, it is necessary to focus on freedom and underline this illusion of freedom, rather than talking about belonging as it will result in destruction.
Search for total self-sufficiency: I am on my own; I have everything so I need nothing. From virtual sex to virtual food. These processes are maintained everywhere. The same tendencies can be observed, for example, in development of food services: I made a phone call and everything I need is brought to me; I do not even need to get up. Soon people will not even go there. Even if they do, it is just to look into the eyes of a person, feel the contact and part again.        
   MD: These days the tendencies of freelance work are popular therefore the structure of organizations will be changed as well. The perspective on organizations will change too. Usage of gadgets as access points to common space where you can read books, watch movies… There will be no need to have RAM memory at your PC. It exists already! The illusion is that you can find necessary information any time, you can always communicate with the people you need. This is the direction of development.  
   TD: There is another tendency today – the state wants to have total control. The search for other options is done to ensure the network operation with minimum influence of the state and minimum risks.  
   AV: Yes, we saw human, psychological and productive factor to arrange such structures. We also saw an attempt of control. But the choice will be made in favor of freedom as a kind of self-sufficiency and independence.    
   TD: We have the same situation with social networks. For example, Facebook: people felt freedom, began writing, sharing, and expressing themselves. Now the publishers of social networks are being controlled and actively cooperate with the force authorities. It is a global trend.   
   AV: We can see the sequence of changes in stages with manifestation of freedom and birth of addiction, manifestation of freedom and birth of control.
   MD: Freedom is like an attraction.
   AV: In this case, creation of a software product maintaining level of freedom will be highly demanded.  
   TD: Google gives such illusion today.
   IG: I stay away from these technologies, but as a tutor with years of experience, I can say that usage of electronic textbooks is a method of controlling information in a textbook. This is total control. When there is a textbook, you can just take it. But in this way you will be disconnected from the textbook. Control of information amount and its misrepresentation. For example, in Texas a law was approved specifying that all textbooks are to be eliminated, all children shall have tablets they need to use for a study. The same story is in Russia. You want to know the reason? They say it is easier to make amendments in the textbooks. But you can also delete anything from the textbook as easy and quickly. There are no equal options. Should you be disconnected from the network, you are nobody at all. So keeping old paper libraries is of tremendous value.          
   AV: We always see double dynamics: you are alone, you are together, you have choice, you have no choice. There will be a tendency to keep unity and control. Two dynamics, which will be in demand simultaneously. Freedom. We have an illusion that we type one word and are offered with twenty sources of information.  
  IG: Some information will be cut short. There was a book, but next day it is gone. For example, there was a big scandal because a book of Orwell was removed from one reading site. It was restored later, but only after the scandal. But it’s illustrative - zap and it is done!  
   EK: I can share some observations related to our school of advanced information technologies and distance learning. Students have access but they do not use it. They used to open a textbook and look for things but now they do not want to! It is some type of addiction. Children do not look into each other’s eyes any more. Everybody stares at the screens of tablets, smartphones… Did you see how the teaching is done with professor and students sitting next to each other? The professor looks at his PC, and the student looks at his. And it is considered to be the top class. The professor explains the material to the student without even looking at him! Almost all classes are conducted this way. Moreover, professors study such educative process for a while and pass exams on it.         
   АV: Yes, it’s normal for IT.
They seem to turn people’s feeling of connection off. We will have people who are unable to feel the world. Those who are able to feel and read information will be unique people, unique specialists. How important is it for children to have such feeling? Will they need it? Those who are not able to push the button could be persecuted; are you nobody then or if you feel yourself to be something other than human being? But there is nothing new. So IT development prospect is to make people feel free, give feeling of belonging and infinite possibilities. Remember the attempts to create artificial intelligence to make one person artificial, so to speak, but preserve his intelligence. ☺ In essence this is the way to create artificial intelligence with superpower and minimum feelings.
However, skills and abilities to circumvent all types of control will be in demand, but these people will be regarded as criminals. Those who will disable network to disconnect people or those who, on the contrary, post information in the network and “hack” barriers and limitations, will be called terrorists.
Questions, questions …

Source - site of the "Master" systemic modeling center