Lets look at another objective element of the grand matrix. Lets
take communications. The graph would look much the same as the one
for speed of travel. Communications, of course, is a much fuzzier
subject. We can look at the number of messages or words which we can
convey and the number of persons to whom we can send the message at
a time. First we had simple spoken language. Millions of years later
we learned to write in phonetics. In pre-industrial society the only
communications were either a message sent via a hand carried
messenger or simple face to face. As the industrial society took
hold communications leaped forward as a postal service began to move
information and communications. Then the telegraph, then another
giant step, the telephone. Now a quantum leap forward in numbers as
millions sign on to the Internet. Again you will see by stepping
back and looking at the matrix that a curve takes a long time to
develop and then takes a rapid turn upward.
The communications matrix curve has taken great leaps since the
beginnings of the Industrial Revolution. Now we are entering into a
communications explosion. With the introduction of the Internet we
have created the ability to communicate with thousands of people in
instant. Think of the quantum leap up from the memo or conference
call. How, soon will it be before we are communicating with the
entire planet? One voice? Well, to some extent we have already
reached that goal. You will see that the communication matrix is one
of the fastest changing matrices within the grand matrix. This
matrix will have the greatest effect upon the grand matrix over the
next few years. It is a matrix which will create the force which
will in turn make the other matrixes take quantum leaps as if to
catch up with the change in communications.
Lets take a look at another of the basic elements of the grand
matrix. The element of production of goods. Early mankind did not
produce. He hunted and gathered. Later, as the Agriculture
Revolution took hold man developed products with a very limited
scope and distribution. The farming and housing was performed by the
individual or family, tribe or kingdom. The Industrial Revolution
brought about a mass production which created a tremendous leap
forward. Now we are producing more than we can consume.
For the first time since the hunter gatherer will the world
economy no longer be focused upon production. As the world market
becomes more and more cluttered with competitors, each with a better
mouse trap, new ways must be created to enhance the distribution of
goods that go beyond the current idea of distribution through the
exchange of capital, services and goods. The matrixes of commerce
will soon mean that there will not only be a chicken in every pot
but two cars in every driveway, two microwaves in every kitchen, ten
televisions in every den. This rapid change in the matrix of over
productions, may lead to many unforeseen and drastic changes in the
environment. Deflation is one such change which may occur because of
this overproduction. Skyrocketing unemployment is another. We will
discuss the possibilities further in another chapter.
However, the important aspect of all this discussion about the
matrix is that the rapid and far reaching changes are taking place
within a shorter and shorter time span.
The changes occurring within the grand matrix, which is itself a
view of the changing of mankind from an early state to a god-like
state, can be seen as an exponential or logarithmic shift. We not
only move ahead in a given direction, with each passing day, but we
are moving toward the god-like state faster and faster. Within years
such a statement will seem meaningless to most, because we will be
fighting a constant state of change in almost every aspect of our
lives. The changes will be so far reaching in scope and advancing so
rapidly, that they will seem to create a new world with each setting
of the sun. Literally, do you realize that NASA has plans to
colonize Mars in 2010. That is only years away!
Alvin Toffler began to see what this would mean to us when he
first wrote his first sociology book, Future Shock. We are
in for a shock the likes of which even Toffler never imagined.
Nowhere have we begun to imagine the societal and cultural changes
which will take place when we replace workers with artificially
intelligent robots. Sure it sounds like star wars, but if we
consider the pace at which artificial intelligence is moving and the
advances in robotics, the changes created in the grand matrix will
be drastic.
What about life span? We know from ancient bones, that of the
primitive man, Australopithecus lived to be only about twenty years
old. Feudal man lived to be thirty. Have you noticed how many people
Willard Scott is wishing happy one-hundred plus birthdays?
Scientists are discovering more and more about the aging process
every day. Many are predicting that we will see dramatic
breakthroughs with the unlocking of the DNA puzzle. When we all live
to be over two hundred and can have children into our seventies and
eighties, have we stopped to think about the massive effects on
population. If you consider the rate at which the future is coming
at us you will see that the matrix which we work, play, socialize
and survive in is about to take another quantum leap.
Matrixing can offer us the ability to manage, systemize, and give
an order to the otherwise chaotic. It is the way that we can
continue to thrive in chaos. We will arrange all aspects of life in
new and interesting ways, ways that advance us toward the god-like
state. This is what matrixing will provide. If we are going to be
able to survive the changes we need to get ready for them, to start
developing systems to handle them.
Matrixing:
Chapter 7
Matrixing:
Chapter 8
Matrixing:
Chapter 9
