The Golden Age of Modern Civilization

@ 01.12.2022

A look at modern human civilization leads us to the conclusion that we are currently living practically in a golden age. The rapidly increasing level of comfort, well-being and security in the life of the modern average person leads us to this conclusion.

Of course, it is immediately worth stating that by "average person" we mean people living in developed and developing countries, the life in the Third World states is still depressing.

What has led humanity to such unprecedented technological and scientific progress over the past century? Here we might mention a few key discoveries and inventions.

1. the discovery of electricity and the beginning of its industrial production and use. Here we can talk about both the fundamental discovery and the discovery of a multitude of sources for generating electrical power. First of all nuclear energy, which made it possible to obtain gigantic power for industrial and civil use relatively quickly and cheaply.

2. The introduction and widespread use of assembly-line production in industry. This is actually the forerunner of the processes of unification and standardization in industrial production, which made it possible to obtain the serialization of production products, reduce costs, increase quality and subsequently facilitate the subsequent improvement of manufactured products. Here you can also add mass mechanization and automation, industrial robots and automation of control systems of production, quality, packaging and logistics.

3. The computer revolution of electronic computing and the breakthrough development of wired and wireless communication systems, including the Internet. In fact, it can be said that the computerization and automation of design and production processes has strengthened the effect of conveyor production by many orders of magnitude, obtained with the help of electrical power. In fact, this is the next stage of industrial development. The means of communication made it possible to build gigantic, geographically distributed systems of production, logistics and sales of products, combining them into a single organism. Communication systems, along with transport, have become one of the foundations of modern globalization.

4. the transport revolution, especially civil and commercial aviation and the development of Earth orbits.

5. And finally, what concerns ordinary people. Unprecedented breakthroughs in industrial production of agricultural products and foodstuffs, victory over deadly disease epidemics, successful treatment of most simple diseases that previously seemed incurable. Possible cataclysms, such as droughts and floods, pest infestations, epizootics, which previously threatened famine and loss of life due to crop failures, have learned to solve with breeding, fertilizers, protection means or simple geographical distribution of agricultural production, including in different continents.

And yet why can modern times be considered the golden age of civilization. First of all, let us think about the minimum physiological needs of human beings. Physical safety, nutrition, health, the possibility of reproduction. In all these matters modern civilization has quite succeeded.

Modern man, during his active life, can produce such a quantity of surplus product, which in terms of food, clothing and medicine, under normal circumstances he would not be able to consume during his whole life. What in the past was given at great cost, loss and danger is now given to modern man relatively easily. Now we don't have to worry that in case of drought, floods or pest infestation an entire region may be left without food and people starve to death, and the problem is what to choose from 58 kinds of cheese, 24 kinds of sausage or 65 kinds of candy in the nearest hypermarket.

If before, our ancestors could die from a common cold or flu with complications in the absence of antibiotics, now in ordinary circumstances, such an illness is an excuse to go to the pharmacy for medicine or at least take sick leave for 3-4 days.

And this is only part of how modern civilization copes with the satisfaction of basic human needs. The possibility of unimpeded communication tens of thousands of kilometers away, across deserts, mountains, seas and oceans. And the transatlantic flight in 12 hours, something that previously was not possible in principle a couple of centuries ago?

As for the satisfaction of cultural needs? Here modern civilization has already invented pop culture to bring the light of art to the farthest corners of the planet.

Of course, this is not the most cloudless picture that has been painted today, but it is certainly the most outstanding achievements of human thought that have made our lives easier, simpler, safer and more prosperous.

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