Stetoscope

Historians still argue on the date that should be taken for the renaissance starting point. Some defend the 1300’s due to the writings of Dante claiming for the autonomy of reason, others 1439 for the movable type printing of Gutenberg that unsettle the monopoly of monks on the books publishing, and others 1492 for the discovery of the « new world » by Christopher Columbus.

I will not reconciliate them and would not be able to.

My purpuse here is to notice that any change of era requires 3 conditions (at least) this historians argument helps us to identify :
1. A change in the way of thinking (Dante writings on the autonomy of reason),
2. A new media that challenges the authority system (The movable type printing of Guntenberg),
3. A new place where the pioneer can experience the new organization they promote ( the new world of Christopher Columbus).

As the Internet phenomenon is often compared to the movable type printing assuming a new kind of renaissance would start from the Silicon Valley.

1. Is there a change in the way of thinking ? I am not sure this point has been really formulated yet. But the idea would be to write, film or anyway of spreading the idea that individualism is dead and that the sociologic context and the relationship of a man explain much more of his life than his personality. Indeed the main change would be to recognize that relationships and interactions are more important than individualities. Maybe such a think, does exist somewhere but all I can see his criticism against individualism but may it is because the classical narrative structure are made to do heroes and that this new era does not believe in them. Probably, our times have not found our Dante.

2. Is there a new media that challenges the authority system? Internet fulfills plainly the mission. The ancient media like television, newspapers and the industries linked to them journalists, music majors, cinema majors feels already the danger. As for monarchy, that did not see the danger with the autonomy of reasons combined with the end of monk monopoly on knowledge publishing, states, big firms or institutions that powerful could be in the end be challenged by what Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff called “groundswell” : the social trend in which people use technologies to get things they need from each other, rather than from traditional institutions like corporations”

3. Is there a new place where the pioneer can experience ? Yes, this land of plenty does exist. The citizens are free to move, to create, to express themselves and to discuss. All the goods are infinitely duplicable immediately and that solve the problem of scarcity. Thus everything is free on this place. It is the Internet and we are all citizens of this new land were nation is not a relevant concept anymore.

I still wonder if a major change is coming, still I am convinced something big is happening. That is why I am working on it.