Transcending the 4th Industrial Revolution; Taking Off Toward the 7th Industry

Transcending the 4^th Industrial Revolution; Taking Off Toward the 7^th Industry

– The 7^th Industrial Revolution Toward Mankind’s True Happiness Has Already Started

Duck-Joo Lee
KAIST Professor of Aerospace Engineering,
Vice Chairman of the American Helicopter Society,
Chairman of Academic Society for Human Completion

1. Early this year, one of the most dramatic events in the history of mankind drew attention from all over the world to Seoul. It was a match of the game, ‘Go’, between Se-Dol Lee, the current highest ranking champion, and AlphaGo, an artificial intelligence robot developed by Google. AlphaGo proved many predictions wrong and easily defeated world champion Se-Dol Lee. This was a rude awakening that shocked people who had been so absorbed in their busy, daily lives that was immediately in front of them. Following this event, ‘artificial intelligence’ and ‘4^th industrial revolution’ quickly became trending topics. Even the government has put forth several policies in preparation for the 4^th industrial revolution.

There were also many analyses of the effects of the 4^th industrial revolution on the world. People expressed concern that mankind may fall behind if we do not respond properly. The year is coming to an end amidst this social, economic, political whirlpool. Will we be able to become a driving force for the 4^th industrial revolution, which is approaching as a major turning point in the history of mankind?

The 4^th industrial revolution, based off of the 3^rd industrial revolution, is the technological revolution that blends the boundaries of various industries such as the digital industry, bio-industry, and physics. Development and preparation of artificial intelligence, biotechnology, Internet of Things, and other industries is far more advanced in other developed countries than we think. In such circumstances, rather than following our neighbors’ leads, I believe it is much more important to understand exactly how the 4^th industrial revolution arose, what direction it will take going forward, and where we are on that path. Once we have a clear understanding of reality, we can unite our forces to move in the proper direction.

Thus, I view the 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th industrial revolutions, along with the much discussed 5^th and 6^th revolutions, as one huge cycle that could include even a 7^th revolution.

2. According to Big History, of the 8 major turning points after the Big Bang, the last 3 turning points were the emergence of man, agrarian society, and the last turning point, which is the modern revolution that started in 1784 with the 1^st industrial revolution. The 1^st industrial revolution was the mechanization process using water and steam energy. It is said that 1840 was when the results of the 1^st industrial revolution could actually be noticed. The 2^nd industrial revolution was after that in 1870 when mass production became possible due to electricity and 1969 with automation using computers could be considered the 3^rd industrial revolution. And the 4^th industrial revolution had already started exploration of Mars and other aerospace engineering. However, it is broadly recognized the revolution started spreading at the ‘World Economic Forum’ (WEF), which took place on January 20, 2016 in Davos, Switzerland with the Forum’s founder, Klaus Schwab’s book.

What is special about the 4^th industrial revolution is that, whereas each of the 1^st to 3^rd revolutions were due to independent technologies, the 4^th is manifesting as a fusion of ground-breaking, revolutionary technologies from various fields such as physics, biology, neuroscience, mechanical engineering, etc. Therefore, this revolution is more iconoclastic and unforeseeable than any other technological revolution in the past.

3. Modern civilization’s revolutionary development of science and technology since the 1^st industrial revolution has definitely made man’s life much more abundant. Financial efficiency, empiricism, and rationalism, which consider only what can be proven by seeing with the human eyes and understanding by rational thinking to be the truth, governed the world. One’s mind, heart, and spirit, which cannot be seen with the human eyes, were considered to be irrational; even if it were important, it was cast aside because it was an unknown realm that could not be proven by science. As a result, many problems arose for mankind, such as sense of loss, inequality, isolation, environment, etc. With the material abundance, people also had to face an equal amount of psychological and spiritual pain. This was because the question of ‘why?’ was neglected and people had been pushing forward focused only on further developing their development.

4. However, now in the face of the 4^th industrial revolution, represented by artificial intelligence and biotechnology, the question ‘why?’ cannot be disregarded anymore. The 1^st to 3^rd revolutions were related to man’s arms, legs, and body, whereas the 4^th revolution is related to man’s brain. Due to the 1^st to 3^rd revolutions, machines replaced man’s body and as such, the 4^th revolution will replace man’s brain with machines.

As proven by AlphaGo, the intelligence of machines is already surpassing that of man. We can anticipate that robots will take care of any tasks needing memory, analysis, or other such intelligence. WEF estimated that about 50 million jobs will disappear due to the 4^th industrial revolution. They predict that even doctors, lawyers, taxi drivers, and reporters will replace people with robots.

The 4^th revolution and its consequences have very marked differences in contrast to the prior industrial revolutions. While the prior revolutions have changed man’s environment, the 4^th revolution will change mankind itself. This is why people feel tension and fear in the presence of AlphaGo, which defeated Se-Dol Lee.

Yuval Harari, who recently became a worldwide bestseller with his book, Sapiens, once pointed out, ‘what will man, who may soon become useless, do?’

In the face of cutting-edge technology that the 4^th industrial revolution is bringing, it is critical that we establish very clear answers to the questions ‘why?’ and ‘for what?’. What is the technological revolution for?

The answer is obvious. It must not be a technology for better technology, or a science for better science. It must be for mankind.

5. Then we are now at a point when we must seriously consider the question ‘what will man do?’ If we only rush to catch up with other developed countries who are leading the 4^th industrial revolution without understanding our goals and direction in terms of ‘why’, ‘for what’, and ‘where’, our future in the generation of the 4^th industrial revolution will not be very bright. Man’s sense of loss and isolation could be maximized.

However, if we can clarify the reason, purpose, and direction at this point, and move forward maintaining man’s dignity and holding firmly to our rudder, which is mankind’s true peace, happiness, and coexistence, the 4^th revolution will surely be a blessing for mankind.

At the 46^th WEF (World Economic Forum) which took place January 2016 in Davos, Switzerland, economic leaders from all over the world all expressed that in order to direct the groundbreaking innovations of the 4^th industrial revolution and artificial intelligence to success, the development of man’s mind, heart, soul, and spirit is essential.

In order for the 4^th revolution to succeed, not only must we invest our effort and money into technological development, but we must also take part in educating man to elevate his consciousness. We must go beyond the efficiency, rationalism, and competitive paradigms that drove the capitalist economy after the 1^st industrial revolution. A revolution in consciousness, which will heighten man’s ability to coexist and unite for the sake of true dignity and happiness of mankind, is absolutely necessary.

More about this will be detailed later.

6. Even later in the 20^th century, the human brain was an unknown realm that people wanted to know about but couldn’t figure out. But the recent cutting-edge technology in artificial intelligence and biotechnology proves that science is conquering the brain as well. Already, there are machines (artificial intelligence robots) that surpass man’s intellectual ability.

As mentioned above, the 1^st to 3^rd revolutions replaced man’s hands, feet, and body while the 4^th revolution is replacing man’s brain. Then where will science and technology lead to next?

There are 3 layers of the brain, which moves man (Picture 1). The first layer is the brain of survival, or the brain that moves in order to live and survive. The second layer is the animal brain, or the emotional brain that seeks to satisfy basic instincts and pleasures. The third layer is the brain for reason and intelligence.

The 4^th revolution is related to the 3^rd layer of the brain. Now that science and technology of the 4^th revolution has conquered the brain for intelligence, the next step will likely be the emotional brain that is related to feelings and emotions such as pleasure, joy, happiness, etc. So the 5^th industrial revolution will happen in the fields of entertainment and tourism.

7. The 5^th industrial revolution has already started. Revolutionary developments are already in the making in the entertainment and tourism industries. Whereas the 4^th revolution was ground-breaking in the sense that it broke man’s economical ideas, the 5^th revolution will break cultural stereotypes and notions. As the world’s cultures closely interact with each other, all people of the world will get closer and cultural contents will expand more quickly and freely. In this generation with the entire world is communicating with each other, countries that are closed off will have face challenges to continue existing. The 5^th revolution will change and develop the world that man’s 2^nd layer of the brain recognizes and perceives in innovative ways.

Then the direction of the 6^th revolution seems quite clear. The 6^th revolution will be a technological revolution related to man’s deepest layer of the brain, the 1^st layer related to survival. That is, technological advances will be made in man’s food and medicine. New farming techniques that overcome environmental pollution may be developed and new crops or foods may even be created. Food (or medication) that can amazingly postpone aging and death will be invented. It could seem like a regression from industrialism to agriculture, but the new agricultural revolution will differ from past agricultural revolutions in human history because it will allow man to return to nature and to eat and live more abundantly with cutting-edge technology.

Like this, we have discussed the 5^th and 6^th revolutions that will follow the 4^th industrial revolution.

8. Then what will the 7^th industrial revolution be? Perhaps this will be one that relates to the most intrinsic aspect of mankind. It is now time to elaborate on the revolution in consciousness, which was mentioned earlier. Following the technological revolutions involving man’s body and brain, the 7^th revolution will move on to research man’s most intrinsic aspect. It is the part that cannot be replaced by anything else because it is inherent only in mankind—the realm of man’s mind, heart, and spirit.

I believe that this is the ultimate direction that mankind will take during the 7^th This may already be in progress in a part of our society. This revolution that involves man’s mind, heart, spirit, and consciousness will no longer be based on the competitive paradigm of wealth and reputation that’s been used until now; rather, it will stem from a completely new conscious, spiritual paradigm of cooperation and coexistence.

When the 4^th, 5^th, and 6^th revolutions take place on the foundation of such consciousness revolution, they will yield successful results that truly contribute to man’s happiness.

Let’s say that the 7^th revolution is the revolution of people themselves. It’s revolution involve people. With the 7^th revolution, people will no longer be a subordinate part or tool of the economic industry’s logic and will become the true owners that will take the reigns and steer the entire entity.

We have discussed that the 1^st-3^rd revolutions replace and connect man’s hands, feet, eyes, nose, and other sensory organs and that the 4^th-6^th revolutions replace and connect man’s brain. Also that the 7^th revolution concerns man’s mind, heart, spirit, and consciousness.

Now it is time to go into detail about how people are able to think and act, to understand the essence of people themselves, beyond the big data regarding the spirit, heart, and mind. Though it started with man, the flow of history that has been labeled as revolution had digressed away from man’s essence. It is time for it to return back to man. The 7^th industrial revolution transcends man’s body and brain and is a revolution of man’s origin, basic human nature.

Psychologist Bruce Hood wrote in his book that what a person thinks of as ‘me’ (their selves) is the accumulation of one’s past experiences in his or her brain (Picture 2). In other words, one believes that the past, which currently does not exist, is his self or ‘me’ when in reality, it is an illusion that is not real.

People often forget, but it is needless to say that the ultimate goal of knowledge and study in science, politics, economics, culture, and all academic fields is in order to achieve man’s dignity and happiness. Although all the technological and industrial revolutions in history have definitely provided material development of civilization and thus contributed to abundance and happiness in man’s life, it is also true that achieving true inner happiness was vague and difficult.

However, as mankind goes through the 4th, 5th, and 6th revolutions, they have come to seriously consider how to move towards true happiness and will realize the proper direction. Ultimately, with the 7th revolution, a consciousness revolution will take place where people will seek true inner happiness.

Gem-like quotes by mankind’s most intellectual people have been etched onto copperplates and displayed at the Nobel Museum. Of those, the very first quote is the following one from British poet, Edward Young (Picture 3).

“Born originals, how comes it to pass that we die copies?”

The meaning of these words must be considered deeply. As people are born and continue living their lives, they lose their original nature due to the experiences and knowledge given by external circumstances. Thus, they end up living only by the external conditions and environment, without knowing who they really are.

9. For people, who have become copies as a result of their life to their original self, to return to their original self, they must break out of their very own mind worlds that have been created by the life they have lived and their past experiences. Only then will people be able to think outside of their perspective and genuinely understand, communicate, and be thoughtful of others. The 7^th industrial revolution will be a revolution of consciousness that will enable mankind to break free from the mind world that each person has made himself, become the broad perspective of the world rather than a self-centered, narrow one, and achieve a world of coexistence where everyone lives together. The answer and solution to Edward Young’s question from more than 300 years ago will be the key point of the 7^th revolution and firmly establishing this direction will be the moving force that leads the 4^th industrial revolution to success. Machines are surpassing man’s intelligence and will replace many roles that man used to fill as the 4^th revolution kicks into higher gear. In order for people to remain in the leading role even in the unforeseeable future, which is changing very rapidly, man must recover his original nature, which cannot be replaced by any machine. That original nature holds the wisdom that will direct man towards genuine happiness.

Until now, it was believed that wisdom comes from experience and learning. However, when the minds that trigger stereotypes, fixed ideas, and judgments, which are stored in the human brain, are found and thrown away one by one, true wisdom will arise from man’s original nature that is hidden inside. This can be achieved by reflecting on and emptying oneself.

10. Man is incomplete because of pictures that have been copied of the world the way one has seen, heard, and experienced it. When these pictures disappear, man becomes complete and while going from imcompletion to completion, genuine freedom and happiness will be revealed. Happiness is not having any hatred or worries in one’s heart. Just as UNESCO’s charter states that “since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed”, now it is time to go beyond man’s body and brain and start exploring the mind and heart. Truly understanding the mind will make it possible to lead the unpredictable 4^th revolution to success.

I believe that such revolution of consciousness or mind must happen through education. Unlike the education that accumulated and added knowledge for the sake of wealth, success, and reputation until now, education must now help mankind to recover its original nature, which has been forgotten amidst materialization, through subtraction. A few years ago, KAIST students and faculty faced an unfortunate period of that was revealed to be a serious societal issue. When the students were asked for their input, they requested education for personality and character.

In response to this request, I gave consecutive lectures titled ‘Now is My Life’s Turning Point’ and ‘Pursuit and Recovery of Human Nature’ during fall 2011 and spring 2012 semesters respectively. It was time dedicated to exploring oneself through meditation and self-reflection. This course gave students time to deeply reflect on their selves for the first times in their lives. By such reflection, they realized on their own how self-centeredly they had lived their lives; and by subtracting those copied pictures inside one by one, they said they became free from their past hatred. They realized that past good memories made them see the present negatively and they became free from those good memories as well.

This course is now accessible on Coursera, an online lecture platform for which more than 17 million people have registered, titled “Engineering Self-Reflection for Human Completion”. This doesn’t take a just a theoretical approach; it allows one to realize on his or her own through experience.

The meditation that is applied in this course is Ma-Eum Soo-Ryun, which has recently been implemented in many schools for character education. It is a meditation curriculum that teaches Ma-Eum Soo-Ryun’s subtraction method to students. This meditation method has very modern and scientific principles. It is very easy and simple, yet excels. Just as NASA still uses the method that the Wright brothers used when making the first airplane, because it is unmatched by any other method, this meditation method also provides a very easy and fundamental way to explore the mind.

Meditation is reflection on oneself. Ma-Eum Soo-Ryun’s meditation method of subtracting the mind enables people to strengthen the ability to see oneself objectively, which is considered to be the highest level of consciousness that man can have. I have been implementing this method in a course that was opened in the aviation section on K-MOOC (Massive Online Open Course), an online lecture platform like Coursera, operated by Korea’s Ministry of Education. This is because it can be used to prevent and reduce aviation accidents, of which more than 70 percent is due to human factors.

I have mentioned that the 7^th revolution will be a consciousness revolution, which will be achieved through education. I believe that the education method will take the form of meditation, which is very conventional, yet will be the most cutting-edge education method. Furthermore, since development of information and communication technology has merged with education, online lecture platforms like Coursera that draw attention from all over the world has enabled meditation education to take place for people throughout the world to access. It is said that Coursera’s development is surpassing that of Facebook. Revolution is taking place not only in education content but also in the education system.

The 4^th industrial revolution is also focusing on self-driving cars. Artificial intelligence allows cars to be safely driven to its destination while preventing collisions without a driver. Drones that utilize the military’s unmanned aerial vehicles technology, which was developed through war, are also attracting attention as a future industry. The future use and market for drone technology is unpredictable because it can be utilized in the 5^th revolution’s entertainment and even in the 6^th revolution’s agricultural industries. Launching a drone enables observation of a designated location from the air. It can observe from close proximity from a height. Drones enable me to observe not only the designated location but also my self that is observing through it. I can see my self objectively, detached far away from my self (Picture 4).

Ma-Eum Soo-Ryun’s meditation method of self-reflection works in the same way. Just like looking down at myself through a drone that is far away, the method enables me to look back on myself by departing far away from my self with my mind. Reflecting on how I lived my life from that distance allows me to objectively see my life from childhood to present. By throwing away those pictures that block me from living in the present, I can become free from that past.

My brain is changing. My frontal lobe, which has been dormant for a long time, is changing (Picture 5). As Jill Bolte Taylor states, throwing away thoughts made room for peace. My right and left brains, which had been filled with selfish motives and calculation due to materialization and human greed, have become cleansed, freeing my body and mind from my addiction to my past.

To summarize, the 4^th industrial revolution, along with the 5^th and 6^th revolutions will succeed when proceeding simultaneously with the 7^th consciousness revolution. The essence of the 4^th revolution is not about changing something other than man, but rather about man him/herself We must no longer passively follow the development of scientific technology and instead actively and proactively grasp a direction. The 7^th revolution has already begun and it can no longer be postponed.

The 7^th revolution must be understood in order to understand the ultimate goal of life. Then genuine creativity can be exercised for the entirety of mankind and materialization will develop further to allow the world to live in happiness. This is what it means for one to become the owner. When one opens his brain, opens his heart, and breaks free from all conceptions of self to see the world from the opposite perspective, a world where everyone can coexist will come to fruition.

*1998-present: Professor, Department of Aerospace Engineering, KAIST
2015-present: Vice President, American Society of Helicopter
2015-present: Vice President, Korea Drone Industry Promotion Association
2016-present: President, Academic Society for Human Completion
2016-present: Member, Future Education Society
-NRC Fellow, NASA Ames Research Center, August 1985 – December 1987
-Best Paper Award in Science and Technology, The Korea Federation of Science and Technology Societies, April 1, 1988, Seoul, Korea
-Academic Award, Acoustical Society of Korea, October 31, 2003 Kyongju, Korea
-Academic Award, Korean Society for Aeronautical and Space Sciences, November 2005, Korea
-Elected as one of 40 Fellows in Aerospace Engineering in KOREA in the last 40 years, Korean Society for Aeronautical and Space Sciences, October 2007, Korea
-Miyeon Academic Award, Korean Society for Aeronautical and Space Sciences, November 2015, Korea
-Life-Time Achievement Award, Asia/Australian Rotorcraft Forum, 2015

<Pictures>

Picture 1. Brain structure, Yoo-Heon Suh

Picture 2. The SELF ILLUSION, Bruce Hood

Picture 3. Nobel Museum, Edward Young

Picture 4. Myself controlling a drone

Picture 5. Frontal lobe of modern people, Yoo-Heon Suh

<References>

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