Conclusion. Toward Cybernetic Society

In this Conclusion, Grinin et al. undertake two tasks simultaneously: (1) to summarize a large part of the ideas and forecasts which have been presented in this monograph and (2) to develop a portrait of the new cybernetic society, in which most of the processes analyzed in this book will take on new qualities. The authors call this new unprecedented type of society “cybernetic”, because its formation will be inextricably linked to the completion of the Cybernetic Revolution. The authors forecast that it will be a society, which will be very different from all previous societies. Why? On the one hand, it will be closely connected to very profound technological changes in the management and regulation of our life at all levels. On the other hand, it is inextricably linked to the process of global aging; moreover, aging becomes an integral part of society. Cybernetic society must go through a difficult path of social frictions, conflicts, and optimizations before many things become institutionalized. The horizon of forecasts is sometimes very long—up to the first third of the twenty-second century. The authors describe changes awaiting humanity that are very serious and uncertain, but at the same time hopeful.