Why after-postmodern?

We can see by the news about the last occidental diplomatic steps that some postmodern political paradigms are surpassed by the pendulum of history. It is not a matter of support any side, but to recognize the strength of the pendulum of history. There is a moment when programs, strategies, projects, paradigms become exhausted.

The postmodern period was the second half of the 20^th century. Its principles were pragmatism, efficiency, results and bilateralism or even unilateralism in the end of the century with a certain globalization.

In the beginning of the 21^st century it was accentuated what Ervin Laszlo called ‘Macroshift’. In the transition between postmodern and after-postmodern period, we could see ‘inefficiency’ of ‘efficiency’, pragmatism starting to fail and the vision of ‘results’ more important than the methods vanishing under failure. Efficiency by efficiency only was exhausted because people did not see any meaning or target linked to the search for efficiency.

With that last news we can better understand why we call this period as “after-postmodern”.

We are not sure about what will come, but certainly big changes are coming in after-postmodern times…  

Overwhelming data and after-postmodern

In 1997, David Schenk published Data Smog, a book about the great amount of information on Internet that would reach a level that, instead of brings help, it would bring confusion and stress.  

In postmodern period there was enthusiasm with the possibility to easier achieve more and more data. The ‘information age’ was a common and very well accepted expression in those days. But, someone like Schenk had a notion of what that all was leading to. With the transition from postmodern to after-postmodern period efficiency of ‘easy data’ became ‘overwhelming data’ and ‘data smog’ became a usual expression appropriated to that situation.

And so, in after-postmodern times we must find ‘other efficiencies’… Big Data could be a way to select information. But ‘data smog’ refers also to media information…

In scientific information ‘text mining’ can be useful, but could be interesting to remember what Edgar Morin said about research. He makes an intriguing proposal: it is time to stop to neglect the regularly excluded data of research and start to put light on those excluded data and study them, submit them to research also.

By transdisciplinarity and complexity theory these paradoxical issues could be worked side by side.   

Cheap Oil, Expensive Nature, Complexity and After-postmodern

In the last years the expensive price of oil helped to think about alternative energy sources and to improve the practice of those possibilities. Nowadays the oil is cheaper and cheaper, achieving a level where sustainable sources of energy are becoming less interesting to profits. Someone is filling some kind of “come back” to decades ago; but now, Nature is demanding, charging other sorts of “profits” and pointing to a loss more complex then only money.

In after-postmodern times we need to use the tool of “complexity” to set paradoxical things such as all the sources of energy in a way that Nature could be respected and human being survives. Maybe we need now a pratice to manage “dissensus” instead of just wainting a “consensus” that is difficult to achieve in a short term.