Technology
Technology is a primary force for change. Every aspect of our personal and business lives is undergoing increasing exponential change. What we do, how we do it and why we do it are driven by our access to and utilization of technology. It’s not just the way we create and deal with jewelry, from mining to manufacturing to marketing. It’s the way we deal with our lives and how we communicate with others and ourselves.
Technology is all about creative destruction. It forces us to change how we do things. It’s Darwinian evolution on steroids. Alvin Toffler speaks of “future shock” as when the rate of change exceeds our capacity to deal with it. Technology feeds on itself, making more technology possible. We cannot control technology. We cannot control change.
So what should we do? Let’s recognize and embrace change. Let’s use it as a powerful force to help us find new ways to improve our lives. Let’s transcend change and turn it into a tool for a better world. Let’s harness and direct the power of technological change into directions that make us, our society and our products better.
Having said this, let’s remember that with all this creative destruction, exponential change and new everything, the most important things do not change. Who we are, why we are, and what we really want do not change. Our common identity and key motivations as human beings are deep. We control who we are and what we want.
Some things are forever. Love is forever. The need and desire for others are forever, emotion is forever, diamonds and what they represent in our human interactions are forever. If you want to understand what is really going on and what will happen to society in the future, think about those things that don’t change. Value them. Find your North Star. For in the end, if you dig down deep enough, you will find that the new new is the old old.
martin@rapaport.comArticle from the Rapaport Magazine - February 2022. To subscribe click here.