THE FOURTH REVOLUTION

Who are we and how do we relate to each other Luciano Floridi one of the leading figures in contemporary philosophy argues that the explosive developments in Information and Communication Technologies ICTs is changing the answer to these fundamental human questions As the boundaries between life online and offline break down and we become seamlessly connected to each other and surrounded by smart responsive objects we are all becoming integrated into an infosphere Personas we adopt in social media for example feed into our real lives so that we begin to live as Floridi puts in onlife Following those led by Copernicus Darwin and Freud this metaphysical shift represents nothing less than a fourth revolution Onlife defines more and more of our daily activity the way we shop work learn care for our health entertain ourselves conduct our relationships the way we interact with the worlds of law finance and politics even the way we conduct war In every department of life ICTs have become environmental forces which are creating and transforming our realities How can we ensure that we shall reap their benefits What are the implicit risks Are our technologies going to enable and empower us or constrain us Floridi argues that we mus