A New Round of Science and Technology Revolution Bring Human Society to Spiritual Civilization Stage—Spiritual Life Awakening  ^†

Abstract

The past human civilization stage can be defined as The Material Civilization Stage, with the coming of Intelligent Age, human civilization stage will fundamentally transfer to spiritual stage. The main activities of human beings will change from material creating activities to spiritual life awakening. This will further arouse the evolution of basic paradigm of academic research in several areas, especially social sciences and economics. The methodology of social sciences will more and more return to starting from human nature and life spirituality. And economics enter into New Economic Age, we should establish a new economics theory to adjust to the new Intelligent Age.

1. Introduction

This paper, from the perspective of human individual spiritual life, and based on the observation of the intelligent era is coming, I redivide several thousand years of human civilization, giving that the evolution of human social civilization is undergoing great changes. Because in Intelligent Age fast all of the demands for material life could be satisfied by new information technological tools, and the human civilization circulation will evolve into human spiritual life awakening stage, then the lifetime of human beings will mostly be related to spiritual lives. Thereafter human civilization will take on an entirely new look. Chinese philosophy, mainly Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism will play an important role in this process.

2. Time Background Changing

The world is going through the Fourth Industrial Revolution. This will cause widespread influence on human society and bring about the production and lifestyle transformation. The two significant changes will be: First, because in production and life labor force is generally replaced by information technology tools and intelligent applications, human beings’ most lifetime will be characterized by spirituality. Second, the transformation of time background changes the basic research background of social sciences methodology, especially in economics. The essential economics theory is on the threshold of a new one, based on the new information industrial era.

3. Human Material Civilization Stage

Life is the fundamental topic of human society, all civilization evolution ultimately come down to one essential topic: Whether it contribute to life improving or not. From the perspective of human individual spiritual life, I redivide the thousands years of human civilization. From personal spiritual life aspect, the civilization stages before this new technology revolution are all be classified as The Material Civilization Stage, including the industrial revolution stage (the First, Second and Third Industry Revolution.), the stage of agricultural civilization and the earlier ancient civilization stage.

3.1. Material Civilization Stage

In this chapter, we state the past material civilization in human history, and point out that up to now the civilization evolution still remains at the level of material civilization circular system, didn’t touch life essence of spirituality.

3.2. Comments

Currently people’ activities are basically around the acquisition of various material needs. Essentially what life devote to defines what the life is, if the most lifetime is used to fulfill material and outer requirements, then life is a material life, rarely related to spiritual and intelligent life level.

The industry civilization provides a very wide selection space for peoples’ material life, world is colorful and gorgeous, it looks like that people could cheese for what he/she wants, but all of these is tied to outer material things, people must be around the material productivity, otherwise he/she will not continue life. So in this mechanism people are not really free, the most lifetime should be devoted in material productivity. The true freedom of life is the experience, guidance, distillation and detachment of nature life. The intelligent era will meet this expectation.

4. The Starting of Human Spiritual Civilization Stage: Spiritual Awakening of Life Nature

The new information technology revolution initiates spiritual awakening of human nature life in very general. The evolution of human social civilization will rise to a higher spiritual level, not just remain at the stage of material diversity accumulation. This will be revolutionary.

4.1. The Reform of Human Being’s Life Caused by the New Generation of Information Technology

In this chapter we illustrate the Fourth Industrial Revolution and point out its fundamental affection to human society.

4.2. The Stage of Spiritual Awakening of Human Life is Coming

4.2.1. The Intelligent Era Generates the Spiritual Awakening of Life Nature Come into Being

Currently people’ activities are basically around the acquisition of various material needs, life itself is constituted by what it devote to, the most time of people is used to fulfill material and outer requirement, so each life now is essentially a material life, rarely related to spiritual and intelligent life level. This time science and technology revolution has brought intellectual revolution to human beings, these material life and activities could be replaced by intelligent, so human life will be liberated from material creating activities, human labor is becoming not an essential factor to large production, and furthermore rise to lead on top of these. Then after life is liberated from material, where are the next entrances and exits of life orientation? That is developing from material life to spiritual life, get the exploring and sublimating of nature life essence start, namely the spiritual life. Make human life be fundamentally promoted at higher levels. Thereafter, human life will more and more turn to intelligence needs of spirituality. Human civilization then slowly and slowly transform from material stage to spiritual stage.

4.2.2. The Call of New Age: Eastern Culture and Philosophy will Direct Human Mind Forward

The opening of the Intelligent Age, human society enters into the age of internet of all things, everything is connected, a variety of traditional boundaries will gradually lose its binding force, such as the national division, culture distinction, region segmentation and so on. All human social mobility elements can be digitized into Data, which approach to an unified world, the future of human society will be towards a unified trend and direction, that is, China put forward the concept of “Community of Common Destiny”.

The nature of Chinese philosophy is highly consistent with the philosophical spirit of the information age, such as the holistic cosmology, the union of human and heaven, the universal origin theory, etc. There are two big issues that our world is now going through: First, China is rising, and the very first is the reviving of Chinese culture. Second, the intelligent era is coming, which will completely change human society and challenge normal thinking, promote rethinking of reconstruction of social ecology and social science researching. So I think there is destined philosophical association between the two big issues.

Each social form has a philosophical paradigm as a guide, so what is the guide philosophy in this new era? Human society extends too much vaster space. Oriental civilization, especially Chinese culture and philosophy, emphasizing the cosmology of “The harmony between man and nature” and the principle of “the doctrine of the mean”, yin-yang and five elements theory. The spirit of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism are all of holism world view, all pursue ultimate of life and guide man to improve life.

I think that based on the coincidence between Chinese philosophy and the intellectual age, Chinese philosophy may become the fundamental philosophy of this era. That is, the cornerstone of information philosophy.

Oriental philosophy is mainly about nature life. The essence of Chinese Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism is of spirit life practice, and include systematic ideology, which guide human going into spiritual life cognition and awakening. So with the arriving of Intelligent Age, Chinese philosophy and culture may step on the way of taking this ideological mission and guide the whole world achieving to the unity in a broader sense.

We propose that Chinese culture will take on the ideological guiding mission in this new human society form, which generated by this new scientific and technological revolution. And the whole world will achieve unity in a broader sense.

4.2.3. The Growth Theory of Personal Inner Life

So what kind of spirit could be an inner growth guidance of the essence of life namely the spiritual life? In a universal sense, what kind of spiritual culture will become the leading culture of it? This topic may include the dialogue between different civilizations of mankind, the integration of the subject, I boldly put forward, from the individual spiritual life growth point of view, different civilizations may be at different levels of spiritual life. The spiritual growth of life follow a hierarchical order, such as the ultimate of Buddhism is Nirvana, but the middle process will experience a variety of sub-fruit. From the Christian culture, Jewish culture, Islamic culture, which are outside of China, to Chinese Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism culture, these represent the highest attainments of human spiritual civilization, if we put them to one study platform of life and reconsider them all from the view of spiritual life growing, then we will find that, they are at the different positions, plays the different roles relative to spiritual life growing. And furthermore, there are hierarchy relationships between them, and they point to spiritual pursuit in a unified sense, ultimately serving the spiritual life growing subject. So based on this human fundamental topic of spiritual life growing, different civilizations come to stand on this point of culture convergence and force the generation of dialogue, coordination and fusion mechanism. Following the systematic construction of human spiritual life, these different cultures will be reconstructed and then produce a new form of innovative civilization achievement. This will be an exciting subject.

5. The Inspiring for the Research of Social Science in Difference Areas Because of the Stage of Spiritual Awakening of Life Nature Coming

5.1. Return to the Essential of Human Life Nature

Interdisciplinary academic research should be fundamentally based on human life itself, the life states change in the coming Intelligent Age, then the interdisciplinary research paradigm should change accordingly. The past academic research is based on man’s material assumptions, this should transforms to be based on man’s spirituality assumptions. Especially the study of Economic theory. From the perspective of nature of life, we should think about the direction of innovation in the whole discipline.

5.2. Primary Initiative in New Economics Theory

In this chapter I will focus on a few parts of my new exploration in new economics theory. The first one is, because of the awakening of human spiritual life, the hypothesis of homo economicus will be challenged, and a new hypothesis will appear, that is “hypothesis of spiritual man”. The human activities will be mostly caused by spirituality. The second one is, the new Economic model is emerging, mostly be influenced by digitalization. The third one is, the basic assumption of economics theory will evolve from “Hypothesis of incomplete information” to “Hypothesis of complete information”, thus impact many traditional Economic theories and models. So we must make basic theory initiative and innovation.