by Dr. Leyla Tavernaro-Haidarian,
Ph.D. Department of Communication. University of Johannesburg

The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) with its emergence of new technologies, such as artificial intelligence, cloud computing or robotics and the general fusion of what we have traditionally thought of as the separate realms of the digital and organic is frequently met with awe and skepticism.

Central among concerns is the idea that ‘truth’ has never been more compromised. News of fake news and doubts around the legitimacy of sources or the underlying motives of those who manipulate information is a point of consternation. Yet was truth ever really more accessible to us than now or any less skewed? Whose truth were journalists telling during apartheid in South Africa? And by contrast, what social injustices are being exposed by cell phone recordings of police in the United States today? Maybe it is not so much the technologies we have at our disposal, then, but the way in which we engage and communicate that determines the reliability of truth and communication in this era.

One way to engage is to draw on our individual capacity to evaluate information. By this is meant avoiding herd mentality or blind imitation and instead probing and questioning, challenging and researching everything from news to scientific data. But the search for truth is not only an individual endeavor. Lessons drawn from the global Covid19 response show that besides accuracy, two vital components of successful communication are meaning making and empathy, both of which depend on our ability to relate to others. There is a collective dimension to considering a diversity of perspectives and experiences. So, evaluating the vast amounts of sometimes paradoxical information available requires both independent thinking and collaborative faculties.

Collaboration, however, has not been systemically pronounced from one industrial revolution to the next. Influenced, in part, by a Hobbesian perspective, we still largely define how we relate to others in terms of competing interests and fundamental distrust. We think of our affairs as incompatible with those of others and we subsequently organize social life as a contest. This shapes not only every aspect of our democratic processes (particularly in the West) but also our academic debates, journalistic routines and our legal system. As a result, any possibility of a collective search for truth is sidelined by partisan posturing and the relentless pursuit of winning an argument or case at all costs. What this produces, at best, is a narrow, reductionist perception of reality.

Yet a different way of relating to others is conceivable. Since our views are shaped by the way we were raised, by our experiences and our social positions, access to the complete picture or to ‘Truth’ with a capital T can be seen as relative. In this light, collaborating with people who grew up to think differently from us becomes enriching and paramount because it completes our blind spots. By foregrounding our interconnectedness and by collaborating, exchanging and deliberating, we are better positioned to discover a wealth of nuances and complexities. However, this is only possible if we base ethical decision-making in non-partisan collaboration and in joint and participatory consultation.

Moving away from the premise that our relationships must be characterized by a “war of all against all” and towards the assumption that “I am because we are”, enables us to gain a fuller sense of reality and helps us to transcend false and limiting dichotomies. From within this vantage point, the digital and organic, science and religion and many other seemingly incompatible realms can be seen as complementary and as completing each other rather than separate or competing with each other. In this context and only through collective will, the tools and technologies of 4IR (can) become less of a threat for deception and individual gain and more of an opportunity to enhance quality of life for our planet and the entire human family.

Dr. Leyla Tavernaro-Haidarian, Ph.D., is a senior research associate with the University of Johannesburg, a leadership development consultant for UNSSC and an education specialist for UNODC. Leyla regularly lectures and keynotes at fora such as TEDx, the US State Department, and NATO Building Integrity. Her areas of expertise include communication, gender, ethics and governance. She is also a published writer with a particular interest in the normative moral theory of Ubuntu. She serves on the editorial board of two international journals and is a member of the International Association of Media and Communication Research as well as the South African Young Academy of Science. For the Austrian Baha’i Community, she manages the social discourse portfolio of its Office of Public Affairs. Social Media handles: @/lavidaleyla