IDENTITY for YOUNG PEOPLE in a CHANGING, CROWDED, NETWORKED WORLD
IN THE 21st CENTURY, being connected—i.e., networked together—is key to both young people’s identity and power. The remainder of the century will be about young people’s learning how to use their new connectivity, and the power it brings—positively—for themselves, and for the world.
I SEE THREE HUGE THINGS having changed dramatically in the more than half century since I grew up:
There are far, far more people, and far more young people in the world. Today the number of young people on the planet—two billion (or so)— is roughly the same as the total number of people on the planet a century ago. That is a lot of young people, and standing out—never easy— is much harder.
Our planet—our young people’s current and future world—is changing rapidly, going through dramatic transformations due to climate change. Young people now need to adapt positively to these changes and do so quickly.
On the positive side, all the world’s young people are increasingly—although not yet completely—networked together. That is a capability previously completely unknown to humans, and young people need to deal with it.
The question is, HOW DOES A YOUNG PERSON FIND THEIR IDENTITY IN THIS NEW WORLD?
Identity As Personal and Collective Power
A good place to start is with young humans’ new power. My sense is that “being networked and connected”—which is the only one of the big changes above that young people have some immediate control over—is an important key to 21st century young people’s identity.
The 21st century is about the young generations’ learning how to use their new connectivity in a positive way for themselves and for all.
The KEY TO IDENTITY for each 21st century young human lies in FINDING ONE’S POWER, CLAIMING THAT POWER—and USING IT FOR GOOD.
The good news is that each of us can use the new power in any way we want to, so each person’s identity can be very much his or her own and unique. Personally, I prefer that all these ways be positive for the planet and for humans.
Identity and Uniqueness
Our UNIQUENESS is our personal identity in our crowded world. Uniqueness is often thought of in terms of physical traits or groups one belongs to, but that perspective is fading fast. It is true there are things that all humans share in common—like bodily organs—other things that smaller groups of humans share—like cultures—and each person has particular traits, sizes, and appearance. But what most importantly differentiates us as unique individuals—far more profoundly than our culture or appearance—are our actions, i.e., the personal projects we choose to do.
What each individual chooses to do, and what they accomplish truly defines their identity.
And in our 21st century world, the choices available to people, and the ways in which they can accomplish, are very much expanding.
“Work” is Changing …
One’s identity is often associated with one’s work, job or profession. Over the course of the 21st century many former and “traditional” jobs—and much traditional work—will be taken over by AI and automation. This will happen all across the work and pay spectrum. The current role of many doctors, lawyers, and engineers will be automated in many ways, along with the roles of most “non-professional” workers.
… But Some Things Will Remain
But there are some roles humanity will never run out of. These include:
• Realizing Dreams,
• Fixing Problems, and
• Helping other people.
What we call “work” will change to reconfigure around those roles.
New Kinds of “Community”
Identity has always been associated with community, but to do these new roles, in new ways, we are getting a new kind of community to self-identify in—and with.
What is meant by a human community is changing.
The new networked world has brought with it a huge “re-framing” of what community means—a re-framing that will only grow in importance once the networking is complete. Community (and identity) used to be based largely on where you lived, or on who “happened to be” physically close to you. Even religions and ideologies, which sometimes connected people into larger communities, remained mostly local in their implementations.
In the 21st century networked world, COMMUNITY IS BASED MORE AND MORE ON AFFINITY. Community—and a big part of identity— is now based on FINDING OTHERS WHO THINK LIKE YOU, AND THAT YOU WANT TO WORK WITH —ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD (and on their finding you.)
From Old Ways of Seeing To New Ways of Seeing
Many of today’s young people, in many places, are already, to a large extent, skin-color-blind and gender-blind.
Many are fast becoming location-blind and language-blind as well.
In a hugely populated country like India, for example, with half a billion young people speaking natively, a multitude of local languages, more and more can communicate in English—with each other and with the world. Individuals can still speak multiple languages if they want to, but more and more connected undertakings—in India and in the world—now run in English. And for any whose English is not as good as they might want, translation through technology—in real time—is fast becoming universally available at little or no additional cost. An English-speaking component will be part of more and more 21st century identities.
Connection with a Common Language: What’s Possible?
We now have—for the very first time in human history—a generation of young humans that is quickly becoming (1) all connected, and (2) able to share, in a common language. What does that mean for their identity? If we accept that one’s unique identity is defined by what one does—i.e., by ones’ personal projects— it is useful to ask what projects can young people now do that they couldn’t do in the past? I see two immediately presenting themselves:
The first is to finish the task of connecting humanity completely.
Every young person needs a personal device with humanity’s new AORTA (Always-on-Real-time Access). Young people everywhere should figure out how to quickly make this happen, without letting those from the past or bullies looking out for their own interests stand in their way. Technologies like Elon Musk’s Starlink can help. Being connected is no longer an option—it is a part of being a 21st century human. It is, effectively, a new, 21st century body part that this generation has acquired. Because it is so new, we are all still learning how to use it well. We will also go much further in connecting ourselves to sensors outside of our bodies and incorporating their input.
The second is to accomplish, as a cohort, powerful tasks that require large-scale communication and coordination. This is something that young people could never do before by and for themselves.
I suggest all 21st century young people be constantly on the lookout for powerful ways to apply the new connectivity they have—and the power it brings. Young activist Greta Thunberg, for example, now organizes country-wide day-long school strikes by students in specific countries and places (Fridays for Future). But Greta has, in fact, far more power than what she uses—should she choose, for example, she now has the means to entreat every student in the world to go on strike from school permanently—until something meaningful gets done by adults about climate change.
By their numbers, attitude and connectivity young people can make big changes
In the new world they are in, young people—by their numbers, their new “WE CAN” attitude and their new connectivity, can cause very big changes—even changing entire places.
Many places are ripe for transformation by young people. In India, for example, under 30’s make up more than 50 percent of the population. In much of Africa, at least half the population is under 18. In countries like Iran and China young people have shown that when adults oppress them they are willing to take stands for freedom. It is very much their new connectedness that is helping make this happen. As the world sees the last gasps of the Last-Pre-Internet Generation trying to use the world’s new connectivity for control and power, I doubt young people will ultimately let that happen.
Will Family and Nationality Decline in Identity Importance?
The roles that family and nationality will play in the 21st century identity are not yet clear and still evolving. But they will certainly be different.
A large percentage of the 2-3 billion young people in the world don’t have traditional families to support them. I predict new ways will arise for them—and all—to grow up better supported in their new generation’s connected world.
As cyber-sports, and cyber-everything, grows worldwide perspectives will become more and more the norm. People from once-remote places, now connected, will have more and more chances to participate and show their unique mix of skills. Physical migration—already increasing because of both climate and economics—is almost certain to rise during the 21st century, further erasing old identity distinctions. We are already seeing the tensions from this in many places.
Privileges and biases based on age, class, legacy and nationality are diminishing in institutions, universities, jobs and companies. Cross-cultural rise is becoming more common—people born in India already run some of the largest companies in the U.S.
Hopefully, 21st century young people will find ways to get around some of the worst control traps being set by adults, like online gambling.
How to Define Your Identity in a Changing, Crowded, Networked World
Young people’s identities in the 21st century will not be defined by how they look or speak (unless they are actors) but by what they accomplish. Accomplishment is becoming far easier as we enter the new age in which today’s newly-empowered youth will take over the world as its own. Young people from everywhere, working collectively to create positive accomplishments that can be felt around the world, will make huge differences. Being part of such positive accomplishments—which no individual can do on their own—is one of the best 21st century identity components a young person can have. And it is a choice each individual now can make.
We Need New Tools
Today, however, the tools for such worldwide collaborations around large, global accomplishments do not fully exist. The Network, still very much in its infancy, started off with, in turn, sharing information, sharing images, playing games, and sharing opinions. But I predict we will soon evolve far more powerful networked tools for accomplishment.
I call these tools, collectively, EMPOTECH— Technology that Empowers.
EMPOTECH will be mostly created by, and used by, today’s young people. Empotech—and Empowerment for the young generation—means that with its new connectivity, young people can now say:
• WE CAN,
• WE CHOOSE, and
• WE ACCOMPLISH.
From those accomplishments will arise their—and our—individual and collective 21st century identities. Every young person can and will be part of that.