
I asked myself more than a thousand times why write this book, HumanOffOn, and I found in Andrés Rivera’s words what I felt, but I didn’t know how to express “I am convinced that no book, no matter how good it is, can change the world. But I have to write.” I reread them countless times and they seemed to me to be most accurate. I also believe that books are not capable of changing the world, but they are capable of changing the people who can.
The impact of the Internet and new technologies puts us at the center of the most extraordinary transformation in human history.
The status quo collapses to give birth to a new era and such is the impact on our lives that I felt the need to immortalize this space of history in this book.
It is hard to embrace change, to have the courage to make mistakes, to step into the unknown and to take risks. Fear of the new must be replaced by the immense possibilities that the new brings.
The principles are not simple, but they are essential. To be able to synthesize an era or a context in a book is not an easy task, so I have focused on the human aspect of this era, on how to recognize it and recover it.
A new consciousness is being born and along with it begins a new paradigm that confronts us with the greatest technological progress of our existence.
A new book for a new era
One of my purposes with HumanOffOn is to examine and share the irreversible process of change and evolution of the human being in the Digital Era and how it is possible to assume and assimilate the integration on and offline at all levels of personal and professional life of the citizen of the XXI century.
From a practical point of view, more and more people are becoming aware of the effects, challenges and opportunities that this digital era presents us with.
Technology and the Internet are no longer a revolution but part of the same human ecosystem that in its day was able to incorporate and assimilate other relevant changes, such as the printing press, the steam engine, electric light, the automobile, the airplane, newspapers, the telephone, radio, television, and so many other “revolutions”.
The exciting thing about this era is that as technology advances, the need for the human increases.
The post-digital revolution will be the revolution of emotions.
And recognizing the human in off and online will be our challenge.
This digital world has provided us with a world of networks where the human being seeks to attract and be attracted, becoming an amplifier and a magnet.
Each connected person has become both a recipient and a sender of millions of messages, and this great transformation has been possible due to the encounter between the human and the digital.
Human beings must learn to live with these new capabilities and learn to use them to their advantage. This reinventing oneself in the face of a new world could be considered a rebirth of the human.
Humanoffon is a compilation of essential and unmissable impressions on various aspects of this new offline + online era.
I hope that each of the aspects that I share in this book offers a window into the doubts that we currently share, as well as the opportunities, challenges and dangers that these new conditions pose to the possibility of making the world a more humane and welcoming place for humanity.
We are being part of one of the social, cultural and scientific movements that generate the most hope and concern.
We are in an era of permanent innovation, in which the limits of what is possible are being redefined every day.
An era where technological innovation is constantly developing and advances in artificial intelligence, robotics, nanotechnology, genetic medicine, the Internet of Things, autonomous vehicles, cybercrime, cyberterrorism, virtual reality and outer space exploration are constant.
How this affects human evolution and our day-to-day lives is what will determine the Man of the future.
This new reality, in which technology seems to be the main engine of the transformation we are living, may face the consequence of leaving Man out of the equation. If the emphasis is placed only on the technological aspect without considering the human aspect as a priority, there is a risk that human beings will become disoriented in the face of the avalanche of the new.
Scientifically, economically, politically and socially, the change is revolutionary, whether we like it or not.
Digital has allowed people to once again pioneer new discoveries.
Today, people have more power than ever to make their projects a reality, so that the construction of a better world moves from words to deeds, and it all begins with the conviction that the journey is the destination, considering objectives as means and not as ends in themselves. Having objectives allows us to feel alive and gives meaning to the daily effort.
You always have to reinvent yourself, every crisis is an opportunity to look elsewhere. But I am aware that it is not always possible, nor is everyone capable or prepared to do it.
The physical will become more valuable because it will become scarcer. Digital will replace human contact in many areas. Human contact and physical presence will be a very valuable experience for those who have become accustomed to the coldness and efficiency of the machine.
It will be like those products that put “handmade” on their label and thus justify a higher value.
The human will be scarce and in the long run we will consider it exclusive and a privilege.
Standard will be automated, ready-to-wear and human will be haute couture.
Modern society is this mix of disparate, heterogeneous, and culturally rich realities, which need not compare but complement each other.
Everything human is based on contact and social and emotional exchange with others, and it is precisely from this interaction that all evolution arises, and it is where the meaning of life takes on meaning.
Feeling is as vital as breathing, but will it be in the future?