Self-definition implies the ability to establish a domain of
possibilities. But possibilities do not present themselves
alone. In the transition from the civilization of literacy to
the new civilization of illiteracy, the global domain of
possibilities expands dramatically, but the local, individual
domains probably narrow in the same proportion. This happens
because what at the global level looks like a multiplication of
choices, at the level of the individual appears as a matter of
effective selection procedures. As long as there is little to
choose from, selection is not a problem.
The primitive family had few choices regarding nourishment,
self-reproduction, and health. Choices increased as the
practical experiences of self-constitution diversified.
Migrating populations chose from among selections different from
those available to settled human beings. The first known cities
embodied a structure of relations for which written language was
appropriate. The megalopolis of our day embodies a universe of
choices on a different scale. Within such a domain of
possibilities, there are no effective selection procedures.
Reduction from practically infinite choices to a finite number
of realizations is at best a matter of randomness and exposure.
Inversely, the slogan "Act locally, think globally" can easily
lead to failure. Many accomplishments that are successful on a
local scale would fail if applied globally if they do not
integrate awareness of globality from the beginning.
Within literacy, the expectation that literate people receive, by
virtue of knowledge of language, good selection
procedures-considered as universal and permanent as literacy
itself-was part of its multi-layered self-motivation. In the
civilization of illiteracy, this expectation gives way to
pursuing consecutive choices, all short-term, all of limited
scope and value-free, which even seem to eliminate one's own
decision. It appears that choices grab individuals. This explains
why one of the main drives in the world today is towards greater
numbers of people seeking to live in cities. Once a choice is
exhausted, the next follows as a consequence of the scale, not as
a result of searching for an alternative. This applies as well
to professional life, itself subject to the shorter cycles of
renewal and change.
The powerful mechanism of social segmentation, the result of the
many mediating mechanisms in place, makes the problem of coping
with choice look like another instance of democracy at work.
Let's consider some of these choices: to distribute, or not to
distribute, condoms to high school and junior high school
students; to confirm or deny the right to end one's life
(pro-choice or pro-life); to expand heterosexual family
privileges to homosexual cohabitation; to introduce uniform
standards of testing in education. These examples are removed
from the broader context of human self-constitution and
submitted, through the mechanism of media- ocracy, more to market
validation than to a responsible exercise of civic
responsibility.
Mediation mechanisms characteristic of the civilization of
illiteracy cause the choices that a community faces to become
almost irrelevant on the individual level. In the new universe
of possibilities, expanding as we speak, human beings are giving
up autonomy and self-determination, as they participate in
several different communities. They share in the apparent
choices of society insofar as these match their own
possibilities and expectations. But they often have the means to
live outside a society when their choices (regarding peace, war,
individual freedom, lifestyle, etc.) are different from those
pursued by states. Citizens of the trans-national world partake
in the dynamics of change to a much higher degree than do people
dedicated to the literate ideals of nationalism and ethnicity.
We can fly to the moon (and people will, either as participants
in the space program or as paying passengers). We can afford
partaking in unique events- concerts, contests, auctions-some in
person, others through the electronic means they can afford.
Each individual can become president or member of some
legislative body; but only some can afford applying for these
positions. Whether through wealth, intelligence, sensitivity,
race, gender, age, or religion, we are not equal in our
possibilities, although we are equal in our rights. Coping with
choice involves matching goals and means of achieving them.
Literacy is a poor medium for this operation, which takes place
between individuals and the many communities to which they
belong. The various languages of the pragmatic identification of
all those involved in coping with choice operate more
effectively.
The network of interrelations that constitute our practical
existence and the patterns of these relations will continue to
change and become globally more complex and locally more
confined. While we gain global freedom, we lose local dynamics.
At the particular level at which we input our mediating
performance, we are in almost total control of our own
efficiency. Each of the many service providers for industry,
physicians, lawyers, or writers is an example of local choices
reflected in the increased productivity of those they service
and of their own output. At higher levels, where these services
are integrated-regardless of whether they provide rust control,
X-ray processing, graphic design, or accounting-choices become
more limited. Consequently, coordination becomes critical. The
strategy of outsourcing is based on the notion that maximum
efficiency requires specialization that companies cannot
achieve. If the process continues in the same direction,
coordination will soon be the most difficult problem of
practical experience. This is due to the complexity that
integration entails, and to the fact that there are no effective
procedures for simplifying it. The simpler each task, the more
complex the integration. Short of submitting a law that reflects
this situation, another thesis can be formulated: Overall
complexity is preserved regardless of how systems are
subdivided, or tasks distributed. Complexity is transferred from
the task to the integration.