THE FUTURE OF MONEY Bernard A. Lietaer - library.uniteddiversity ...

'We can be knowledgeable with other people's knowledge, but we
cannot be wise with other's people wisdom.'
(Michel de Montaigne 1533 - 1592).
In our Industrial Age coal metaphor, data is the coal vein still deep
in the mine. Information is a sack of coal ready to use. Knowledge is
the steel we make out of it. And wisdom is the bridge, and the new
connections between people that it enables which is the real purpose
of the whole process.
If we are to realise the benefits of the Information Society, the
transition will require both knowledge and wisdom. If we choose to
have some degree of wisdom prevail, the Information Revolution
could serve in the creation of Sustainable Abundance, rather than
other possible scenarios depicted in the following chapter. This is
why I also call Sustainable Abundance wise growth.
Some key points:
- Whether we like it or not, an information revolution is occurring
now. Neo-Luddite attempts at stopping the process will prove even
more futile during this transition than those of their predecessors
during the Industrial Revolution.
- Information technology by itself is neither a magic bullet that will
solve all our problems, nor a Frankenstein monster that will devour
its creators. Potentially it is both, and now is the time to become
vigilant and aware of the deeper underlying issues. That same
technology is unleashing simultaneously two powerful opposing
dynamics. One leads to Cleveland's 'fairness revolution' where
information-as-resource becomes an opportunity to increase and
spread wealth on an unprecedented scale. Another could lead to a