STORY TIME
It was in 2017, and I had just been shortlisted to move on to the final interview stage for the 10 Academy Fellowship. I was informed the interview would be conducted through skype and that gave me sleepless nights and made me nervous for several reasons.
Firstly, was the fact that Skype allows the interviewer see my face, my real time expressions( and if you know me well, you would know my weird facial expressions are permanently switched on). Of course, that did not help the butterflies in my stomach. My second reason was getting access to a stable and high speed internet with enough privacy for me to be interviewed with as little disruption as possible. Thirdly, and most importantly, I had little or no idea about Big Data nor a workable knowledge in coding.
But wouldn’t you know it, these were the foundation of what we would be studying and that in turn meant there was no way I would not get a question around those areas during my interview.
The interview day came, I was huddled in a corner in my mom’s office, sitted in front of my laptop waiting for the familiar skype ring tune. Ten or so minutes later, after having had a pretty ‘decent’ time of interview, I was hit with, ” What are your thoughts on the fourth industrial revolution?”
I was stunned. I was confused. My heart sank to the floor as I asked Arun (the interviewer) what the fourth industrial revolution was. He told me. I still did not fully understand, as I honestly did not know there were three other industrial revolutions before this one.
I muttered something about internet conectivity. We ended the interview. I went outside and cried. Believing I had blown away my chance at this once in a lifetime opportunity because of some stupid industrial revolution.
Lucky for me, I was still selected and given the opportunity to learn, but what if I hadn’t gotten it because I had no idea about a revolution happening globally?
What is the Fourth Industrial Revolution?
Ever wondered how Google has become so smart and fast? Ever wondered how WhatsApp connects its millions of users? Ever wondered how Facebook seems to send Ads that are tailored to your internet search? Or just how drones work? Or how apps are built and how they seem to help us keep track of our lives? Well that is the fourth industrial revolution in as little words as possible.
WHY LEARN ABOUT IT?
We are living in a fast-paced digital society. The machines are getting smarter. The process of doing some jobs are getting faster. Every single thing is being digitalized. We are becoming more and more dependent on what these softwares, apps and smart devices do for us and with us. And that is the most paramount reason to learn about this revolution.
As our lives have in a way become almost inseperable with smart technologies, it is of importance that we learn more about these cousins of ours. If not for any other reason, but to stay on top of all that is happening around us.
As we see robots and machine rapidly replacing human beings in most of the production and maunfacturing companies, there is no better time than now to learn about these technologies that seem to be gradually repalcing humans in some certain industries the world over. The more we learn about these seemingly brilliant things, the more we understand them. The more we understand them, the better our chances are of using them to our benefit. The better equipped we are for a potential fifth industrial revolution, you never know.
With internet becoming more accessible and cheaper, our appetite and consumption of it is rapidly increasing. With this increament comes the change in our work force, our educational system and even our governace. This means a change in our system of living and ultimately survival. So it doesn’t take much for you to know that learning about this revolution will help you survive.
The knowledge helps boost your creativity. With the onset of 3d printing and facial recognition in mobile phones, the different ways in which you can build, expand and boost your creative ability and its reach becomes exponential.
Learning about the fourth industrial revolution opens your mind to a world of endless possibilities and opportunities. You see every thing in a different way. Your curiousity increases, and with that can herald the birth of a groundbreaking solution to an age-old problem.
What Now?
This is not to say that there aren’t downsides to this revolution. Paramount amongst the minds of critical thinkers is the risk of inequality it would foster. And this is a real legitimate reason. However, as we usually say, knowledge is power.
If one day the machines and robots all rise and try to take over the earh, wouldn’t you rather be on the team that understands them?
If you were the last living person with a bunch of computers, wouldn’t you wish you had learned about them sooner?
What do you think?
Tiana's lens 
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