Mapping the Emerging Ecosystem
Frequently Asked Questions
About the Society 4.0 map & dashboard
You can see the interactive map these questions refer to here and you can read an introduction to the map here. For questions about the book, see Society 4th.org. We’ll add to these FAQs as we receive additional questions.
Frequently Asked Questions
Tap to skip directly to any question, or scroll through.
Purpose
- What’s the purpose of this map?
- Who is this map for?
- What is the difference between a citizen and a denizen?
Map Related
- How do I remove myself from the map?
- How do I update my details on the map?
- I’ve added myself to the map — when will I appear?
- What do the categories on the map mean?
- Why does the map not work for me?
Privacy
- How do I update or delete my data?
- I don’t want to provide my physical address. Can I still be on the map?
- Who owns the data, what is it used for and is my privacy assured?
General
- I love what’s emerging here. How can I help?
Technical
- What technology is the Society 4.0 Map built on?
- Who built the map?
Purpose
Q. What’s the purpose of this map?
“The present convergence of crises — in money, energy, education, health, water, soil, climate, politics, the environment, and more — is a birth crisis, expelling us from the old world into a new.” ~ Charles Eisenstein
Nearly every spiritual tradition says that even the darkest night is followed by a new day, and they prophesy a great planetary era ahead. The purpose of the Society 4.0 map is to make visible the emergence of this planetary era. We use the term Society 4.0 to contextualise this social evolution in light of previous social evolutions. See Intro for more details.
There’s another reason… If you’ve ever squeezed a squishy stress ball, you will notice that as pressure is applied in one area, the contents pop out elsewhere.
In 2021, grassroots movements everywhere are feeling squeezed — a natural outcome of late-stage capitalism. The COVID-19 pandemic made an already unbearable situation even worse.
The natural tendency in these situations is to ‘pop up elsewhere.’ The Wörgl’s use as an alternative currency during the 1932 Depression is one such example. Naturally, initiatives like these are quickly suppressed by central governments, which means other initiatives spring up elsewhere.
The Society 4.0 Map exists so that those who are ‘popping up elsewhere’ as a result of social pressures can find each other, come together and implement creative solutions together.
Q. Who is this map for?
There are four primary audiences:
- Grassroots Movements: These bottom-up agents of change will find the research and analysis of the emerging meta-paradigm useful as they make their own future plans. Seeing what else is emerging moves the collective forward in ways that cannot be achieved without the meta-visibility provided by the map and the research behind it.
- NGOs, Governments and Civil Society: While it is still early days, there are encouraging signs that top-down actors in civil society are starting to pay attention to what is emerging. The research and analysis we provide from the data that underpins the map will prove useful as they start responding to their constituents demands for change.
- Providers of Alternative Services: In time, we will open up a Marketplace of service providers who are currently shunned by Society 3.0. An obvious example is alternative health, but we see this expanding to alternative energy, alternative food, alternative travel, alternative entertainment and more… These service providers, rather than having to market themselves as currently occurs in Society 3.0, will find a willing market from Society 4.0 denizens.
- Society 4.0 Denizens: A citizen is a legal term, and refers to whether or not a government recognises you as a legal entity in their corporate structure. (This is a complex topic and if you’re new to it, try searching for ‘Overview of the World System of Bondage’ in your favorite search engine.) A denizen on the other hand is one who lives in or is an inhabitant of that place. The term can apply to humans, animals, plants, etc., and is therefore a more natural definition of anyone who consciously chooses to inhabit or adopt a particular mental model. Society 4.0 is such a mental model. A Society 4.0 denizen is therefore a previous Industrial Age citizen who has been granted rights of residence in the emerging meta-society, based on their support or expression of interest. These denizens will find the ability to find other denizens in their geographic vicinity useful as they seek to connect with like-minded denizens. You can find out more about the word denizen here: https://www.etymonline.com/word/denizen.
Map Related Questions
Q. How do I update my details on the map?
It’s important to know that you own the data used to provide the map. You may update your entry as many times as required. Here’s where to update your data.
Q. I’ve added myself to the map — when will I appear?
In this early phase we manually update the map from the data you’ve provided. We attempt to do this daily and commit to doing so at least once a week, every Sunday. Very soon we’ll automate this process so that your updates appear on the map within 15 minutes.
Q. What do the categories on the map mean?
You can find a full explanation of the categories currently in use here.
Q. Why does the map not work for me?
The map is provided by Google Data Studio, a relatively new data visualisation tool, which doesn’t support all browsers. If you are experiencing difficulty viewing the map, we recommend checking your browser compatibility here. The map is optimised for use on large screens, rather than mobile devices.
Privacy
Q. Can I change or delete any of my data?
You own the data on the map, so yes, you may update your entry as many times as required. Here’s where to update your data. Removal of your data is currently a manual process and will be done within 24 hours. Please email us if you’d like your data removed — simply reply to any of the emails you’ve received from us.
Q. I don’t want to provide my physical address. Can I still be on the map?
Absolutely! We do need a real address which Google Maps can recognize, but it doesn’t have to be your real address. You can choose a park, shopping centre, hospital or some other feature near your real address. Just enter your address in Google Maps and then click on something nearby. Copy and paste that address into the Society 4.0 form.
Q. Who owns the data, what is it used for and is my privacy assured?
Society 4.0 is emerging as a community of what Graves, Beck, Cowan and Wilber call second tier individuals. Essentially these are individuals who view the world as abundant and the universe as friendly. In this kind of world, concerns about ownership and use of data are non-existent. Ultimately, Society 4.0 will transcend questions and concerns about data privacy. For now, during the transitionary period, these are valid concerns.
We would prefer the collection of the data required to make Society 4.0 visible to be fully decentralised i.e. owned by nobody. However, after researching many emergent blockchain platforms, the solution — for now — is a centralised platform where everyone has access to their own data. This will change in future.
For now, the data is collated by the author, Michael Haupt, a collaborative technologist with a firm commitment to the emergence of Society 4.0. He has no interest in marketing anything and his commitment to data privacy is second-to-none. Your data is simply used to make the map work and will never, ever be shared with anyone. You can read the full Society 4.0 Privacy Policy here. You can find out more about Michael on LinkedIn.
General
Q. How can I help?
Wow! We’re glad this resonates with you — you’re clearly a Society 4.0 denizen — awesome! There are a number of ways you can help:
- Spread the trope: The absolutely most effective (and easiest) way to help is to start using the term Society 4.0 in conversation. Why? Society 4.0 is a trope. A trope is a thematic device that represents a much more complex idea. Think of it like a meme on steroids. (You can read more about tropes and how they differ significantly from memes here.) Spreading ideas, especially contagious ideas, is a highly effective method of helping the growth of your society.
- Invite others onto the map: The Society 4.0 map is a social technology, and as with other social technologies, the more people who use it, the more useful it becomes. You can find suggested invitation wording and discussion topics here.
- Refine the process: Making it as easy as possible to get onto the map is our number one objective. As you went through the process you could probably think of ways of streamlining things. The place where we discuss how to improve things is in a private LinkedIn group — join us there.
- Ideas for funding: The entire project has been self-funded to date and that’s how we intend continuing. That said, funding from a fully-aligned source could help speed up the process significantly. We’d be very interested in sharing our longer term revenue plans with strongly vetted potential investors. If you have suggestions, let’s get the conversation going in the LinkedIn group, or contact me privately.
Technical
Q. What technology is the Society 4.0 Map built on?
The open architecture and design of the system is based on freely available platforms provided by other companies. We currently use Hubspot CRM to handle data collection and updating, Google Sheets for the extracted map data, and Google Data Studio for the conversion of addresses to maps and graphs. Additional data is collated in Roam Research. Written explanations of the data (the ‘website’) is hosted by Medium.
In the short term we will replace Google Sheets with Airtable and we’ll use PieSync for automatically updating the map. Longer term we’ll use an open-source blockchain-based solution.
Q. Who built the map?
The map was collated and is maintained by Michael Haupt, a collaborative technologist with a firm commitment to the emergence of Society 4.0. He built the map as a legacy for his daughter, who will turn 21 years old in 2035. You can find out more about Michael on LinkedIn.
