Zhouying Jin is a senior researcher and professor at the Institute of Quantitative-Economics and Technical-Economics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), as well as director of the Centre for Technology Innovation and Strategy Studies (CTISS), also of CASS. She is chairman and founder of the Beijing Academy of Soft Technology.

Preface

Theodore Jay Gordon

Preface

Guangbi Dong

Comment

Lane Jennings

Acknowledgements

Introduction: Where Are Human Beings Headed?

About human evolution

What is technology?

On the future of civilization

The sustainable development of human beings

Understanding China

Chapter 1: Deep Concern over the Direction of Technology Development

The technological revolution now unfolding

The syndrome of technology worship

Anxiety disorder due to technology

Concerns over the direction of human evolution

Chapter 2: What is Technology?

Technology in the broad sense

Soft technology has been ignored for a long time

The significance of understanding soft technology

What determines the direction of technological innovation?

Chapter 3: The Crisis in Human Civilization Driven by the Theory of Scientific and Technological Omnipotence

The imminent disaster facing science and technology

The crisis of human civilization

The integration of hard and soft technologies in the field of human life and its risks

Human progress as the ability to control their own destiny

Chapter 4: What Kind of Civilization Should Human Beings Pursue?

Exploring the future evolution of humanity from social-humanity perspectives

What kind of civilization should human beings pursue after industrial civilization?

The global civilization – the cultural foundation for jointly building future human happiness

Chapter 5: Future Civilization and Sustainable Human Development

Redefining sustainable development

Human sustainability depends on what civilization we choose

Realizing sustainable development by adopting a systemic solution (the example of China)

Chapter 6: The Difficult Task of Creating a ‘Global Civilization’

The transformation of civilization has a long way to go

The development mode of each country can and should be unique basic principles

Beyond Global Civilization – the most worthy goal for human beings

Prospect of the Great Civilization

Chapter 7: Can Humans Eventually Create a Great Civilization?

Education and the power of persuasion

Human beings can and should agree on common values

Ideal human societies have certain characteristics in common

Human beings have never stopped striving to realize the ideal society

Chapter 8: Global Civilization and China’s Rejuvenation

Promoting green and innovative production activities (the transformation of economic development)

Protecting and Recycling Natural Resources and Economizing to Attain Reasonable Development (transforming the resource application model)

Repairing, restoring, and protecting the environment (transforming the ecological protection model)

Promoting social progress, building a harmonious society (transforming the social development model)

Population trial (transforming the population development model)

Striving to build an innovative country (from imitative innovation to independent innovation)

Institutional experiment (implementing a socialist system with Chinese characteristics)

China 2050: A splendid future lies ahead, but dangers still exist

Chapter 9: The Responsibility of Our Generation

Reaching consensus is key

Changing how we think is the precondition for achieving consensus education

A better future cannot be predicted, but it can be created tolerance and visionary thinking

Be bold to take responsibility

Transmitting the goal of realising the Great Civilisation to the next generation

'The Future of Humanity is a thought-provoking work that takes a long view of the trajectory of our technological development, identifies the significant risks and ethical dilemmas that it entails and tries to answer the central question of what kind of future we should aspire to as humanity. It is a profound piece of work, reflecting a deep understanding of technology and society, as also the philosophical traditions of both the West and the East to weave an inspiring vision for the future of humanity. The author is an accomplished futurist with long years of experience as a distinguished tech policy expert. In her analysis, she distinguishes between “soft technology” comprising, for example, societal norms and structures as opposed to “hard technology” concerning material solutions based on science. It is “soft technology” which ultimately determines the impact of “hard technology” on society, and therefore deserves serious attention. The author paints a vivid picture of what might be the successor of our current industrial civilization. She calls it the “Global Civilization”. She then goes on to define its next and more evolved version, which she terms as the “Great Civilization”. While considering technology and society, we are often constrained by our current circumstances as we think of the future. As a result, we usually end up thinking incrementally. The Future of Humanity provokes us to think more expansively on a bigger canvas. It is an extremely valuable contribution in helping us frame our thinking of the type of society we should collectively design if what we cherish as humans is to survive and thrive in the future".'