From Homo Faber to Homo Digitalis: Perspectives of Human Creative Self-Fulfillment

Abstract

In the article, the author analyzes the problem of Homo digitalis – digital man. The entry of digital into  all areas of everyday life is due to the development of information and digital technologies. It is emphasized that now the image of a person is formed on the basis of a professional developer of new computer technologies, a blogger and a user of computer technologies who actually lives in virtual reality. This person focuses mainly on the information and communication space of the network and the Internet. It is noted that for a digital person, virtual networks have become a separate world, activities in which often have greater signifcance for self-realization and psychological health of an individual than real life. At the same time, gadgets and the network, acting as certain tools for influence and control in relation to social and professional life, create the danger of a "digital dictatorship". Its avoidance involves a radical transformation of the democratic foundations of  social life. At the same time, technologies give hope to circumvent hypothetical threats. The destruction of civilizations is caused not only by external events (plagues, conquests, earthquakes), but also by the lack of better agricultural, medical, and military technologies. Homo digitalis is a product of the evolutionary progress of human civilization, which contains both predictable conditions and unforeseen consequences. A person should evaluate them both in a utilitarian and axiological sense. It is noted that scientifc thinking, the result of properly organized scientifc education, is of great importance in the process of such evaluation. Under its influence, a new way of life is formed, an established culture and a person are transformed.