PHASE TRANSITION: COMPREHENDING THE DEEP MEANING OF THE PHENOMENON

Abstract

A reader will meet two essays, which can be conventionally called the fairy stories: “Phase transition” and “Fifth dimension”. In the first essay, the reader will get acquainted with the essence of phase transitions, which mean a jump-like change in the state of a system. The paper considers the role of phase transitions in the development of nature and social systems. The reader will also be able to view the contours of the modern phase transition to the new socio-economic formation that takes place during the Third and Fourth Industrial Revolutions. In particular: new things should appear, new types of alternative energy; new technologies (based on the use of 3D printers); fully automated production (“Internet of things”, “smart networks”); new communications (modes of transport and communication); unmanned transport; new economic relations (solidary economy); new needs of people (use of information for personality for development of people); a new reality of global management of human civilization (based on the “cloud” as a planetary system of memory); a new style of life, aimed at the personality development of man. The second essay – “Fifth Dimension” – depicts a figurative picture of forming the prerequisites for phase transitions in society. They are formed by the accumulation of unresolved problems that cannot be solved by society at the existing level of socio-economic development. This is precisely what the inevitable process of the phase transition to a new formation makes. The essay also reveals the role of social prediction as the basis of justified strategic management of social development. This ensures sustainable state of the socio-natural system, leaving sufficient opportunities for future generations to meet their social and economic needs. The paper shows the significance of such reality as the “cloud”, which at the moment serves as a global system of memory, is evolving in the direction of transformation into a planetary center of decision-making – a kind of meta- intelligence.