Abstract
The final epoch in our study of creativity is the present. Although this spans the period from the 1980s to the present day, historians may eventually differentiate between the early Digital Age (running from the advent of the personal computer (PC) in 1981, to about 2015) and a post-Digital Age. In technological terms, the current part of the Digital Age—what I am suggesting may eventually be recognised separately—is characterised by a new Industrial Revolution, one that we have already discussed under the name Industry 4.0. The First Industrial Revolution is familiar to us from the Age of Enlightenment.
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Notes
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Image Credit: http://www.uspto.gov. Public Domain. Source: https://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/aframsurgeons/morenotable.html.
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I will use her maiden name here, reflecting her name at the time she invented the Blissymbol printer.
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Ideograms are graphical symbols used to represent ideas or concepts. A simple example is a “no dogs allowed” sign consisting of a silhouette of a dog surrounded by a red circle, with a red diagonal line through the silhouette. The ideogram is independent of any specific language. Many ideograms are self-explanatory, while some are more abstract, and must be learned.
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This figure shows a selection of Blissymbols from the book Mr. Symbol Man (1976) by Charles K. Bliss and Shirley McNaughton. Published by Semantography-Blissymbolics, Sydney.
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Cerebral Palsy results from damage to the developing brain before, during or after birth. The condition typically affects muscle coordination and control. Severe cases may inhibit speech, and therefore communication.
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For recent (2017) estimates on the rates of electrification in different countries, take a look at the World Bank data available at this link: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/eg.elc.accs.zs.
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The Google Science Fair is an online science competition, first established in 2011, sponsored by Google and other partners.
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The largest single consumers of energy in our bodies are actually our liver and our spleen. These account for about 27% of what is used when we are at rest. Our brains come next at about 19%.
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Image Credit: michbich. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Peltierelement.png. Creative Commons 3.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/legalcode.
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Cropley, D.H. (2020). The Digital Age (1981–Present): Complexity and Creativity. In: Femina Problematis Solvendis—Problem solving Woman. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-3967-1_12
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-3967-1_12
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