The Age of Insight

• December 16, 2021

THE AGE OF INSIGHT is a global focus toward deeper thinking, a redefining movement toward “seeing inside” on a personal, organizational, and global level. An emphasis on humanity and what that means, it is a new era post “Information Age” and an antidote to the disinformation age we are in. The Age of Insight transforms us from the false narratives that divide and weaken our collective power into a purpose-driven Truth (with a capital T).

Are We There Yet?

We’re at the forefront of a new era, one I am calling “The Age of Insight”. 

Recent events have given us an incredible opportunity, and I see people asking bigger questions of themselves and others, challenging old norms, and trying to make things better. 

People desire a solid foundation upon which to make decisions and create a life of meaning. A truth to which they can tether their core strengths and values. Not a relative truth, or “my preferred” truth, (or “truthiness”, to quote a popular media figure), but a universal, steady Truth, a trusted anchor. Something which can power our spirits, our values, and our daily actions.

This might mean running a better company. It might mean having healthier relationships. It might mean living a more thoughtful existence beyond making a lot of money. No longer can we afford to continue to focus outward, molding our actions around exterior forces. 

We need a catalyst and aspiration for these changes. 

As a Philosopher and global thought leader, my role is to help guide what we should be inspired to do as human beings. 

For the past 300 years, society has been framed in very technical ages: 

• Industrial Age (1760-1970)
• Machine Age (1880–1945)
  • Age of Oil (1901–present)
  • Jet Age (1940s)
• Atomic Age (a.k.a. Nuclear Age) (1945/1950–present) 
• Space Age (1957–present)
• Information Age (1970–present)
  • The Multimedia Age (1987–present)
  • The Social Age (1996–present)
  • The Big Data age (2001–present)

All of these represent radical changes in technology, and how humans interact with their world and fellow humans. A cascade of external forces and influences have determined the way we live, work and relate. 

But where are WE in all these? We’re not there.

What has happened to the celebration of our collective power? Our Renaissance! Our Age of Reason!

We can no longer be absent from how we are framing our progress. Even the marks of the Post Modern Age are contingency, instability, and fragmentation. 

And we wonder why we find ourselves lost, separate, and alone! 

The Antidote for Antipathy

The remedy is insight – which means to “see inside”. When we understand ourselves and our place in the world more clearly, the eye-watering pace of external events can slow down. 

We can give it more meaning…we can hope to give it all real meaning.

The reason I believe pioneering a new age, the “Age of Insight”, is the most important call to action for all of us, is because it not only acknowledges something we are all capable of, insight, but what we so desperately need more of in the world. 

Our capacity for insight is one thing that unites us.

For better or worse, today’s pandemonium is the gateway to The Age of Insight. 

The best of us, the eras and movements that connected us to a higher calling…all were born out of tribulation. 

And we have been tested, greatly, and continue to be so. 

We need to build on the foundation of discoveries, and outward innovations, that these technological ages have brought us. To harness and translate this and take it into greater strength, wisdom, courage, and hope. 

To use insight to its fullest in our future endeavors. 

Our survival depends on it.

The Threat to Insight 

People will sometimes say to wait a minute, isn’t it the opposite? Aren’t we living in the age of foolishness, bleakness, stupidity, ignorance, exalted to the highest? My response to that is it’s always out of the soil that seems to be very different than any beautiful plant arises. Rather than being an alternative or a refutation or a disconfirmation to this, it’s almost a confirmation that we’re entering into an Age of Insight.

The fact that we have so much contrariness being manifested by people by way of resistance.

The resistance is always a sign of the reality being resisted.  

The Opportunity of Insight

In the Age of Insight, we connect to a larger world by truthfully seeing, exploring new possibilities by listening to the call of curiosity, progressing through effort and concentration, and creating a better existence for ourselves and all by using what we have of our lives to truly live. 

We can have an insight-driven global community of philosophers, thought leaders, policymakers, partners, populace, and allies. Each community looks inside and takes bold new actions in different directions. 

Currently, I’m enrolling C-Level executives and Philosophers in The Philosopher’s Council, the first group practicing The Age of Insight model, to further develop the principles and actions for The Age of Insight. 

• What if an organization constructs its culture along with insight, creating within it guided spaces for deeper thinking?
• What if global leaders defined policies along with The Age of Insight?
• And for the masses, Insight Festivals, Insight-driven community activations.
• What could be possible if we created digital spaces for deeper thinking?
• Imagine schools teaching Insight development!

Insight is the foundation upon which all prosperous and healthy activity generates. This is why I want to spark “The Age of Insight”. 

Imagine your organization operating from Insight …

Imagine what would be possible with more self-reflection …

Imagine a world evolving from what connects us all …

If you’re interested in enacting your own “Age of Insight” please connect to get in touch with me.

Cristina DiGiacomo is a Chief Philosophy Officer and a global thought leader at the forefront of using Philosophy in Business to create positive change in the world.