Today's world is more complicated than ever. The phrase "New Normal" was coined sometime around 2020 as far as I can tell. I can't recall the details, but at the time politics and the pandemic was affecting every living thing on planet Earth in some way or another. I suppose new normal was an attempt to get people to realize that they needed to adapt to the situation. Most reasonable people adapted, others did not. Nothing about this is news, was nor it a surprise.
I've looked at the world systemically. This includes machines, socio-economic and human behaviors. I study how the mind works and have a lay persons understanding of psychology. In my profession I design systems, write software and model processes. This enables me to project how a system works and evaluate its behavior in theory. When I get it right, the behavior of the system is predictable. Sometimes this freaks people out. I've had managers tell me it's not possible to do what I've described and therefore refuse to take my recommendations into account. Normally, my predictions are correct.
When I apply this technique to the behavior of people, places, things and socio-economic systems I am able to predict how many things play out. For instance, in 2008 before the housing market "bubble" burst, I tried to liquidate all of my investments and put it in to cash to weather the upcoming storm. I failed. The recovery took over a decade.
There are a number of other things I could cite, but I will save them for posts made on this website.
Given this skill, I feel compelled to write about change and provide some insight for people interested in the phenomena. Being somewhat of a Darwinist, I subscribe to the uncommon view that mammals (including humans) adapt to environmental pressures very quickly, sometimes in one generation. This phenomenon is held by some scientists. However, evolution is normally associated with changes in DNA and therefore the physical makeup of living things. It is perfectly valid to include how socio-economic systems effect thought, behavior and physical characteristics of all life. It is fairly well accepted that generational knowledge is passed from generation to generation, even in non-human species. Therefore, knowledge evolves and is passed on in a manner similar to DNA.
It is may assertion, that today's society forces humans to deal with information overload and complexities at an ever-accelerating pace. Humans are adapting, but more and more are unable to adapt completely. This leaves them vulnerable to those who have adapted.
This is not a new phenomenon. The USA is a democratic republic for this reason, but also because it was not possible to communicate in the blink of an eye to all citizens. Today, it is. You would think this is a good thing. But as it turns out it is not. This confuses almost everyone.
Humans have the ability to manage about 400 social connections. When a person exceeds this threshold, it affects how they behave. Disorders result which are technically mental illness. There are ways to "cure" these disorders, but it requires the affected party to accept that they have a problem. So, mental illness runs rampant. To exacerbate the situation, the root cause of criminal behavior is almost always some sort of disorder. Sometimes it's actually a defect in how the brain is wired, preventing a person from experiencing empathy. Technically, when this happens the person is a psychopath of some sort. From a systemic point of view, a person with this type of permanent or temporary "defect" does not satisfy the criteria for being a rational, emotionally stable human. Applying laws to such individuals may make sense to lawmakers and lawyers, but it makes no sense. Unless a person pleads "not guilty by reason of insanity", they're held responsible as if they did not have any disorder when transgressions occur. How can a person with a disorder have the presence of mind to realize they are mentally compromised? A person cannot "realize" they are insane by definition.
Given this dichotomy, the law provides for a representative who can make this determination. From what I understand, the person must agree... except in extreme cases I suppose. But I've seen many obviously nearly insane people try to be their own lawyer in court. But the concept of a giving control of your affairs to someone more capable is fairly well-established social norm.
However, because of the "new normal", fewer and fewer people are able to deal with the complexities of modern life. Data is passed off as information and people attempt to consume it. Without proper training and capability, humans just get overwhelmed. This causes anxiety which forces a person to mitigate it. If it cannot be mitigated, it become chronic and often debilitating. Another strategy is to consume enough information to make a categorical decision on how to process data and information. This short circuit becomes the basis for "echo chambers" and tribes. When this occurs, it is not possible to provide accurate information for the affected party to consume and therefore all sorts of issues arise. Radicalism, religious zealots, conspiracy theorists are but a few of the behaviors exhibited by the people affected in this manner.
To summarize, the new normal has gotten to the point where a large segment of the population need a trusted source for information and new to give up decision making to trusted individuals who can make informed decisions in their best interest. This happens all the time. These people are called "fiduciaries". Elected officials are all fiduciaries. When someone is placed under conservatorship or declared incompetent, they are given a fiduciary. Even the board of directors of a homeowner's association (HOA) are fiduciaries. However, few are capable of being effective, benevolent representatives for the people who have given up their rights to them. This is a huge problem and a major impediment to enabling this essential service for the new normal.
To this end, this website goes into subjects related to the new normal. Sometimes in detail, sometimes not. Solutions may be suggested, but an actual solution is probably only possible on a case-by-case basis and therefore elusive. This website sheds light on these matters and is intended to make the reader think about them. Hopefully, some will find solutions leading to actions to implement them.