You know how when we look back at history, we put every few years in a neat little package?

The Ice Age, The Age of Fire, The Bronze Age, The Dark Ages, The Age of Discovery, The Age of Exploration, The Baroque Period, The Enlightenment, The Age of Reason, The Industrial Revolution, The Age of Entertainers, the McCarthy Era-- I'm not sure if I just made some of these up, however, bear with me .

What do you think this age will go down in history as?

Write down which years this era will include, your name of it, and a brief description of what it was-- or maybe I ought to say is-- all about.

I think the age we are now living in, will go down in history as the "Age of Communication". Thanks to the internet, mobile phones, pagers, etc. people can instantly reach out to a person, or for that matter, to the masses. Ironically though, in certain respects, I think we communicate less with the ones closest to us, because of the fast-paced tone of our lives and all of the distractions. We certainly aren't living in an artistic period...it's more of a science-oriented time, and for all the positives that go along with that, I think we are lacking in the creation of great art.

Though I agree with you that it will probably be termed the age of communication, I'm wondering like you if we actually communicate better!
I notice situations every single day where the use or abuse of electronic media is perpetrated. I've also noticed that in places that don't communicate terribly well, that e mail becomes a crutch. And mobile telephones? Now though I obviously have one, in this area it's like living in L.A. without a car, I notice that our instincts are not honed to perfection and our coping skills are poor in emergencies without the portable phone. Noticed when you're waiting for someone and you don't have their number and you are tearing your hair wondering what on Earth must have happened? In the old days, you'd have found something else to do.
Another thing I notice is the emergence of people who normally might not have attempted written communication at all for various reasons, it is both good and not so good!

So the "Age of Communication" isn't bad as terms go, but I'd go back to the progress thread and reflect on whether some of the things we take for granted haven't lead us to go away from our coping skills and instincts.

What was the Antique sequence ? Golden Age , Silver Age,Iron Age?
And the system used by the archeologists? Stone?Iron?Bronze?

From point of view of materials used I guess we are still in the Age of Plastic.Or have we moved on to Silicon Age already ?
Most typical in my opinion of 'this age' is that 50 years after God was 'officially' declared dead by the philosophers, religion makes a
roaring comeback in the shape of fundamentalism.

I wonder if within a couple of generations people will be looking back on this as the Era of Ignorance part II.

Back when people thought that the Earth was flat, they didn't realize they were ignorant. Perhaps there are somethings that are mainstream today that our future may deem stupid, crazy, ignorant, or what not.

Maybe somethings we do everyday will be no longer necessary and they will look back at us as primitive.

I don't know, but I think it is an interesting thought.

'The Age of Communication(s)' ... or Plastic seem very good guesses. However, some historians like to be pretentious, so it may end up as 'The Age of Uncertainty' or something like that. 'Age of Ignorance' is also very good, but perhaps just a shade too stark ... What's more, the cult of ignorance may even grow worse! In any case, the choice of nickname will be out of our hands.

The Age of Mindless Consumption, along with the Age of Rapid Change...

It's unlikely that the current period will be deemed the age of 'ignorance', 'rapid change' or 'uncertainty'....I think people of every era would have happily ascribed those monikers to their current world.

How about the 'age of globalization'? This is certainly the era in which globalization is occurring. Another portentious phrase might be...'the age of ecological catastrophe'? 'The age of asymmetrical warfare' might be another snappy sobriquet for the current period. Although guerilla warfare and terrorism aren't exclusively modern phenomenae they appear to have been perfected within the last 30-40 years. 'The age of communication' sounds a pleasing melody, but I'm afraid it's euphemistic of the real condition, that is of corporate imperialism and dominant global organizational structures.

By golly...taking all this into account, why not 'the age of pessimism'? Nah...once again, every generation would want first dibs on that happy title...

'The Age of Globalization'? - perhaps, but how about the 'Pax Americana'? By the way, the 'Pax Britannica' wasn't particuluarly peaceful. In fact, it is hard to find a year in Queen Victoria's reign when Britain wasn't fighting a colonial war somewhere or other ... However, most of these wars were in remote parts of the world and somehow didn't attract much attention outside Britain. So, despite the 'globalization of communications', it might be possible to talk of a 'Pax Americana' when in fact there is precious little peace.