When we unravel the history of hands and work, we can see that society also changes in a certain pattern. As each of us who makes up society becomes more independent, society itself also becomes independent. Human society is moving toward an ideal state, much like the society of children in a Montessori school.
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Profile
Yati Obara
Editor-in-Chief, Scientific Montessori
Based in Japan, born in 1989. CEO of Motherhand and Co-Director of the nonprofit think tank Polymath Research. Holds an M.Eng. and is an AMI-certified teacher. Focused on Montessori developmental theory and AI. Mother of two.
Hiro Obara
Publisher, Scientific Montessori
Based in Japan, born in 1990. CEO of StudyX and Co-Director of the nonprofit think tank Polymath Research. Works as a software developer and game designer. Father of two.
Self-reliance equals freedom.
Yati
In this article on the 6 to 12 age group, I’d like to look at the history of hands and work. Got any interesting insights?
Hiro
There’s a theory proposed by the founder of Omron called “SINIC Theory.”
Yati
What kind of theory?
Hiro
It was developed to predict how human society evolves. The idea is that “management is prediction.”
Yati
How do you make predictions?
Hiro
Ultimately, you study history. When you do, you see that human society started with primitive life, then moved to agricultural life, followed by handicraft, the craft era, then industrial society.
Yati
Mm-hmm.
Hiro
After that came automation, society transformed by spinning machines and steam engines.
Yati
The First Industrial Revolution, around the 1760s to the early 1800s.
Hiro
Right. Then spinning machines evolved, machines in general evolved, and computers emerged.
Yati
Machines began to compute.
Hiro
And after that came the information society, where everything became digitized. What comes next? Right now, we’re in the “optimization society.”
Yati
What does “optimization society” mean, specifically?
Hiro
It means turning everything into computation problems and letting computers solve them. To optimize information, what’s the first step?
Yati
You gather information.
Hiro
Exactly. You collect it in one place, amass huge amounts of data, run calculations, and optimize.
Yati
That’s exactly what’s happening in AI development right now. To train an AI, you have to gather data in one location.
Hiro
Right. In other words, it’s centralization.
Yati
A centralized structure.
Hiro
So what comes next?
Yati
The opposite of centralization? Each entity starts doing its own optimization, calculating on its own smartphone or computer?
Hiro
Exactly. After the optimization society comes the “autonomous society.” This is said to begin in 2025.
Yati
That’s last year.
Hiro
From about 2025 to 2032.
Yati
What’s good about an “autonomous society”?
Hiro
When something shifts from centralized to distributed, it becomes more efficient.
Yati
Can you give an example?
Hiro
Right now, computers rely on “the cloud,” where data is sent to a central location, processed there, and the results are returned. In an autonomous society, each device, every smartphone and personal computer, handles what the cloud used to do. Processing is distributed. AI works the same way today: data is collected centrally, computed there, and accessed remotely. But going forward, there’s no need to access a central server; each device handles things locally. That’s the autonomous society.
Yati
Does social structure change, too?
Hiro
Yes, the same principle applies. Schools, for example, currently bring everyone to one place for activities and then send them home. That’s centralized. And the curriculum is determined by something like Japan’s Ministry of Education, implemented uniformly across the country. So there’s a hierarchy with the ministry at the top. Instead, in an autonomous society, each person has a personalized curriculum tailored to them and carries it out independently.
Yati
True self-reliance.
Hiro
Exactly. There’s no longer any central authority to depend on. Government works the same way. In Japan, governance centers on Kasumigaseki in Tokyo, but authority shifts to local areas, where each community governs itself. That’s the autonomous society. This is the evolution of human society. We’re moving forward.
Yati
Looking at the SINIC Theory diagram, it’s drawn as a spiral, climbing upward but also, in a sense, returning to the past. Does that mean going back to primitive times? What does that mean?
Hiro
Let’s talk about what happens once the autonomous society is complete. Starting around 2033, we enter what’s called the “natural society.” That’s Omron’s term. It’s not a return to the “primitive era” I mentioned. It’s ascending the spiral one level higher. In other words, it’s a “supra-natural society.”
Yati
Wait, that’s exactly what Maria Montessori said: “To contribute to the child is to contribute to all life. By aiding the work of nature, we raise nature to the supra-natural stage. That is the law of life. It is children who bring about the new stage toward a higher dimension.”
Hiro
Exactly. In the end, everyone pursues what they want to do, and that naturally works to improve both the environment and society. Actually, Confucius already said something similar in the Analects: “At seventy, I could follow my heart’s desire without overstepping the bounds of right.” As you mature, doing what you want while naturally staying within propriety is what’s traditionally called “human virtue.” The same principle applies at both the individual and societal scale. Does that make sense?
Yati
Say that again.
Hiro
Right now, if everyone just acted selfishly, society would collapse. But in an ultimately perfected society, each person is self-reliant; and when they all act freely, the result is an incredibly good society.
Yati
No need for rules to constrain anyone.
Hiro
Exactly. No constitution or laws required. No one needs to control anyone. It’s called a “non-control society.” Control is unnecessary.
Yati
Does that mean people genuinely care about each other? That ethics are highly developed?
Hiro
You could say they care about each other, or that from the outside it looks like high ethics. But it’s not forced. They’re acting freely, and it just works out that way.
Yati
An ideal society.
Hiro
Right. Two major trends to note: “things and the individual.” Modern society has emphasized things. Originally, the focus was on “heart and community.” Over time, the emphasis shifted from “heart” to “things,” and from “community” to “the individual.”
Yati
I see.
Hiro
In primitive life, people valued richness of heart and richness of communal life. We’re spiraling back toward that.
Yati
But if we’re talking about “self-reliant individuals,” how does that fit with “community and heart”?
Hiro
Self-reliance has three dimensions: mental self-reliance, physical self-reliance, and economic self-reliance. There’s a lot of overlap with Montessori here.
Yati
Montessori says “self-reliance equals freedom.”
Hiro
Exactly. In the autonomous society, three key perspectives matter: self-reliance, collaboration, and creation. Various things emerge at the boundaries between them. Between self-reliance and collaboration lies “altruism.” Between collaboration and creation lies “emergence.” Between creation and self-reliance lies “empathy.” In other words, you can’t be altruistic unless you’re first self-reliant.
Yati
That’s true. Montessori children can make delicious food themselves, so they can offer cookies to friends without a second thought.
Hiro
What is “selfishness,” really? It’s ultimately an expression of the desire to be self-reliant.
Yati
That may be true.
Hiro
So, bottom line: the transition to an autonomous society starts in 2025.
Yati
Sounds like “The transition to digital TV is starting.”
Hiro
The optimization society will fade away. And what is this new autonomous society? It’s essentially a “Montessori society.”
Yati
Wait, so it’s already here? Does that mean we don’t even need Montessori anymore?
Hiro
The point is that this time, humans themselves must change.
Yati
What do you mean, “this time”?
Hiro
Up until now, the focus was on improving machines. Now, improved machines will help improve humans.
Yati
Machines will change us?
Hiro
Yes. AI is part of that. People who adapt easily will be fine, but those who struggle to change will find it extremely painful. Children can still change. And what technology is called for now? Something called “mind-body technology,” technology for the mental dimension. Controlling the mind.
Yati
I can’t quite picture it. You mean “manipulating or controlling the mind”?
Hiro
Yes, controlling mental states. There are already signs of this. Brain machine interfaces, or BMI for short, use brainwaves to control computers. Smartwatches measure heart rate; if your heart stops, they automatically call an ambulance or send a rescue team. In mountain climbing, for example, if someone gets lost, GPS connects to rescuers.
Yati
So similarly, we’ll monitor mental states and provide feedback to the mind?
Hiro
We’re not quite there yet. Right now, we track blood pressure and health data, but that will advance to tracking mental states. “This person is heading toward depression” or “This person is getting a bit too overconfident.”
Yati
[laughs]
Hiro
Or “They’re eating properly.”
Yati
Like a good mother.
Hiro
Exactly. Doing what a mother would normally do. But not everyone has a good mother. So if we had a “mother AI,” people could rely on it for comfort.
Yati
A mentor.
Hiro
Yes, mentoring. The point is to value the mind. Things like motivation have been invisible, so they were neglected, but they’re incredibly important. Ignoring them is why we have problems like depression. Harassment, too: harassment is essentially “mental distress.” Once “mental distress” is properly recognized, harassment becomes unacceptable. In other words, the mental dimension is finally being evaluated appropriately.
Yati
When you think about it that way, a lot is changing.
Hiro
Before, we only thought about physical needs, like “as long as you’re sheltered from wind and rain.” Now we ask, “Is this space genuinely comfortable to be in?” Schools, too: it used to be “as long as you acquire knowledge.” Now we ask, “Are students learning what they actually want to learn?” and “Are they unhappy about it?” Evaluating that, and bringing unhappiness down to zero, is probably what mind-body technology is about. In short, “always achieving good mental health.”
Yati
I can actually feel us heading in that direction. Technology is making it happen.
Hiro
Even injections. Nobody likes the pain, so needles as thin as a mosquito’s proboscis make them painless. That’s scientific progress.
Yati
As science advances, things we used to “just put up with” become unnecessary to endure.
Hiro
School health checkups could be done remotely or distributed to address shortages of female doctors, for example.
Yati
Medical interviews could be handled by AI. And if every household had technology to monitor health on a daily basis, there’d be no need to gather everyone at school for checkups.
Hiro
If toilets evolve, we could assess gut microbiota every day. And not just physical health. Mental health, too, improving in real time.
Yati
What’s so great about being healthy in body and mind? Work performance goes up. I’m experiencing that firsthand now that I’ve started making sure I get enough sleep.
Hiro
Right now, most Japanese people, both children and adults, are sleep-deprived. Sleep deprivation hurts work performance. So first, let’s fix the sleep deficit, before any other debates. Even the National Diet building is turning into a nap room. So, everyone: please get as much sleep as you can.
