What if all 8 billion people started reading philosophy/science and start questioning deeply about life, society, values, and truth?

[Noor]

I am exploring a thought experiment: Imagine a world where every human being regardless of background, develops the habit of reading philosophy and science, and more importantly, started questioning deeply about life, society, values, and truth? What kind of society would emerge over the next fifty years.

This is not just about literacy or education, but about a global shift in consciousness. What would happen to politics, religion, economics, relationships, and identity if everyone became a thinker?

Would we see enlightenment or chaos?
Would institutions collapse or evolve?
Would gossip and tribalism fade, or take new forms?
Could humanity sustain such relentless inquiry, or would it fragment under the weight of too many perspectives?
I would love to hear your thoughts on how this imaginary society might evolve decade by decade over fifty years. What changes do you foresee in:
- The first decade (awakening)
- The second decade (disruption)
- The third decade (rebuilding)
- The fourth decade (integration)
- The fifth decade (transformation)
Feel free to bring in historical parallels, philosophical ideas, or even fictional references.
Thanks,

[Moh.]

great questions

[Skallagrimsen]

A fantastic thought experiment, worthy of a book-length exploration.

You presuppose everyone is capable of reading and understanding philosophy. Maybe this is my misanthropy speaking, but I doubt that is true. That said, I do believe that many more people are capable of attaining philosophical sophistication than ever seek it. For many, such ambitions are just an inconceivable luxury. They are absorbed in the task of meeting basic material needs. Many still lack even sufficient literacy. For others, they simply have no interest in philosophy. Abstraction repulses them, or their metaphysical cravings are satisfied by the narratives of traditional religion. (Schopenhauer called religion "metaphysics of the people.")

Still, if even a fifth of humanity, for instance, devoted itself sincerely and rigorously to philosophical inquiry, the results might well be as transformative as you suggest. Your description evokes the transhumanist project, which envisions humanity seizing the reigns of its own evolution to usher in an unprecedented epoch of enlightenment.