PERSON IN A DIGITAL SOCIETY: TRIUMPH AND TRAGEDY
Authors: Shapoval V. 
Published: July 2023

Human civilization is moving into the digital age. Many believe that total digitalization is bringing humanity closer to the dream age of general wellbeing and happiness. However, although there is a real revolution in the knowledge and mastering of the world, the tension and conflicts within human society do not stop, and people do not feel happier. This determines the aim and the tasks of the research, which are based on the analysis of deep contradictions and conflicts existing in modern society, including military conflicts, to find out the factor of consciousness in their emergence and development, as well as the role and significance of information and communication technologies in formation of positive or negative trends. The research methodology has a complex nature and is based on a philosophical and cultural analysis of the problems of the influence of digitalization on the formation of the consciousness of our contemporary, which leads to constructive or destructive directions of the development of society. To solve the specific tasks of the research, the principles of historicism, systematicity, objectivity, the connection of the historical and the logical were also used.Research results: The reasons for deep contradictions tearing modern societylie, first of all, in the material sphere. However, the possibilities of the extensive path are practically exhausted today, it is necessary to go in the direction of improving the mental sphere, to look for new ideas that could help to find new opportunities for the further development of human civilization. However, this is where one of the main conflicts of our time arises, namely: the human consciousness, which is intended for the production of constructive ideas and solutions, is often directed in the exact opposite direction, towards destruction and violence. The search for reasons and discussions on this matter have not stopped for many decades and are becoming increasingly acute.Discussion. The most contradictory human consciousness manifests itselfin the conditions of war. One of the main causes of wars and military conflicts is the deformation of people’s consciousness, the mental sphere at the local and global levels. Modern information and communication technologies create great opportunities to shape human consciousness with given properties, to direct it in one direction or another. Modern highly developed societies, where democracy reigns and the Global Network plays a huge role, seem to be the territory of freedom and pluralism. However, precisely thanks to digital technologies, the satisfaction of spiritual needs has turned into a kind of mass production, when tastes are lowered below the lowest level, and worthy things are replaced by informational surrogates.Conclusions. In order to be able to distinguish a high-quality informationproduct from a fake, veiled or outright lie, a fairly high level of intellectualdevelopment of the individual is required. It is necessary to form an own information environment, where priorities will be clearly defined, as well as curtains and mental filters will be installed, which do not allow the penetration and accumulation of unnecessary and harmful information. The triumph of man in the modern information and digital age lies in the fact that we have reached the level of a society of mass information consumption. But the tragedy is that people were not ready for such a rapid turn in the development of our civilization. There is a real risk of losing one’s humanity, turning not into spiritual beings, but into something similar to machines, homo technologicus, for whom not only higher spiritual needs disappear, but also the value of life in general. In order to avoid a negative scenario, it is necessary to seriously revise the attitude to information, to make information hygiene at all levels the norm of our life.