There is an assumption so deep in modern thought that we rarely notice it. It shapes how we write history, conduct politics, raise children, and imagine the future. It is this: that humanity, despite its conflicts and divisions, moves together through a single history toward a common, if contested, future. This assumption has survived world wars, ideological conflicts, and technological revolutions. It survived the Cold War because both capitalism and communism believed they were racing toward the same destination, merely disputing the proper route. It survived the end of empires because decolonization promised that all peoples would eventually join a common modernity. It survived the internet's early years because connectivity seemed to guarantee convergence. The assumption is now dying. This book argues that we are entering an era I call the Great Divergence: a historical transition from shared reality to fragmented parallel realities. Not merely political polarization, though that is one symptom. Not merely economic inequality, though that accelerates the process. Something more fundamental: the dissolution of the common world itself.
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