Are You Modern?

To bring you, our dear readers, multiple levels of experience, this article includes:

• A photo novel to bring to life the different stances of modernism.

• An analysis to shed light on the evolution of modernity and why it matters.

• A test to help you understand your own unique type of modernity. By the way, if you are saving the article for later and want to take the test right away, here is the link: Which modernist are you?

• An ideal bookshelf corner to deepen your reflection.

For some time now, you have been following (and a huge thank you for that!) the publications of TheAftermodernist. It is therefore highly legitimate to ask ourselves about modernity, especially in a time of great confusion where ancient beliefs persist alongside the realization of science-fiction-like visions.

As a leader, a key professional player, or simply a citizen, we all sometimes want to act "modernely", to have a "modern" website or a "modern" kitchen—simply to be "modern."

But what does that really mean? Do you think of yourself as "just" modern? Postmodern? Hypermodern? Metamodern? Inframodern? Aftermodern 😉 or maybe a bit of everything? That is what we will discover together.

1- Modernities in a Photo Novel

Let's quickly imagine a board meeting around a project to design a new rocket, "PROJECT: HORIZON".

The Characters:

ANNA (the aftermodernist): Strategy Director

MARC (the modernist): Engineering Director

JULIAN (the postmodernist): Brand & Experience Director

ELENA (the hypermodernist): CEO

SOFIANE (the metamodernist): HR Director

YVES (the inframodernist): Environmental Impact Director

ELENA (Hypermodernist): (Tapping frantically on her phone) Alright, team. The competition has just announced a launch for Q4. We need to launch our rocket before the end of the year. And not just any rocket. A multi-planetary platform, capable of space mining, connected to a mega-constellation in cislunar orbit. Let's go!

MARC (Modernist): (Opens a thick binder) Elena, we haven't even validated the alloy for the nozzles. The schedule plans for 36 months of R&D. Physics is linear. If we skip step 4, it explodes at step 5. This is a rational project, not an iPhone app. We need control and mastery, not magic.

JULIAN (Postmodernist): Marc, the public doesn't care about the alloy. What they want is the story of the journey. What if… we didn't actually build a physical rocket? What if we sold the idea of weightlessness? We could make a "virtual" rocket—something completely fluid, frictionless, where everyone buys their seat using crypto. We save on CAPEX, yet keep the complete impact. That is liquid modernity: detaching ourselves from physical matter.

YVES (Inframodernist): (Turns slowly to face them) Are you serious? The world is burning, we have crossed seven out of nine planetary boundaries, and your debate is between a "virtual rocket" and a "suicide rocket"? A rocket represents tons of CO2 just to send three billionaires to take selfies in orbit. The only smart rocket is the one we don't build. We stay on the ground. We repair what is already broken here.

ELENA (Hypermodernist): Yves, that's sweet, but "degrowth" doesn't scale. We are in the speed of hyper-velocity. If we don't occupy space, the Chinese will. It's either absolute power or death. We must optimize the launch, not apologize for existing.

SOFIANE (Metamodernist): (Rubs his temples) Wait… You are all right, and that's what makes this so unbearable. Marc is right, we cannot ignore science. Yves is right, it is an ecological disaster. But Elena is right too, we can't just stop everything and grow carrots. Personally, I want to believe in this rocket. I want us to find that thrill of exploration again, that modern utopia… but without the naivety of thinking it is "green." Can we build a... sincere rocket? A rocket that owns up to its pollution, truly offsets it, and is used to launch climate-monitoring satellites?

JULIAN (Postmodernist): "A sincere rocket"… I like the sound of that. A bit cringe, but authentic. We could run a campaign: "We pollute, but it's to save you". That's incredibly meta. I love it.

ELENA (Hypermodernist): Who cares! We iterate! We launch, it breaks, we learn, we try again. Fail fast!

ANNA (Aftermodernist): (Puts down her pen, silence falls) Okay. Let's take a breath. We are not going to build a "virtual rocket", Julian, because we are an engineering company. We are not going to "Fail fast" with humans on board, Elena, because this isn't a video game and hyper-risk comes with an unsustainable political cost today. And Yves, we aren't closing the company down tomorrow.

Here is what we are going to do. It's a lucid compromises. An aftermodern decision. We forget about Mars. That is a hypermodern promise we cannot keep. We keep Marc's technical rigor for the launcher—that is non-negotiable. But the payload will be Sofiane's: a low-carbon satellite network dedicated to regenerative agriculture. That is our sole promise. We accept that it is imperfect. We accept that it will pollute in the short term to help in the medium term. We stop chasing absolute purity or speed. We compose with reality.

Marc, give me a realistic timeline, not Elon Musk's. Elena, you're going to sell this to the investors: less sexy than Mars, but far more robust. Yves, you will audit every step to minimize damage. We're not saving the world, and we're not running away from it. We're simply doing our part of the job.

2- Modernities in the Making

There are, therefore, among us—and even inside each of us—different forms of modernity, inherited from the evolution of thought since the Enlightenment. We can even, in a simplified way, view modernity as a kind of linear continuity:

Modernity

This model corresponds to the historical era of absolute mastery and stable structures, often associated with the industrial period and strong nation-states.

• Worldview: The world is material to be ordered through reason and science. It relies on a clear separation between Nature and Culture, Subject and Object.

• Role of the Collective: The collective (the State, social class, family) comes before the individual. It offers security and stability in exchange for certain restrictions on freedom.

• Horizon: Linear progress toward a "perfect society". History has meaning and a clear final destination.

Moderns rely on linear, planning cognitive interfaces, durable social institutions, and grand universalist narratives, embodied in stable practices (long-term careers, fixed family structures), heavy infrastructure, and norms of compliance, discipline, and standardization.

Postmodernity

This model arises as a critique and deconstruction of modern certainties, marking the end of "grand narratives".

• Worldview: The world is fragmented and relative. There is no single truth, only perspectives and perception.

• Role of the Collective: The breakdown of collective structures in favor of individuals liberated from dogmas.

• Horizon: The future is cancelled or perceived as an ironic repetition.

Postmoderns operate through a cognitive stance of deconstruction and constant doubt, utilizing material and symbolic devices based on simulation, irony, and quotation. Their practices are marked by less durable relationships, fragmented navigation between cultures, an implicit "anything goes" norm, and a vision where consumption becomes the main driver of self-fulfillment.

Hypermodernity

This model does not mark the end of modernity, but rather its radicalization through acceleration and excess.

• Worldview: A race against time. The world is dominated by the logic of competition, performance, and optimization.

• Role of the Collective: The collective serves individual performance or becomes a mass of anxious consumers.

• Horizon: "Always more" (growth, speed, innovation) simply to maintain one's place (dynamic stabilization).

Hypermoderns are caught in cognitive interfaces saturated by FOMO, multitasking, and mental overload, supported by instant technologies and a fantasy of permanent novelty. They deploy practices driven by scrolling, compulsive checking, measuring efficiency, and a norm of continuous acceleration where one must run constantly just to stay in the game.

Metamodernity

This model emerges as a reaction to the dead end of postmodern cynicism and the exhaustion of hypermodernity. It attempts to reconstruct meaning, fully aware of ecological and systemic challenges.

• Worldview: A turning point in history. The world is complex, in crisis (climate, meaning), yet offers possibilities for renewal.

• Role of the Collective: "How do we live together?". A search for new forms of sincere communities, even if they are fragile or temporary.

• Horizon: A possible future (unlike