Perhaps the most persistent and widespread association that arises with the word "revolution" is noisy street processions of people dissatisfied with something, angry protests, crowded rallies, over which previously banned flags and slogans are hovering. A revolution is a powerful tectonic shift that shakes society, it is a wave that sweeps away in its path almost everything that personifies the former regime. Sometimes monuments to hated rulers are pulled off pedestals, official portraits, banners, coats of arms and other symbols of the overthrown government are thrown into the fire.
Meanwhile, there are many other, less dramatic and harsh manifestations of such a complex and at the same time multifaceted phenomenon as revolution. This concept is often used in relation to a wide variety of processes occurring in almost all spheres of human activity, including economics and politics, art and culture, science and production, and so on. Under the onslaught of revolutionary whirlwinds cannot resisteven the moral and ethical foundations that seemed unshakable and reliable for centuries. The so-called "sexual revolution" can serve as proof of this. This is not just some catchy cliche, because for its time such a revolution in the mass public consciousness, such a decisive rejection of the old ideas about the institution of family and marriage was truly revolutionary.
A striking example of the embodiment of revolutionary ideas can also serve as the most common cell phone. Its creation became possible thanks to a process that began in the fifties of the last century and was called the scientific and technological revolution. This phrase denotes a qualitatively new stage in the development of productive forces - this is the stage when scientific and technological progress becomes the main factor determining the modern picture of the world. The revolutionary nature of this process is that the interaction of science and production radically and in a fairly short time changes not only the material basis of society, but practically its entire social and spiritual structure. More and more new, previously unimaginable forms of interpersonal relationships are emerging, evidence of which is the Internet, the global and instant dissemination of information, through which virtuality is closely intertwined with reality, and often turns out to replace it.
Revolution is always an unexpectedly sharp leap, radical changes, the demolition of obsolete and established forms and the emergenceradically new. And all this is happening at a fast pace. The similarly spelled word "evolution" has a completely different meaning. Evolution and revolution are two relatively different forms of development. In the first form, slow, gradual changes occur (evolutionary path), in the second, changes are relatively fast, occurring in the shortest possible time by historical standards (revolutionary).
It is impossible to predict in advance which of these methods is preferable - both have their pros and cons, and only time can make the final verdict. One thing is certain - sometimes only a revolution can clear the way to prosperity and progress, but this radical method should be used with the greatest care.
