Social connections in the civilization of cognitive technologies

The article investigates the system of social connections in the civilization of cognitive technologies, examined within the framework of a systemic model of civilization that includes elements, the connections between them, and the goal of satisfying biological, social, and intellectual (spiritual) needs of humans. Social connections are understood as the primary means of integrating individuals into a coherent society and are defined as interactions between elements that mediate the transmission of resources, information, emotions, and meanings. The study analyzes the structure of the system of social connections, types of connections, factors of their implementation and transformation, as well as the issues of the transitional period and structural vulnerabilities of the mature form of the new civilization. Special attention is given to networks of shared consumption, labor, psycho-emotional, educational, and political connections, as well as chains of connections that incorporate both humans and artificial cognitive systems as links. The research methodology is based on a systemic approach and a general theory of systems with a metaphysical component, complemented by a comparative-historical analysis of the evolution of social connections in agrarian, machine-driven, and emerging civilizations of cognitive technologies, as well as a structural-functional analysis of chains of connections. The scientific novelty lies in the construction of two independent and mutually complementary classifications of social connections—by subsystems of civilization and by functional roles, with a distinction between basic (shared consumption, labor, psycho-emotional) and auxiliary (educational and political) connections—overcoming the limitations of a flat network model. It is shown that the transition to a civilization of cognitive technologies constitutes not a continuation of previous trends but a systemic restructuring, where labor connections lose their role as the organizing core, labor aimed at generating needs becomes the leading type of activity, and the system acquires a distributed nature that is incompatible with centralized control. The rules of human terminations of chains of connections are formulated, and the effect of social connection incest is described as a structural vulnerability that generates uncertainty of outcomes and mutually contradictory self-fulfilling prophecies. The conclusion is substantiated that the resilience of the new civilization depends on two irremovable conditions: the preservation of human subjectivity at the boundaries of chains of connections and the existence of infrastructure for verifying public representations against reality, with overcoming ignorance transforming from an educational task into a matter of survival for the civilization.