This article analyzes the monograph of Leonid Fishman, Vladimir Martyanov and Dmitry Davydov - employees of the Institute of Philosophy and Law of the Ural Branch of RAS. The authors of the book have developed their own theory of social and economic development of mankind - both its past and present, and the prospects for further evolution. The article shows that, on the one hand, this theory fits into a series of constructions caused by the general uncertainty that is inevitable when technological patterns change, which is also sometimes complicated by the collapse of “real socialism" On the other hand, the very path the scientists have taken differs from the main body of such theories, since they based their concept on a new interpretation of the phenomenon of “rent" developed by them. Recognizing the value and scientific originality of the authors’ general argument, the reviewer draws attention to the fact that in their overall picture of social and economic future there is no theme of development of mass consciousness, changes in behavior and needs of an ordinary person under the influence of revolutionary technological shifts.