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"FUTURE SHOCK" (ALVIN TOFFLER).
Term Paper ID:8396
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Essay Subject:
Reviews work on social & individual adaptation to technological revolution & rapid change. Emphasizes danger of human obsolescence.... More...
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8 Pages / 1800 Words
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Paper Abstract:
Reviews work on social & individual adaptation to technological revolution & rapid change. Emphasizes danger of human obsolescence.
Paper Introduction:
The purpose of this research is to examine Alvin Toffler's book, Future Shock, which deals with the manner in which the world is moving progressively toward a future that no one can fully control and few can even partly predict. In large part, this derives from the technological revolution and from the manner in which technology feeds upon itself, resulting in an even faster pace of technological change and development (27-28). The Rip Van Winkle-like effect of constantly finding oneself in a world that has changed in many ways since it was last examined is what the concept of future shock is all about.
This is not to say that Toffler has written a book that deals exclusively with technology. To a great extent, technology is merely the catalyst with regard to the changing roles each of us play in society in the course of our daily lives. As Toffler
Text of the Paper:
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. The sources used for this book range from journalarticles to published books to essays published in popular periodicals.They have in common a concern over the future course of civilization andthe manner in which technology has influenced the future development of ourlives and the lives of those who are as yet unborn. He regards such a set of circumstancesas tragic and seeks, in the course of this book, to provide a logical setof arguments, backed up by the facts, for helping the human race to preparefor the future. This will mean an increasein the number of problems it causes for those who cannot adapt to changeand in the degree of trouble that they cause to society. . (11) This last phrase is the essence of Toffler's concern in writing thisbook. This was a necessity, because the subjectmatter of Future Shock could not be called parochial by any definition ofthe term. It hasalready begun to influence the family as an institution in ways that maywell make it unrecognizable in the future. His books include The Culture Consumers and The School- house in the City. This will necessitate the creation of artificial(or at least new) traditions and modes of behavior. This difference is summed up in the word 'transience.' (44) This transience, this sense of the world being a place in whichthings change so quickly that only the adaptive fully survive, willundoubtedly influence the future of many human institutions. Future Shock. Aswas stated earlier in this research, Toffler's primary concern is with thefact that we may be facing a future of such transience that mankind maylose control over its own destiny. . These pages, by contrast, concern themselves with the 'soft' or human side of tomorrow. In a time of built-in obsolescence in food, housing,consumer goods and the like, it stands to reason that a pre-plannedobsolete form of humanity may not be far off (69). One of his most important points is that of thetransience of modern existence. . His sources range from Betty Friedan toBuckminster Fuller to William Whyte, with several dozen other noted authorslisted in between (522-54 ). As Toffler states: No longer at the mercy of the elements as we once were, no longer condemned to darkness at night or frost in the morning, no longer positioned in an unchanging physical environment, we are helped to orient ourselves in space and time by social, as distinct from natural, regularities. (1) This promise is lived up to in the course of this book. As Toffler states: Future Shock will not be found in Index Medicus or in any listing of psychological abnormalities. In Toffler's opinion, the world will end, whether by bangor by whimper, with a society in which there is so little for a human beingto cling to that all that is left will be a sense of transience where thehuman race once existed. (37) Whether or not it can be argued that the current generation has aresponsibility to those yet unborn (and Toffler obviously feels that itdoes) there is no question that the world of the future is a frighteningplace, that they do things differently there and that, to the extent thatwe will live in the future, we all have a stake in its development. Thegoal of Future Shock, according to Toffler, is to help the reader to cometo terms with the future (3). In this regard, Toffler quotesMargaret Mead, the noted anthropologist, to the extent that we may alreadybe moving toward a time when most people will reject parenthood in favor ofliving as either individuals or as couples. As Toffler states in this respect: This, then, is the ultimate objective of social futurism, not merely the transcendence of technocracy and the substitution of more humane, more far-sighted, more democratic planning, but the subjection of the process of evolution itself to conscious human guidance. In his bibliographical notes, Toffler cites a wide variety of sourcesfor this set of theories. . Toffler is an above-average writerand his concern over the subject matter of this book appears to be genuine. As Toffler states, in this regard: The inhabitants of the earth are divided not only by race, nation, religion or ideology, but also, in a sense, by their position in time. It misses a critical difference between the men of the past or present and the men of the future. . (383) This will help to formulate the culture of the future, since thebasic method of constructing cultural designs never changes, even if themanifestations of different cultures are often widely disparate. This is unfortunate, because somany of us will still be alive tomorrow, seeking to deal with life, libertyand the pursuit of happiness in a world where these factors may or may notplay a serious role. (485) Alvin Toffler is well-qualified to write about this sort of thing,especially in terms of the adaptivity that is necessary for survival.According to the brief biographical sketch of Toffler's life that has beenprovided on the back cover of this book: Alvin Toffler, former Associate Editor of Fortune, has been a Visiting Professor at Cornell University and a Visiting Scholar at the Russell Sage Foundation. Toffler'sconcern is not so much with the technology of the future as with the effectthat this technology is likely to have on future generations of humans. . . In any event, there isno nightmare-scenario for the future that ought to be judged impossibleuntil it is proven to be impossible. According to Toffler, we are already living at the beginning ofthe Future Age in which either mankind will control destiny or else destinywill control mankind. (11) Toffler further expaNds on this Clockwork Orange type theme duringthe course of this book. People who are trained to function in the world of today may nothave the training to function in the world of two decades from now. . . It isToffler's contention that the only real defense against future shock is toconsciously construct the future along lines that are considered desirable. The technocrats of today, so concerned with thepresent, are of the same orientation as those technocrats of the past whoseconcern with what was then the present has left us with such problems asair and water pollution, overcrowding, etc. The world of thefuture is being planned today and it is being planned by technocrats whoworry about today and not about tomorrow. To a great extent, technology is merely thecatalyst with regard to the changing roles each of us play in society inthe course of our daily lives. Toffler, from his years of study andobservation, can make certain general prophecies that are beyond the mentalcapacities and the knowledge of many of us. If theworld we inhabit thirty years from now is at least marginally more inkeeping with the human needs that Toffler sets down in this book, then thatworld will be proportionally more inhabitable for human beings. By every critical standard, he lives up to the statement he makes early inthe book, by way of introduction. Toffler, in this book, is seeking to provide a vision of thefuture of civilization. Yet, for the most part, books about the world to come sound a harsh, metallic note. WhatToffler is arguing is that, unless mankind takes control of its owndestiny, this situation could go on indefinitely, with the transience oflife becoming a matter of course and the world of the future being based ona continuous series of mistakes made by the technocrats of today and of thenext few years. . Those that areformed outside of the contemporary nuclear family will have, in manyrespects, different impulses and orientations from those of us raised inthe 196 's and 197 's. The purpose of this research is to examine Alvin Toffler's book,Future Shock, which deals with the manner in which the world is movingprogressively toward a future that no one can fully control and few caneven partly predict. . Toffler, having seen the future from atopthe mountain, so to speak, is providing the reader with an advanced view ofwhat to expect from that future. Clearly, this will be a world that will be much different from therealities of the last few decades. Since mostof today's young adults have reason to believe that they will still bealive in thirty years, their interest in the outcome of these events isobvious. In this prediction of thefuture, "parenthood would be limited to a smaller number of families whoseprincipal functions would be childrearing" (242). In this, he succeeds quite well. As Tofflerfurther states: The malaise, mass neurosis, irrationality and free-floating violence already apparent in contemporary life are merely a foretaste of what may lie ahead unless we come to understand and treat this disease. By making it possible for the future to be predicted, according to themanifestations of intentionally-created institutions, the people of thefuture will be able to cope with the transience that might otherwise tendto make life so much less bearable. . American life, since Plymouth Rock, hasbeen based on the family as an economic, social and intellectualinstitution for the formation of adult personalities. . The Rip Van Winkle-like effect of constantly finding oneself in aworld that has changed in many ways since it was last examined is what theconcept of future shock is all about. This is not to say that Toffler has written a book that dealsexclusively with technology. As Toffler states with regard tothis: Much of our theorizing about social and psychological change presents a valid picture of man in relatively static societies -- but a distorted and incomplete picture of the truly contemporary man. As Toffler describes this quality, it isone of the key common denominators of modern life in the many differentsocieties in which life can be lived. His articles have appeared in scholarly journals as well as such varied publications as Life and Playboy. Thesepeople will either acquire that training in the next twenty years or else,in the worlds of the Bob Dylan song, "they will sink like a stone, for thetimes they are a-changing." The incredible rate at which technology haschanged society in the last few decades indicates that the rate of changeshould be even more accelerated in the future. Yet, unless intelligent steps are taken to combat it, millions of human beings will find themselves increasingly disoriented, progressively incompetent to deal rationally with their environments. For this, he clearly needs as many references aspossible, since to understand the future one first must understand thepresent and the past. . BIBLIOGRAPHYToffler, Alvin. This book, therefore, is a warning, best-summarized in Toffler'sphrase that "Technocrats suffer from myopia" (458). Today, to a great extent, we base our values on their mistakes. (back cover) In other words, he has led a varied career as a writer and as anacademic, both of which are useful professional vantage points from whichto study the constant crumbling and restructuring of civilization. New York: Random House, 1974.----------------------- 9 As Toffler states: Much has been written about the future. In large part, this derives from the technologicalrevolution and from the manner in which technology feeds upon itself,resulting in an even faster pace of technological change and development(27-28).
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