RECOMMENDED: Non-fiction Books. Alvin Toffler's “Future Shock” Trilogy.

[ ] Alvin Toffler's “Future Shock” Trilogy I: “Future Shock,” 1970. I was 15 years old when I first read this enthralling albeit jarring book by Alvin Toffler with help from spouse Adelaide Farrell. They define the term "future shock" as a certain psychological state of individuals and entire societies, or a perception of "too much change in too short a period of time." 

       As a mid-teen weaned on sci fi in the mold of “Soylent Green,” “Time Tunnel,” “Planet of the Apes,” and Erich von Däniken’s “Chariots of the Gods?” I was more intrigued than shocked/surprised by what I read of Toffler’s fantastic thesis although those were supposedly future variables. Science fiction? 

       I must admit though that a lot of his research made sense, even at a time when computers were superfluous whims, especially his insight on the evolution of socioeconomics. And so when the next two related books “The Third Wave” (1980) and “Powershift: Knowledge, Wealth and Violence at the Edge of the 21st Century” (1990) came out, I had to declare that I was a bonafide Alvin Toffler madman. LOL!

       Beyond the fantastical readings of future tech, Toffler’s thoughts on Asia’s emerging markets in the 1980s and 1990s were global integrals. Asian leaderships by Zhao Ziyang, Lee Kuan Yew and Kim Dae Jung admitted to voraciously taken heed of Toffler’s lengthy discourse.

       “Future Shock” is replete with historical antecedents that offer credence to geopolitical upheavals in the `80s/`90s. More so, Toffler pushed us to think/rethink his tarot cards as he sees tomorrow, not as a psychic but as sociologist. Not “smart” guesswork but almost a mathematical calculation or scientific conclusion/finding of our existence in the future. 

       Fast forward to 2020s. How am I supposed to dispute Toffler’s “future” now? No way. But this line bites: “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn.” 📚✍️📚

[ ] Alvin Toffler's “Future Shock” Trilogy II: “The Third Wave,” 1980. Let’s break down Mr Toffler’s rereading of past, present, future. “First Wave” is the settled agricultural society which prevailed in much of the world after the Neolithic Revolution, which replaced hunter-gatherer cultures. “Second Wave” is Industrial Age society. It began in Western Europe with the Industrial Revolution, and subsequently spread across the world. Key aspects of Second Wave society are the nuclear family, a factory-type education system and the corporation. 

       “Third Wave” is the post-industrial society. Toffler says in the late 1950s, most countries have been transitioning from a Second Wave society into a Third Wave society albeit largely unnoticed. He coined many words to describe it and mentions names invented by others, such as the Information Age.

       For additional readings. Google James Gleick’s “Chaos: Making a New Science” (1987) and “The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood” (2011). Gleick was the first to coin the term “information age.” Although you may want to go all the way to Claude Shannon, circa 1916 A.D., the father of the information age. That’s the kick of reading Toffler. You are coaxed to dig up and read other could-be related books. 📚✍️📚

[ ] Alvin Toffler's “Future Shock” Trilogy III: “Powershift: Knowledge, Wealth and Violence at the Edge of the 21st Century,” 1990. In “The Third Wave,” Toffler discussed all mass movement continuum expanding in “The Second Wave.” Mass production, mass distribution, mass consumption, mass education, mass media, mass recreation, mass entertainment, and weapons of mass destruction. He adds: “You combine those things with standardization, centralization, concentration, and synchronization, and you wind up with a style of organization we call bureaucracy." 

       Pretty much, we are led easily to the third phase of industrial/technological evolution, and a redefinition of Power. Toffler died in 2016 but, I reckon, he already saw the transitioning of power in a knowledge-based civilization where the workforce hands lose traction in favor of the machine or AI. 

       He elaborates that wealth is another form of power, and is flexible in nature, since it can be used as punishment (like a stick) or reward (as a carrot). And so on and so forth. I am rereading all three books and, I tell you, each reading requires flexibility of understanding. I don’t feel though that I am able to fully get the whole picture of the Tofflerian Crystal Ball. You just have to read them. Again and again. 

       Other Alvin Toffler books that are worth couch time: “War and Anti-War” (1993); “Creating a New Civilization” (1995); and “Revolutionary Wealth” (2006). 📚✍️📚