Future Thought

Future Thought
Mar 3, 2013 | Veterans Today | Paul Balles

 We must look forward to the future as that is where most of us will spend the rest of our lives. –Charles Kettering

A book that gave cause for thought in1970, Alvin Toffler’s Future Shock, predicted some difficult tomorrows. Toffler presented clear evidence of how the speed of change had increased drastically as human progress pushed forward.

One couldn’t help being impressed by Toffler’s observation that more changes have taken place in the past 2000 years than in the 200,000 years before that, and that more changes have occurred in the last 200 years than in either the previous 2000 years or 200,000 years.

What’s shocking about this is the realization that we no longer have a generation for our children to adapt to change. Speed itself compels a change in the rate of decision-making and, as Toffler says, “all decision systems have limits as to how fast they can make complex decisions.”

Though Alvin Toffler was by no means the first person with an interest in futuristic thinking, he was the first modern writer to make people aware of the importance of future studies.

Futurist Michael Findlay offered an interesting story about people missing Toffler’s ideas:

At a dinner party held for the Chinese ambassador in the late 1970s, Toffler found himself seated with the top executives from NBC and RCA. Since it would be unlike him not to take advantage of such access, he asked them how broadcasting would be different five years hence. Both smiled languidly and assured Toffler there would be no major changes. 

They, like everyone else who would lose their jobs in the years ahead for not seeing the approaching third wave, saw a future of fine tuning and incremental adjustments. Amidst the tremendous upheaval of our times, they were asleep at the wheel and proud of it.

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