Future shock
by Alvin Toffler · first published 1801
31% recommend65% neutral5% critical
Why HN recommends it
A short, focused account of how accelerating technological change strains people and society, covering information overload and job-hopping. Still relevant for readers curious about the pace of change.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Describes some of the problems our technology has created for society and suggests some strategies for coping in the future.
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…https://www.worldcat.org/title/social-theory-re-wired-new-co... There are other elements to this, including positivity bias and the power of denial over unpleasant truths. These seem fairly evident in the futurist trade. I read Alvin Toffler's Future Shock for the first time last year, on its 50th anniversary. My overall impression was that the book actually holds up quite well, though its best points are generally those looking at the long-term complications…
on “Could, should, might, shouldn’t – A taxonomy of futurists” ↗…yourself a favor and read it ASAP. One fascinating aspect of it, aside from the whole "computer hacker hero before there were any" bit, is that it was largely based on a non-fiction work - Alvin Toffler's Future Shock. Brunner was apparently so interested in what Toffler had to say, he chose to portray his ideas in novel form. And Future Shock is another book which I can't recommend highly enough. Toffler might not…
on “John Brunner's “Stand on Zanzibar” spookily predicted today” ↗Though it mostly addresses only part of this dynamic, Alvin Toffler's Future Shock 50 years on is illuminating, most especially the latter chapters.
on “The Toxoplasma of Rage (2014)” ↗…came of age before blogs and frankly, don't see any blog posts that could be life changing for an older person, so I'll add a life changing book and song. The Third Wave by Alvin Toffler, the sequel to Future Shock. I was a nuclear trained engineer in the Navy. This book convinced me not to pursue a career in nuclear power after the Navy, which was the standard career path for guys like me, because it was "Second…
on “Ask HN: What's the most life-changing blog post you've ever read?” ↗Future Shock by Alvin Toffler in 1972 narrated by Orson Welles is well worth adding to the list of documentaries to watch. Much of what Toffler/Welles touch is very relevant now. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkUwXenBokU
on “All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace (2011)” ↗Similar thoughts were shared by Alving Toffler in his excellent book, "Future Shock". What happens to the human monkey-brain when the rate of technological achievements happen faster and faster? I am at the airport writing this, on my way home. Everyone who's here alone is on their…
on “Nobody Knows What's Happening Online Anymore” ↗Do make space for Alvin Toffler - starting with "Future Shock" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Future_Shock
on “Ask HN: Good books?” ↗Very much this, and the realisation that attention is finite and very highly rivalrous is one that needs a great deal of amplification. I'm finding Herbert Simon and Alvin Toffler's Future Shock to be pretty fascinating reading in this context, both from the early 1970s. Toffler cites significant earlier work. I'm also starting to wonder what the long-term effects of high-level information…
on “Trolls are winning the internet, technologists say” ↗Excellent. There were a few exceptionally aware and pertinant commentators in the early-, and even pre-computer age. Alvin Toffler's Future Shock also has several quite striking observations.
on “'Our minds can be hijacked': tech insiders who fear a smartphone dystopia” ↗This documentary and the book it's based on are hugely relevant to the present. I'd also recommend Herbert Simon's works (referenced in Future Shock).
on “Future Shock Documentary (1972) [video]” ↗I can suggest to give Future Shock (1970, Alvin Toffler) a go, it too has some thoughts about the effects of over-stimulation. Good thinking :)
on “Being Bored Is Good” ↗…which is in turn a driver for your own demise. Game over. I'd like to suggest to you the following reading material: - Bullshit Jobs (David Graeber, 2018) - The Dilbert Principle (Scott Adams, 2000) - Future Shock (Alvin Toffler, 1970)
on “The sad state of sysadmin in the age of containers (2015)” ↗…Another issue is that employees jump around companies these days making companies less likely to invest in employees. Alvin and Heidi Toffler predicted this with profound accuracy in their 1970 book Future Shock. I highly recommend reading the chapter on Adhocracy, or for a TLDR: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adhocracy
on “College-educated workers are taking over the American factory floor” ↗…Toffler. He saw so much of what people are talking about today, as far back as the late 60's. The details have changed, of course, but a lot of the basic principles are exactly what he talked about in Future Shock.
on “YouTube Created a Generation of Young Stars. Now They Are Getting Burned Out” ↗Thoreau, Walden - simplicity, rejection of societal expectations. The chapter on economy is delightfully technical. Toffler, Future Shock - the danger to societal cohesion and human wellness caused by constant, rapid, paradigm-breaking change. Kaczynski, Industrial Society and its Future - like the two above, but more modern, frighteningly…
on “Ask HN: What book changed your life?” ↗