Alvin Louis Toffler (1928-2016) was an American writer and researcher in the field of the future. He is recognized for his works in the areas of the digital revolution, the telecommunications revolution and technological specialization. Toffler is known as one of the most prominent researchers in the field of the future or futurism. He predicted the movement of professional society from the stage of commodity production to the era of communications and the domination of computers over economic and social life.
One of Toffler’s most famous books was the Third Wave. In this book, Toffler describes three general movements in the history of human change, each of which, like a powerful wave, transcended the previous stage and ushered in a new one. The first wave was the agricultural revolution that ended the hunting period, the second wave is what economic and social historians call the industrial revolution, and the third wave, which Toffler believes began in the 1950s, is the bridge from industrial society to the industrial age. This section is selected from one of Toffler’s greatest vital books, The Shock of the Future, published in 1970, more than fifty years ago. This short section shows the ability of this author and thinker to see the future. In addition, it has identified many moral and civil aspects of the changes and has warned human society.
Economics and Mental health”
The foundation of the future economy is summarized as follows: “The emphasis on the spiritual and material needs of individuals and groups,” the Stanford Research Institute said in a report. This study also argues that the new emphasis on these two needs not only reflects the needs of the consumer, but also explains the need for the economy itself to survive. “In countries where all basic and material needs may be met by only three-quarters or even half of the productive capacity of that society, in order to keep such an economy healthy we need to fundamentally restructure it.”
The convergence of these pressures, both from consumers and those seeking economic growth, will cause technologically advanced societies to move towards the production of experience, the production of the world of the future. Of course, movement in this direction can be postponed. The poor people of the world may not be silent and watch as a group of powerful people dare to enjoy themselves and turn to psychological issues in the utmost prosperity and attraction. It is an ugly phenomenon that a large number of people seek to satisfy their mental desires and new and delicate pleasures, while most people live in poverty or hunger.
By storing and eliminating their surplus profits, factories can continue to operate, surplus agricultural products can be used, and society can try to meet its material needs. For example, a fifty-year struggle to eradicate hunger from the world is not only a highly moral act, but also provides technological societies with much-needed opportunities for a simpler transition into the economy of the future. This focus gives us the opportunity to think and deepen the philosophical and psychological implications of the production of experience. If somehow users can no longer clearly distinguish between real and unreal or simulated objects, so that one’s whole life can be planned commercially, then we have entered a series of psycho-economic problems that are breathtakingly complex. These problems are such that they negatively affect not only our most basic beliefs about democracy or the economy, but also our views about the nature of rationality and mental health.
