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1、Unit 10 Things: The Throw-Away SocietySchool of Foreign Studies, SCNU2009.11.The author: Alvin Toffler (1928-)an American writer and futurist, known for his works discussing the digital revolution, communications revolution, corporate revolution and technological singularity. A former associate edit
2、or of Fortune magazine, his early work focused on technology and its impact (through effects like information overload). Then he moved to examining the reaction of and changes in society. His later focus has been on the increasing power of 21st century military hardware, weapons and technology proli
3、feration, and capitalism. He is married to Heidi Toffler, also a writer and futurist. They wrote the books credited to “Alvin Toffler“ together.His ideas Toffler explains, “Society needs people who take care of the elderly and who know how to be compassionate and honest. Society needs people who wor
4、k in hospitals. Society needs all kinds of skill that are not just cognitive; theyre emotional, theyre affectional. You cant run the society on data and computers alone.“In his book The Third Wave Toffler describes three types of societies, based on the concept of waves - each wave pushes the older
5、societies and cultures aside.First Wave is the society after agrarian revolution and replaced the first hunter- gatherer cultures. The main components of the Second Wave society are nuclear family, factory- type education system and the corporation. Toffler writes: “The Second Wave Society is indust
6、rial and based on mass production, mass distribution, mass consumption, mass education, mass media, mass recreation, mass entertainment, and weapons of mass destruction. You combine those things with standardization, centralization, concentration, and synchronization, and you wind up with a style of
7、 organization we call bureaucracy.“ Third Wave is the post-industrial society. Toffler would also add that since late 1950s most countries are moving away from a Second Wave Society into what he would call a Third Wave Society. He coined lots of words to describe it and mentions names invented by ot
8、her people, like the Information Age. In this post-industrial society, there is a lot of diversity in lifestyles (“sub-cults”). Adhocracies (fluid organizations) adapt quickly to changes. Information can substitute most of the material resources and becomes the main material for workers (cognitarian
9、s 脑力劳动者 instead of proletarians工人阶级), who are loosely affiliated. Mass customization offers the possibility of cheap, personalized, production catering to small niches. The gap between producer and consumer is bridged by technology using a so called configuration system. “Prosumers“ can fill their o
10、wn needs. Since the 1970s, people have been trying to make sense out of the impact of new technologies and social change. Tofflers writings have been influential beyond the confines (the areas) of scientific, economic and public policy discussions. Techno music pioneer Juan Atkins cites Tofflers phr
11、ase “techno rebels“ in Future Shock as inspiring him to use the word “techno“ to describe the musical style he helped to create. Tofflers works and ideas have been subject to various criticism, usually with the same argumentation used against futurology, that is that foreseeing the future is nigh im
12、possible (very much impossible). In the 1990s, his ideas were publicly lauded by Newt Gingrich. (praised by) In 1996 Alvin and Heidi Toffler founded Toffler Associates, an executive advisory firm committed to helping commercial firms and government agencies adjust to the changes described in the Tof
13、flers works.Main ideas and Paragraphs Summary In “Things: The Throw-away Society”, the author tries to convince his readers that the number of throw- away products available in the market is increasing, and this has exerted a strong psychological impact on consumers, who have come to feel that their
14、 relationships with things are getting more and more transient. Paras.1-3 are devoted to the example of the Barbie doll to introduce and illustrate his thesis: mans relationships with things are increasingly temporary. The thesis is repeatedly illustrated and supported by more examples in the rest o
15、f the text. Paras.4-5 are devoted to the psychological impact of the increasing number of man-made things on man. To sum up, Tofflers major concern: How do the impact of new technology and social change affect people? In the text, the change refers to An increasingly transient relationship man vs. t
16、hingsman vs. man The term “transient” 1.not lasting, enduring, or permanent; transitory.happiness is transient, the transient beauty of youth 2.lasting only a short time; existing briefly; temporary: transient authority. 3.staying only a short time: the transient guests at a hotel. First coined 15901600 , of transre to pass by, lit., go across How do we further elaborate the id
