Too much change, too fast, bamboozles and confuses us
Orson Welles of Citizen Kane fame is smoking a cigar while walking through an airport.
It’s 1972, and Mr. Welles is the host of a documentary on Alvin Toffler’s book, Future Shock. The book was a big hit in the 1970s but is little talked about now. And yet, what Toeffler wrote about then, we can see today.
Including one big thing: ANXIETY.
“Future Shock” describes a psychological condition of distress and disorientation caused by experiencing too much change in too short a time. Modern technology, while sophisticated, imposes a significant psychological and societal cost, leading to an age of anxiety and stress. Future Shock is a psychological disorder, according to Toeffler, that leads to confusion, helplessness, and an inability to adapt to the world around.
“We are in fact the victims of our own technological strengths,” Welles says. “We are the victims of shock… of Future Shock! [Music]”
Our lives, our bodies, are disposable
The documentary delves into the accelerating pace of life and the overwhelming choices and decisions that people face daily in a technology-driven, fast-paced environment. Our lives, our bodies, are disposable. There is an impermanence in modern life, from products to relationships. Our “pre-cooked pre-packaged plastic wrapped instant society” leads to a constant sense of temporariness and instability.
“We breed a new race of Nomads,” Welles warns.
This disposability extends to the human body, with advancements in medical technology like transplants and prosthetics.
“One more step toward an artificial man,” Welles says, grimly. “Joints, bone sockets, sometimes better than the original! Replacing inner bones as plastic surgery replaces the outer skin… all stepping stones toward the temporary person.” Welles (via Toeffler) warns of the intentional manipulation of human genetics and the potential to create life with chosen characteristics.
Remember, this is 1972.
The coming AI revolution
Toeffler, channeled through Orson Welles, predicts the coming age of AI.
“Machines like these can see, hear, touch, smell… We can solve problems that would normally require human intelligence. Like simple living organisms they respond to changes around them, and act accordingly.”
As machines become more human-like and are integrated into daily life, the line between human and machine blurs, Toeffler thought, leading to complex psychological and social dynamics. And, social problems!
Fluid identities, fluid social institutions
As our identities become fluid, our social institutions radically shift or disintegrate. In response to the challenges of modern life, marriage and family become group marriages and communal living. Education, religion, and values and norms undergo a rapid shift.
Toeffler warns about the potential dangers of uncontrolled technological advancement. Without critical evaluation and control, Toeffler thought, technology could overwhelm the human capacity to adapt, leading to further Future Shock.
Doesn’t anyone live at home, anymore?
In Toeffler’s 1970s Future Shock, nothing lasts and it’s all too much to bear.
Toeffler takes over for Welles. “We can no longer allow technology just to come roaring down at us,” Toeffler says. “I think we must begin to say no to certain kinds of technology and to begin to control technological change. Because we’ve now reached the point at which the technology is so powerful, and it is so rapid, that it could destroy us unless we control it! But what’s most important is that we do not simply accept everything; that we begin to make critical decisions about what kind of world we want, and what kind of technology we want.”
Welles is back as an invisible voice. Children of the 1970s are on the screen.
“Our children,” Welles begins, somberly, with a tinge of paternalism in his voice. “Will we save them from Future Shock, or are they destined to suffer the same illness that rocks today’s society? The directions we choose have consequences not merely for us the choices we make, will determine the nature of their world…”
“There is still time.”
Indeed, here we are.
Notes
“Future Shock” the documentary was directed by Alex Grasshoff and narrated by Orson Welles. Future Shock, the book, was published in 1970. It had sold 6 million copies.
Josh Dubrow wrote this with the help of AI.
Copyright Occam’s Press 2023
Occam's Press 
Leave a comment