Alvin Toffler - the Third Wave

Alvin Toffler - The third wave

Alvin Toffler publishes The Third Wave (1980), to herald in the new culture based on information. The central premise of Toffler's book is that human history, while being complex and contradictory, can be seen to fit patterns or what he calls waves - a change of civilization.

He postulates that the transition from an: industrial society (the Second Wave - 1750 A.D.) to an information society (the Third Wave - 1950 A.D.) is best understood by looking back to the transition from the agricultural society (the First Wave - 2,000 B.C.) to the industrial society.

The Alvin Toffler novel is based on the existence of three types of societies called by the author "waves". The term wave is used to describe the social impact of every period of time and how these changes affected the world because people were forced to adapt quickly at new rules. "The third wave" is a sequel of his best-selling "Future shock" in which he describes the imminent technological transformations that caused confusion among people in the last decades.

This new civilization is so revolutionary - Toffler says - that defies the old ways of thinking, old formulas, dogmas and ideologies, because they no longer correspond to reality. "We can not cram the embryonic world of tomorrow in yesterday's cubby spaces. Neither conventional attitudes or states of mind are no longer appropriate". This is the great challenge of Alvin Toffler.

In the chapter "Political Mausoleum," Toffler points out the political message of the Third Wave - the need for confrontation with a political revolution, after which the civilization of the third wave of new policy instruments to benefit from adopting and implementing such decisions, because the political structures the type of the second wave are outdated and about to be transformed.

The first wave refers to an agricultural era which started around 8000 B.C and dominated the world until 1650-1750, though signs of this wave are seen even today in underdeveloped countries. Population of the first wave is divided into two societies:

"primitive" and "civilized". People in the "primitive" society lived in small tribes and provided their own food by fishing or hunting. The second category refers to that part of the population who worked especially the land which was the base of the economy in that period. The life was organized around the village and having or not having land determined everyone's position in the society. This lead to the formation of different classes: nobility, priests, warriors, helots, slave and serfs.

In all three civilizations existed a compact unit formed by the energy system, the production system and the distribution system. In primitive and civilized societies the energy was given by so-called "living batteries" which incorporated the human and animal muscle power and the energy provided by water, sun or wind in comparison with the industrial era when the machines took the lead. The products were made by hand and most of them were destined to their own consume. The amount of products which were intended for trade were distributed using primitive routes and wretched communications.

The "second wave" was triggered by the industrial revolution which, in almost three hundred years gain the control over the agrarian society creating an era of confusion and battles between the agrarian past and the industrialized future. The two waves collide. Like I said before the machines took the place of men in this new environment when the energy was based on fossil fuels like oil or gas considered endlessly. This led to the apparition of mass production who required a huge amount of capital and for this to happen was created the corporation and the concept of limited liability to attract investors. They tried to introduce the principles who were guiding the factories- considered to be the most important factor in production- in others areas such as school, hospitals and in the end in all aspects of the society.

The second wave was also characterized by the nuclear family (a family was formed by fewer members with more mobility) and the education system built on the factory model.

Another important thing that describe the new era is that the society was split into two parts: the producers and the consumers in comparison with the first wave when we can equal them; we talk now about a disrupted economy.

The second wave was also the beginning of new technological instruments that made possible the existence of a more larger view