Although Toffler has not written an in-depth philosophical analysis of social problems, he certainly has written a highly readable popular diagnosis of the phenomenon of cultural change which social philosophers should be considering, and has given a synoptic view of contemporary culture similar to Pitirim Sorokin's popular Crisis of Our Age in the forties. Toffler's thesis is "that there are discoverable limits to the amount of change that the human organism can absorb, and that by endlessly accelerating change (...) without first determining these limits, we may submit masses of men to demands they simply cannot tolerate." Future shock is, therefore, both the physical and psychological impairment caused by reluctance and inability to absorb the rapid changes that an age of discontinuity produces. Psychic distress is identified in Leon Festinger's arresting phrase, "cognitive dissonance," the rejection or denial of information that challenges preconceptions. Physical distress is analyzed by such interesting research tools as the Rahe Life-Change Units Scale which attempts to correlate change factors with physical health. The philosophic base of modern life is seen in a Heraclitean or Bergsonian flux which ontologizes change itself and sees social and political conflict inevitably provoked by rapid change confronting an older society whose substantialist structures reflect more the stable and enduring values of an older culture. It is from the vantage point of change theory that Toffler explains the contemporary turmoil in domestic, social, political, and religious realms; and although he does not employ the more formal idiom of a Vico or Spengler in the discussion of Zeitgeist, he recognizes thought and life style as even more significant than ever in a culture in which communication is so widespread and immediate. He uses the imagery of eight hundred 62-year lifetimes to illustrate man's history of the last 50,000 years, noting the comparative stability of the previous segments and the bewildering rapidity of change cycle of idea, application, and diffusion in the last sixty-year period. He analyzes progressively the accelerative thrust that creates conflict between cultures and generations; describes the typical attitudes of citizens in an Age of Transience towards time, things, places, people, organization, and ideas; and sees "modular" man as a being for whom permanence of marriage, career, educational values, and convictions yields to "temporariness." Organizations in such a climate are characterized by lateral rather than hierarchical power relationships in which "super-industrial man," committed more to his craft than to his company, assumes more decision-making responsibility in an "adhocracy" of transient values and relationships. Toffler interestingly sees bureaucracy on the decline, technology as contributing to plurality of choice rather than to standardization, and to a kinetic imagery of impermanence in aesthetics. For the most part, Toffler, the diagnostician, resists the temptation to be the pleader. His happily infrequent divagations produce less than satisfactory critiques of family life, education, and genetic engineering. It is inevitable that this book will be criticized by specialists as bewilderingly diffuse, and verging at times on science fiction; it is possible too that the strategy of "social futurism" suggested by the author will elicit less than undiluted enthusiasm, and that inexact references to Toynbee and Maritain may be questioned. But the essential purpose of this volume to give a unified vision of contemporary culture in terms of the adaptive reaction to change--all this has been admirably realized. And one feels that the author indeed possesses the vision and research tools for particularized study in the areas treated here quite generally.--R. P. M. (shrink)

Abstract:Previous research has identified multiple approaches to the design and implementation of corporate ethics programs (Paine, 1994; Weaver, Treviño, and Cochran, in press b; Treviño, Weaver, Gibson, and Toffler, in press). This field survey in a large financial services company investigated the relationships of the values and compliance orientations in an ethics program to a diverse set of outcomes. Employees’ perceptions that the company ethics program is oriented toward affirming ethical values were associated with seven outcomes. Perceptions of a (...) compliance orientation were associated with four of these outcomes. The interaction of values and compliance orientations was associated with employees’ willingness to report misconduct. In general, a values orientation makes a greater unique contribution to the measured outcomes when compared to a compliance orientation. (shrink)

_Purpose._ The article presents exploring the cultural and anthropological traits of consumers and producers of cultural services and products in the digital epoch. There have been singled out two types of cultural subjectivity according to the aim of a person’s activity in the virtual net: either production of things, services, and technologies or the consumption and creative use of all mentioned innovations. So these sociocultural formations are called "geek" and "chic" subcultures. _Theoretical basis._ The historical genealogy of the definitions was (...) analyzed, so as the changes in social esteem of the contribution of geeky persons to modern art and design practices. Social and cultural identities of those who belong to the modern youth-subcultural communities have been formed according to the topology and temporality of digital trends. To explain the worldview characteristics of the members of those subcultures the concept of "the New Middle Ages" was used to discover the values and pursuits of those who represent geek and chic subcultures. The study is based on the theoretical works of such classical authors as A. Toffler, and Z. Bauman, as well as current investigators of youth cultures. They are Calum Finister, Thomas V. Pollet, Nick Neave, Jessica McCain, Billy Wong. The chic subculture is oriented toward the imitation of visual images, consumer habits, and the way of life of successful (or seemed to be such) people. Glamorous followers need to receive approvals and likes from like-minded people. The geek subculture is more inner-sense-oriented. It unites intellectuals and activists who have common creative intentions. _Originality._ There have been analyzed the main attributes and features of such modern subcultures were conditionally named chic and geek. They were analyzed in the context of the concept of the New Middle Ages. _Conclusions._ The virtual user’s life world seems to be diverse only quantitatively, but qualitatively it is as narrow, mythopoetic, and esoterically uncritical as the world of the Medieval person, who used to live the whole life in the same place, mai in one’s village. But thanks to the merger of the IT industry with effective social management, the geek culture becomes a powerful super-subculture that defends values of social good, industrial productivity, and cultural creativity. Chic subculture creates new trends in fashion and art discourse. It develops modern lifestyles, its visual images with which our era will be associated in the future. (shrink)

No political, economic, or cultural segment of society has escaped the universal impact of recent cataclysmic change. Physicians were no exception. During the 20th century, all members of society, including physicians, have experienced change of enormous speed and magnitude. Futurist Alvin Toffler noted that global societal transformation has created a of personal malaise that poses difficulty for both individual and group adaptation. Toffler further described current change as a fundamental shift and conflict in all aspects of civilization (how (...) we live, work, and relate to each other). Toffler also noted major alterations in the basis for distribution of societal power (who controls what, why, and how). One manifestation of recent change directly affecting all members of society, includingphysicians, has been the social transformation of medicine that has been a power shift from the individual physicians to control by organizations and management. (shrink)

Every ASEAN member envisions itself to become economically and politically efficient and stable—of becoming a First World country. No doubt there are many ways of approaching this vision and making it a reality. But I will argue in this paper that education can play a major role in transforming the region into a First World technopole or economic power through what Alvin Toffler calls the philosophy of “educational futurism.” Educational futurism states that we tailor our present educational plans on (...) our future dreams or visions. (shrink)

Today's industrial society is having an encounter with ecology: in April, 1976 the French government presented the National Assembly with documents on the dumping and burning of waste in the sea, as well as on the protection of nature. Electoral campaigns, discussions and demonstrations are centered about the theme of pollution and environment. In the last century the accumulation of waste had already become a problem : “ One of the most important duties of industry is to find a useful (...) employment for waste,” wrote P. L. Simmons in 1875. The advice was heeded if we may believe what J. Gottmann wrote on the matter nearly a century later: “ If our era is to be defined by its most important raw material and one that is truly proper to it, as is done for the Bronze Age or the Iron Age, we may no longer speak of a Steel or Petroleum Age, nor of an Atomic Age (which may come in the future) but of the Garbage Age.” The extraordinary demographic expansion of humanity that has gone from a population of five million in the Paleolithic Age to four billion today gives rise to a monstrous abundance of refuse resulting as much from the natural mechanisms of living as from industrial activity (factory waste) or from the present attitude haunted by the idea of obsolescence (the throw-away society of Alvin Toffler). The outline of a universe submerged in waste matter appears, similar to that evoked by Italo Calvino in Città Invisibili apropos of the town of Leonia: “The refuse of Leonia would gradually invade the world if the interminable garbage heaps were not pressed upon, beyond the last crest, by the refuse of other towns that also push mountains of refuse far away from themselves. Perhaps the entire world beyond the borders of Leonia is covered with craters of trash, each with a continually erupting metropolis in its center. The borders between foreign or enemy towns are thus contaminated bastions in which the detritus of the one and the other serves as mutual support, menacing and mixing together.” The world of Metamorphosis is approaching in which man, transformed into an insect, covered with dust and remains of food, gnaws on the cores and parings of half-rotten vegetables. Science fiction invents a remedy to fit the problem : a planet specialized in storing all the garbage unloaded by an entire galaxy. (shrink)

The article analyzes the issues of the philosophy and ideology of the future from the point of view of the theory of self-organization, or synergetics. This interdisciplinary approach allows researchers to focus their efforts on the key problems of the development of civilization and, in particular, on designing the future. In the theory of valuable information developed by D.S. Chernavsky, it is shown that there is a number of knowledge, skills, and abilities that increase the probability of their holders to (...) survive and convey essential information to the future generations. In the 21st century, civilizational choice and ideology will be such knowledge. Several “brief histories of the future” are currently popular, from S. Lem and A. Toffler to J. Attali and S.P. Huntington. All of them focus on the projection onto society of achieved or promising industrial technical changes. D. Bell’s theory of post-industrial development as well as the theory of the humanitarian and technological revolution, which is actively developing at the present time, show that this is not correct. The key factor will be the image of the desired future, which underlies the ideology adopted by the elites and public consciousness. The article shows that now a choice is being made between the society that adopts a new leftist ideology or the New Middle Ages. The current socio-economic and military-political instability in the world, which was clearly demonstrated by the situation of the COVID-19 pandemic, shows that without it the world will be dependent on the establishment and other centers of power pursuing their own, far from common, interests. (shrink)

Though there is a higher and wider significance to life, of what value is our education if we never discover it? We may be highly educated, but if we are without deep integration of thought and feeling, our lives are incomplete, contradictory and torn with many fears; and as long as education does not cultivate an integrated outlook on life, it has very little significance.1 Jiddh Krishnamurti, 1953All education springs from some image of the future. If the image of the (...) future held by a society is grossly inaccurate, its education system will betray its youth.2 Alvin Toffler, 1974. (shrink)

"Change is not merely necessary to life--it is life." That's Alvin Toffler, characteristically stating the profound in a profoundly direct way. And yes, even when we see change coming--as we're about to graduate from school, take a new job, get married--it's still not so easy to accept. And when we don't see it coming--oof, we have an even harder time. Here to help us embrace change and defuse its unsettling power is Change Happens, a full-color illustrated gift book to (...) consult, to share, to give, and to keep on a night table. Curated by Kathryn and Ross Petras, the ultimate connoisseurs of quotes whose books and calendars have over 4.5 million copies in print, these words of wisdom inspire us to be open to change and remind us that nothing positive in life ever happens without it. Arranged alphabetically by subject--including Adapting, Curveballs, Faith, Letting Go, Regrets, Second Chances, Vulnerability--it's a book to turn to in moments of need, when offering advice to a friend or loved one, when urging a child to find the courage to take a step, when marking an important occasion. (shrink)

The report is devoted to elaboratation creative philosophical models for optimization multi-cultural dialogue into “post modern” global society. The main idea of the article is to describe the basic philosophical models (rooting in ancient philosophy, as the most seriously and fundamental theoretical positions for solution the problem of many-pole's world), connecting them with the main points of modern philosophers (F. Fucuyama, A. Toffler, S. Hantington, S. Averintsev, A. Panarin, Y. Lotman, S. Filatov, A. Malashenco, E. Volkhova etc). The dialogue (...) of cultures is the “other side” of the process of globalization. The question about possible strategies of intercultural interaction, its opportunities and limits, as well as potential grounds for mutual understanding is ultimately vital todayfor contemporary philosophy of culture. Its solution determines perspective of consolidation of sodium as well as selection of definite position in the dialogue itself – whether it will be an isolationism leading to the “end of history” as to the returning to cyclic model of life of human community; or there will be retained an orientation for mutual displacement of value priorities (war of ideologies) as competitive adaptive programs. In any case the globalizing world in the order of self-organization in the next decades will stop at the selection of any definite strategy. (shrink)

The relevance of the research is that the information and computer communications of scientific and educational activity as a factor of the development of the information society are analyzed. Statement of the task - the modern stage of the socio-political development of Ukraine is characterized by the unprecedented pace of development of a new information and communication arrangement of scientific and educational activities in society and, as a result, its development as informational and civic. Object of research - information and (...) computer communications of scientific and educational activity as a complex social, cultural and economic phenomenon. The subject of research is the influence of the information society on the development of information and computer communication of scientific and educational activities. Analysis of recent publications and research. The author focuses on the analysis of the problems of the informational society, which was investigated in the works of I. Wallerstain, Z.Bzhezynsky, D. Bell, J.Gelbreyt, P.Drucker, A.Lazarevich, A.Porter, O.Toffler, and R.Hatcheson, as well as in the works of domestic scientists - V. Andrushchenko, V.Voronkova, O.Kivlyuk, M.Kyrychenko, A.Punchenko, D.Sviridenko. Selection of unexplored parts of the general problem. Unsolved earlier part of the general problem. Setting objectives. Representatives of the modern scientific and educational environment did not notice in due time that with the advent of the computer in the world fundamental concepts of education, man, science, the Universe, temporal measurements of time, tendencies of the development of the modern world have changed significantly. Education determines the pace of world development, and the ownership of its markets began an unprecedented rigorous competition. Information and knowledge have become a tremendous wealth, an intangible asset to the development of nations and states. Methodology of the research - the use of synergistic and axiological methods that contribute to deep penetration into the essence of the object and subject of research. Scientific novelty of the research. This scientific study involves addressing the socio-philosophical meaning of the concept of information and computer communications of scientific and educational activity as a factor in the development of the information society. Presenting the main material : the problems concerning the global informatization of the society that stimulated all processes of international cooperation of people have been revealed; due to the development of the information and communication sphere, the needs of management systems of the states, societies and their citizens in various informational services have been determined, radical changes in all security systems of socio-political relations; the historical tendency of development of industrial, then - postindustrial and informational society on the basis of the concept of J.Masuda is analyzed; it was disclosed that the progress of the information and education problem requires us to improve considerably the educational information and communication systems and technologies of education; the directions of improvement of information and computer communications of scientific and educational activity as the factor of development of the information society are substantiated. Conclusions - the concept of information and computer communications of scientific and educational activity as a factor of development of the information society is formed. The result of the research is the development of the directions of reforming the education system in Ukraine and the use of concepts for the introduction of computer information and communication technologies for these purposes. (shrink)

The dramatic changes in the life of the twentieth-century society associated with the development of the information sphere led to the emergence of the concept of an information society, which has identified as the main factor of development the production and use of information. This concept is a variant of the theory of post-industrial society, based on Z. Brzezinski, D. Bell and O. Toffler. According to the latter, this society will emerge as the most technically advanced and at the (...) same time as an anti-industrial civilization, which will bring with it a new code of conduct. The peculiarity of the information society was noted by N. Luman. "If the concept of society presupposes the central importance of domination or values," he notes, "in this case, not only the obvious regional diversity and complexity of communication, but also, first and foremost, the extent to which the" information society "decentralized but interconnected communication across the globe through its networks - a trend that will certainly only increase with the help of computerization in the near future". (shrink)

As part of our small contribution in dialogue toward better peace development and reconciliation studies, and following Toffler & Toffler’s War and Antiwar (1993), the present article delves into a realm of logic beyond the traditional confines of negation and the excluded middle principle, exploring the nuances of "Otherness" that transcend classical and Nagatomo logics. Departing from the foundational premises of classical Aristotelian logic systems, this exploration ventures into alternative realms of reasoning, specifically examining Neutrosophic Logic and Klein (...) bottle logic (cf. Smarandache, 2005). The study challenges conventional boundaries and explores the implications of embracing paradoxes and self-reference in logic systems, aiming to redefine approaches to understanding truth and reasoning. The paper investigates how these alternative logics open avenues for philosophical inquiry, redefining entropy, and potentially influencing innovative perspectives in free energy systems. Through this exploration, it seeks to expand the discourse on logic, welcoming a broader spectrum of thought beyond established frameworks; and we also discuss shortly a number of possible implementations including in risk management and also Klein bottle entropy redefinition (Tang et al, 2018). (shrink)

The article deals with the socio-cultural nature of information and studies its role in increasing global turbulence. Based on the methodological grounds put forward by A. Toffler, S. Moscovici, N. Chomsky, R. Patzlaff, O. Aronson, dialectical and systemic methods, the authors argue that the infodemic roots in stereotypical thinking generated by mass culture, as well as informatization and computerization of social relations. Mass culture contributed to a decrease in the level of critical thinking and caused the so-called ‘clip consciousness’. (...) The paper substantiates the idea that the infodemic became most evident during the coronavirus pandemic, and the spread of hybrid and information wars within the world scale. The infodemic organically correlates with the world of post-truth, where a person does not seek the truth but up-to-date information. The fact of whether the information is true or not in such a context becomes secondary to the cliché of the stereotypical consciousness of an individual, social group, or society as a whole. (shrink)

The current global crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic has already become a challenge for individual national economies, as well as the global world system as a whole. The eminent English historian Toynbee wrote that the viability of a civilization depends on the extent to which its elite can mobilize its intellectual, moral, and physical strength to respond adequately to the challenges. Therefore, challenges are necessary for humanity since without them one would deal with spiritual and intellectual stagnation. Indeed, that (...) which does not kill us makes us stronger. This aphorism becomes especially relevant in present times when the world is concerned with what the “post-covid” world will be, what transformations the values and worldview of individuals will undergo. The coronavirus pandemic acts in this case as a catalyst and accelerator for change and forces one to pay attention to them. As Toffler once pointed out, “The inhabitants of the earth are divided not only by race, nation, religion or ideology, but also, in a sense, by their position in time”. The future is rapidly coming, although only a few per cent of the entire human population “live” in the future, that is, are psychologically ready for it. The vast majority of people live with old ideas, stereotypes, and norms of past generations. This does not mean that one should break “the link of times” and recklessly erase the historical past. However, one cannot ignore the fact that a new era is being replaced by a new one. (shrink)

Sociocultural changes associated with the development of information and digital technologies lead to structural shifts in society – a new format of heterogeneity of structural elements and the system of social relations between these elements is created. As a result, in the conditions of the modern information society, new class-forming stratification criteria of inequality arise, which relate to the presence/absence of digital resources and access to them. The existing level of digital capital of the agent of the social system will (...) be important in this sense. The influence of digitization and ICT technologies leads to the fact that “in the information society, classes are replaced by socially undifferentiated “information communities” (E.Masuda). “Small” economic forms are replacing traditional bulky corporations: individual activity at home, “electronic college” (O.Toffler), changes in traditional printing with “electronic books”, changes in ideology, transformation of unemployment into secured leisure (H.Evans)”. The purpose of the article is to develop the conceptual basis for the study of digital inequality in the conditions of a digitalized society. The methodological basis of the article is the structural-constructivist paradigm, the concepts of the information and network society of E.Masud, M. Castells, and O.Tofler, theoretical aspects of the scientific works of Z.Bauman, J.C.Ramo, M.Rogers. In the preparation of the scientific work, general scientific methods of cognition - analysis and synthesis, comparative studies, generalization and directly sociological method - secondary data analysis were used. This scientific work is dedicated to the study of the impact of digitalization on the processes of structuring Ukrainian society and the sociological conceptualization of a new mode of the stratification system - digital inequality. The article characterizes the main features of the information society, formulates markers of digital inequality, offers a conceptualization of the concepts of digital poverty and digital capital. The article has theoretical significance for the further development of empirical markers of fixing digital inequality in the study of structural dimensions of modern society. (shrink)