I was amazed when I read the book “The Third Wave” by Alvin Toffler, an American futurist, and writer born in 1928. The first publication date on the cover of the book was 1980. I couldn't believe it, and I checked it online, and it was written and published in 1980.
What surprised me was that a book written 40 years ago shed light on many of the issues on our agenda these days. In The Third Wave, Alvin Toffler describes the characteristics of the information age and the political, social, and economic consequences it has caused.
According to Alvin Toffler, the Agricultural Society, Industrial Society, and Information Society waves have taken place in history, each creating its family structure and economic requirements.
Agricultural society replaced hunter-gatherer society, and the increase in agriculture productivity made large armies and states possible. The main family structure of the Agricultural Society, which can also be referred to as the first wave, is a large family.
Industrial civilization, which took place in the late 1600s and lasted until the mid-1900s, changed society in all regards and produced the core family and factory type. The main elements of industrial society are mass production, mass distribution, mass consumption, mass education, mass educational tools, and mass entertainment. Standardization, centralization, and concurrency are essential concepts of the second wave. Industrial civilization is characterized by gigantic factories that produce on a huge scale.
The third wave society began to emerge in the United States in the 1950s. In the information age, the number of employees in the service sector exceeded the number of employees in the industry sector. Information and service production has become the most critical element of creating value. The information society has broken up the core family and revealed family types in various forms and components. Advanced and personalized communication tools in the information society lead to the destruction of social structures that cannot create enough value. Thanks to the internet and mobile phone, the transmission of information has facilitated, social change has accelerated, accelerating change has started to cause various crises and pains.
Access to information has become easy these days. Over the years, internet access has become quite cheap and comfortable. The content we can access over the internet has become rich, and information has become a commodity that everyone can access. Of course, it can be argued that the information accessed from the internet is far from being perfect. Still, it is possible to have basic knowledge in every field by making a reasonable effort. From another point of view, information is no longer as competitive as it used to be.
When will the information age, in which Alvin Toffler said that he had started to develop from the 1950s end, and then which era will begin? Since information is almost wholly digitized and accessed from all over the world, won't the added value created in this way diminish over time?
In 1993, designer and writer Charlie Magee became the first to introduce the Imagination Age concept. According to the author, the most successful groups in human history had one thing in common: they had better communication systems than their competitors. These groups, called tribal, city-state, kingdom, company, or nation, had a higher percentage of people who had access to higher-quality information. Thanks to the communication facilities provided, they could transform this information into action.
In our age, successful groups will be the ones who have the highest percentage of individuals with an active imagination. The author states that the Imagination Age's defining technologies will be nanotechnology, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, and virtual reality.
Economist W. Michael Cox argues that employment is moving towards creative jobs. Works related to publishing, design, architecture, acting and directing, software engineering, and photography have increased dramatically over the years in the United States. According to Cox, this change in employment is a sign of the beginning of the age of imagination.
There is no consensus among opinion leaders on whether the age of imagination begins or when to start. My personal opinion is that this age has already started.
It would be a mistake to think that the imagination age would only affect businesses such as cinema, computer games, publishing, architecture, advertising, and design, which traditionally needed creativity. Throughout my banking career, I observed that the importance of innovation and creativity has increased from year to year. Creative solutions to improve business is now expected from white-collar professionals working in every sector.
If imagination is so important and its importance will increase over the years, do our children receive appropriate training? Education is still primarily seen as uploading information to children's brains. Children need more time and resources to develop critical thinking and imagination skills.
The industrial age did not end agriculture, the information age did not end the industry, and the imagination age will probably not end the ways of creating value before it. However, imagination and creativity will be much more sought after by businesses, and dreamers will shape the world's future.
Albert Einstein's quote, "imagination is more important than knowledge," appears to be finally valid for the broader masses, as well as the leaders, scientists, and artists.
A business world where repetitive jobs are automated and people are more focused on creating new things will also benefit employee satisfaction.
Thanks for reading.
Sources: https://unsplash.com/photos/qX9Ie7ieb1E and http://www.wikizeroo.com and https://giphy.com
