I command you to follow me!!! Just kidding.

It is better to err on the side of daring than the side of caution.
Alvin Toffler

Alvin Toffler wrote a book called Future Shock back in 1970.  His research into history has led him to believe that the agricultural revolution was the first wave of humans extending themselves to provide for more than just each's own interests.  Before then, humans tended to achieve their own personal needs.  I am sorry to report that I haven't spent a lot of time researching this first wave...so lets move to Toffler's second wave.

The industrial revoulution was a second wave immediate advancement.  It occured and affected human society as we know it in a shorter amount of time than the agricultural revolution.  Factories were introduced, and humans were given a new reason to be alive.  To manufacture machines that would make our lives better.  Don't forget though, that human population steadily increases as time goes on.  In my opinion the time saving machines only kept us as productive as before.  Had the industrial revolution not been successful, we would be nowhere near the status we enjoy now.  Look at third world countries for an example of a social group that could not join that industrial revolution.  But since then, there has been a third wave of advancement.  Coming sooner after the last non-political revolution than the industrial revolution occured after the agricultural revolution.

     The technological revolution has truly exploded upon this earth.  It seems that we advance faster and faster as time goes on.  How long did it take to invent the radio?  How long after that did it take to invent the television?  How about color television?  Now compare how quickly we invented forms of recording these mediums, and how quickly we advanced; first from record vinyl to 8 track to cassette tape to CD, and now MP3's.  How about the advancement from film reels to Beta, VHS, a brief stint of laser discs and finally DVD's? Every day we invent bigger, better, faster, and more ways to enjoy this technology. 

     Although I do not know the exact timing of the agricultural revolution, U.S. history has taught me that the native americans taught colonists how to use the earth to produce food.  So if that was the agricultural revolution, that happened in the 1600's.  The industrial revolution happened in the early 1900's.  The technological revolution happened in the later 1900's.  Alvin Toffler's ideas are that the acceleration of these revolution's timelines is a growing trend.  Things move and change faster and faster as we live as a human society.  We started with walking...then chariots and horse and buggy.  We finally invented the steam engine which spawned faster ways of moving across this land.  Skipping ahead we learned to fly in the air at ridiculous speeds, eventually being able to break away from the earth's gravity into space.  What does this history mean for the future?

     The real question is, "Are we ever going to slow down?"  How often can you realize that time slips away faster and faster?  Things change faster and faster.  Where does it end?  Does it end?  At this rate, we will experience changes that blow our minds day to day.  Turn your attention to culture shock.  It has been said, (I can't accept or portray this to you as fact until I experience it myself) that when a human traverses the earth and lands in another land, completely unlike the one he has grown up on, he will experience culture shock.  He will have no idea why the inhabitants would live the way they live because it completely different than anything he's ever seen.  This is how Toffler makes his point.  There will be a day when technology changes things so quickly that you may find yourself in a state of shock.  On a smaller scale, how many times have you heard of these cliches: "What is this world coming to?"  and, "What will they think of next?"  Usually muttered by older people.  People that grew up in a different speed than the younger people have experienced.  Is there a way to prevent this?

    Let's go back to the quote from Toffler that preceded all that I've typed in this entry...

It is better to err on the side of daring than the side of caution.
Alvin Toffler

     All great things have come from somebody taking chances.  Ben Franklin, the Wright brothers, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin have all risked their lives to seek advancement.  Not one advancement has come from caution.  If this teaches you nothing else, let it teach you to dispel the notion, "better safe, than sorry."  Hopefully as time advances at blistering speed, we humans can learn to deal with the changes by staying in the moment, and always being aware of what, who, when, where and why things happen.  Otherwise, you will lose control of your own life, happiness, and well-being.