Seat Work
Do the demands of others tend to make people more productive than they would be without such pressure?
That’s the question this month’s crop of aspiring college applicants attempted to answer. Of course the demands of others make us more productive. If it weren’t for Pearson contacting me each month to score essays, I might be one of the least productive people I know.
Apart from Pearson wanting me to read a couple thousand essays every month, I have no one demanding anything of me. Nothing. Nada. No one asking me or telling me to do anything. Where all the external constraints went, I do not know. I just woke up one day and noticed they were gone.
But I’m back in my work chair now, sitting here in my paperless office reading student essays all day, trying to be productive. When I’m not scoring essays, I’m busy all day getting information overloaded. It’s dizzying.
Alvin Toffler coined the term information overload in his 1970 best seller Future Shock. I had to read that book in college and I’ve never forgotten it. In it, Toffler predicts a return to cottage industry brought on by the information age. He describes what this new age will mean.
Society is undergoing an enormous structural change, a revolution from an industrial society to a super-industrial society. This change will overwhelm people. The accelerated rate of technological and social change will leave them disconnected and suffering from shattering stress and disorientation – future shock. The majority of social problems will be symptoms of this future shock.
He got it right—forty years ago. Who says futurists don’t know what they’re talking about? Alvin Toffler certainly did.
Future shock has arrived. Too much change in too short a period of time is what we are all going through right now. It absolutely is dizzying.
I’m going to play futurist here for a minute and make a prediction of my own. I predict that everything is going to be alright, because it always is. If you don’t believe me, just look out your window right now. There’s your proof. Everything is always alright, it always has been and always will be.
Be kind to yourself, get some fresh air, and remember: That air is shared by every living creature on this planet. What you are breathing right now may once have been inside a baby panda.
We truly are all in this together.
February 1st, 2010 at 8:59 pm
Future shock, I had forgotten about this. He certainly got the ’symptoms’ right, but as to whether or not there will be a return to cottage industry, not sure. I do believe everything will be alright - for the planet anyway, as it can regenerate itself. For us, humanity? Not as sold on that yet, I think some lines have been fundamentally crossed that make this era of history different. But I do believe in our power to change that - technologically, socially, spiritually, so we will see….
Interested to hear if anything interesting comes out of this batch of essays too!
February 1st, 2010 at 11:33 pm
Great reminder. It seems many areas of human endeavor are reaching non-sustainability. Whether this leads to spiritual awakening or not remains to be seen. In the meantime, the panda has it right!
February 2nd, 2010 at 11:43 pm
Screwing up on a humanity-wide basis makes for the most thrilling story of all! Will we? Won’t we? Tune in for the next exciting installment of Traders of the Tossed Lark!
February 4th, 2010 at 1:07 pm
You three people continually challenge, inform, and inspire me.
Lisa, I’d like to know more about why you think this era in history is different.
Kaushik, I’d like to read your take on the non-sustainability issue.
Suzanne, your comment above is without doubt the best comment ever left here. I am amazed by and in awe of your unique style.
Thanks, guys. I love you!