Future Shock
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{{infobox Book | <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Novels or Wikipedia:WikiProject_Books -->
| name = Future Shock
| title_orig =
| translator =
| image = [[Image:Future shock.png|200px]]
| image_caption =
| author = [[Alvin Toffler]]
| illustrator =
| cover_artist =
| country = [[United States]]
| language = [[English language|English]]
| series =
| genre = [[Futurology]]
| publisher = [[Random House]]
| release_date = 1970
| media_type = Print ([[Hardcover|Hardback]] & [[Paperback]])
| pages =
| isbn = ISBN 0-394-42586-3 (Original hardcover)
| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
}}
'''''Future Shock''''' is a book written by the [[sociologist]] and [[futurologist]] [[Alvin Toffler]] in [[1970]]. The book is actually an extension of an article of the same name that Toffler wrote for the February 1970 issue of ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]''. The book has sold over 6 million copies and has been widely translated.
Future shock is also a term for a certain psychological state of individuals and entire societies, introduced by Toffler in his book of the same name. Toffler's shortest definition of future shock is a personal perception of "''too much change in too short a period of time''". The concept of future shock bears resemblance to the late 20th/early 21st century concept of "the [[technological singularity]]", and may have been influenced by [[Thomas Kuhn|Kuhn's]] concept of a [[paradigm shift]].
A documentary film based on the book was released in 1972 with [[Orson Welles]] as on-screen narrator.
==Term==
Toffler argues that 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 leaving them disconnected and suffering from "shattering stress and disorientation" – future shocked. Toffler stated that the majority of social problems were symptoms of the '''future shock'''. In his discussion of the components of such shock, he also coined the term "[[information overload]]".
His analysis of that phenomenon is continued in his later publications, especially ''[[The Third Wave (book)|The Third Wave]]'' and ''[[Powershift (book)|Powershift]]''.
==In popular culture==
{{Trivia|date=September 2007}}
[[Curtis Mayfield]]'s song "[[Future Shock (song)|Future Shock]]" on the album "[[Back to the World]]" took its name from this book, and was in turn covered by [[Herbie Hancock]] as the title track for his 1983 recording ''[[Future Shock (album)|Future Shock]]''. That album was considered groundbreaking for fusing [[jazz]] and [[funk]] with [[electronic music]]. [[Darren Hayes]] name checks the phrase many times in his song "[[Me Myself And I]]". At least two more releases have been named for the book, [[Future Shock (Gillan album)|a 1981 album]] by [[Gillan]] and [[Future Shock (Stratovarius album)|a 1988 single]] by [[Stratovarius]]. Other works taking their title from the book include a segment on the ''[[Daily Show]]'' starring [[Samantha Bee]], Kevin Goldstein's recurring column on the ''[[Baseball Prospectus]]'' website, a ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]'' pre-constructed deck, and the [[National Wrestling Alliance]]'s [[Starrcade (1989)|1989 Starrcade]] event.
UK Comic [[2000 AD (comic)|2000 AD]] ran a series of short stories called Future Shocks based on this concept, some of which were written by [[Alan Moore]]. The term was abbreviated and applied to citizens in 2000 AD stories as 'Futzies' (Derogatory).
Some works used similar titles with a twist, including the third season ''[[Futurama]]'' episode "[[Future Stock]]" (episode 21) and the comic ''[[Future Shocks]]''.
The Heavy Metal band [[SINISSTAR]] titled it's debut record "Future Shock" (Geffen Records-2002).
Works deriving themes and elements from Future Shock include the science fiction novels ''[[The Forever War]]'' (1974) by [[Joe Haldeman]], ''[[The Shockwave Rider]]'' (1975) by [[John Brunner (novelist)|John Brunner]], and the [[indie RPG]] ''Shock: Social Science Fiction'' (2006) by designer Joshua A.C. Newman.
The Baltimore music scene centered around [[Dan Deacon]] and the [[Wham City]] collective calls its spaztic brand of electro pop "Future Shock".
In the 1995 film ''[[Johnny Mnemonic]]'', the fictional disease Nerve Attenuation Syndrome (NAS), caused by overexposure to electromagnetic radiation, is described by one character as "[[information overload]]."
==Reprints==
The book has been reprinted several times. [[ISBN]]s include:
* ISBN 0-394-42586-3 ([[hardcover]], Random House, 1970)
* ISBN 0-8488-0645-X (hardcover, Amereon Ltd, 1970)
* ISBN 0-553-20626-5 ([[mass market paperback]], 1981)
* ISBN 0-553-27737-5 (mass market paperback, 1984)
* ISBN 0-553-24649-6 ([[paperback]], 1984)
* ISBN 5-553-85765-1 (mass market paperback, 1991)
* ISBN 0-8085-0152-6 (mass market paperback in [[library binding]], 1999)
== See also ==
* [[Adhocracy]]
* [[Culture shock]]
* [[Law of disruption]]
* [[Neo-luddism]]
== Further reading ==
* [http://yudkowsky.net/sing/shocklevels.html ''Future Shock Levels''] by [[Eliezer Yudkowsky]]
* [http://www.acceleratingfuture.com/michael/works/shocklevelanalysis.htm ''Future Shock Level Analysis''] by [[Michael Anissimov]]
==External links==
* [http://www.transpacificradio.com/2006/11/07/words-on-words-big-debut-how-loan-words-exacerbate-future-shock-in-japan/ Discussion the impact of language on Future Shock] (Streaming audio & mp3)
* [http://oddculture.com/2004/11/13/movie-review-future-shock/ Movie review for Future Shock]
* [http://oddculture.com/2007/05/05/future-shock-documentary-video-toffler/ Click here to watch the whole movie of Future Shock]
[[Category:1970 books]]
[[Category:Futurology books]]
[[Category:Technology in society]]
[[fr:Future Shock]]
[[he:הלם העתיד]]
[[ru:Футурошок]]
[[sr:Шок будућности]]