Alvin Toffler (born October 4, 1928) is an American writer and futurist, known for his works discussing the digital revolution, communication revolution and technological singularity.Toffler is a former associate editor of Fortune magazine. In his early works he focused on technology and its impact through effects like information overload. He moved on to examining the reaction to changes in society. His later focus has been on the increasing power of 21st-century military hardware, the proliferation of new technologies, and capitalism.He founded Toffler Associates, a management consulting company, and was a visiting scholar at the Russell Sage Foundation, visiting professor at Cornell University, faculty member of the New School for Social Research, a White House correspondent, an editor of Fortune magazine, and a business consultant.Toffler is married to Heidi Toffler, also a writer and futurist. They live in the Bel Air section of Los Angeles, California, just north of Sunset Boulevard.The couple’s only child, Karen Toffler, (1954–2000), died at the age of 46 after more than a decade suffering from Guillain–Barré syndrome.
I coined the term future shock to describe the shattering stress and disorientation that we induce in individuals by subjecting them to too much change in too short a time. Fascinated by this concept, I spent the next five years visiting scores of universities, research centers, laboratories, and government agencies, reading countless articles and scientific papers, and interviewing literally hundreds of experts on different aspects of change, coping behavior, and the future.
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A journalist turned futurist, or speculative sociologist, Toffler invented the term "future shock" to describe "the dizzying disorientation brought on by the premature arrival of the future." His 1970 book, "Future Shoc", was on the bestseller list, in its hardcover edition and later as a Bantam paperback, for a total of 78 weeks. A movie fan and amateur pilot, he also wrote the books "The Third Wave" (Morrow, 1980), "The Adaptive Corporation" (McGraw-Hill, 1985), "Powershift: Knowledge, Wealth, and Violence at the Edge of the 21st Century" (Bantam, 1990), "War and Anti-War: Survival at the Dawn of the 21st Century" (Little, Brown, 1993), and "Creating a New Civilization: the Politics of the Third Wave" (Turner, 1995).
Writer
Title
Year
Status
Character
Future Shock
1972
Documentary short book
Self
Title
Year
Status
Character
All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace
2011
TV Mini-Series documentary
Himself
The Reality of Me (TROM)
2011
Documentary
Himself
The Singularity Is Near
2010
Documentary
The Boomer Century
2007
TV Movie documentary
Himself
The 20th Century: Yesterday's Tomorrows
1999
TV Movie documentary
Himself
Turn Ben Stein On
1999
TV Series
Himself
The Works
1997
TV Series documentary
Himself
Advanced English: Interviews with the Famous
1995
TV Series
Himself
America Undercover
1993
TV Series documentary
Himself
Don't Ask Me, Ask God
1984
TV Movie
Himself
Good Morning America
1975-1976
TV Series
Himself
The Mike Douglas Show
1971-1975
TV Series
Himself - Author
The David Frost Show
1972
TV Series
Himself
The City in the Image of Man: Ideas and Work of Paolo Soleri
$200,000
