The illiterate of the future will not be the person who cannot read. It will be the person who does not know how to learn.
Alvin TofflerRead
To think that the new economy is over is like somebody in London in 1830 saying the entire industrial revolution is over because some textile manufacturers in Manchester went broke.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes that setbacks in one area do not signify the end of progress in a broader context.
Alvin Toffler's quote draws a parallel between the challenges faced by specific sectors during the industrial revolution and the misunderstandings surrounding the new economy. It suggests that just as the industrial revolution was not defined by temporary failures of textile manufacturers, the new economy is not doomed by isolated failures. Rather, it highlights the ongoing evolution and potential for growth amidst challenges.
In practice
A speaker at a technology conference discussing the resilience of innovation despite recent economic downturns.
The illiterate of the future will not be the person who cannot read. It will be the person who does not know how to learn.
Any decent society must generate a feeling of community. Community offsets_x000D_ _x000D_ loneliness. It gives people a vitally necessary sense of belonging. Yet today_x000D_ _x000D_ the institutions on which community depends are crumbling in all the_x000D_ _x000D_ techno-societies. The result is a spreading plague of loneliness.
Future shock is the disorientation that affects an individual, a corporation, or a country when he or it is overwhelmed by change and the prospect of change ... we are in collision with tomorrow.
The Law of Raspberry Jam: the wider any culture is spread, the thinner it gets.
If you don't have a strategy, you're part of someone else's strategy.
The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.
Human beings do metamorphose. They change their identity constantly. However, each new identity thrives on the delusion that it was always in possession of the body it has just conquered.
No country in the world can yet say they have achieved gender equality.
The snake which cannot cast its skin has to die. As well the minds which are prevented from changing their opinions; they cease to be mind.
Great cultural changes begin in affectation and end in routine.
The danger is that people may mistake what is basically a change in vocabulary for a change in behavior, practices, and attitudes. While practically all Americans have learned to talk inoffensively, not enough have learned to think differently, nor act positively.
Security can only be achieved through constant change, through discarding old ideas that have outlived their usefulness and adapting others to current facts.
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