The Third Wave

Alvin Toffler talks about waves in his book The Third Wave, published in 1980, that describes the transition in developed countries from industrial societies, which he calls the "Second Wave," to information age "Third Wave" societies.  Toffler is a social scientist, futurist, author and lecturer.  He has been called the third most influential voice in business after Bill Gates and Peter Drucker.      

Toffler describes three types of societies based on the concept of waves.  Each wave pushes older societies and cultures aside.  The First Wave is the settled agricultural society that replaced nomadic hunter-gatherer lifestyles.  The Second Wave began in western Europe with the Industrial Revolution and spread quickly across much of the world.  A Second Wave society includes the nuclear family, a factory-type education system and the corporation.  “Throughout Second Wave civilization, therefore, three key concepts—the war with nature, the importance of evolution, and the progress principle—provided the ammunition used by the agents of industrialism as they explained and justified it to the world.”

“In short one could move systematically through the entire code book of Second Wave civilization—from standardization to synchronization right on down to centralization, maximization, specialization, and concentration—and show, item by item, how the old ground rules that governed our daily lives and our social decision-making are in the process of being revolutionized as Third Wave civilization sweeps in.”   

From Threes, Chapter One, "The Wonder of Threes"