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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The handbook for the future, February 12, 2008
This review is from: The Shift Age (Paperback)
As a regular reader of Davis Houle's blog (www. evolutionshift.com),
I immediately ordered his newest book when publication was announced.
His latest offering, "The Shift Age", is the handbook for the future.
The touchstones of this Age may not have much relevance in the next.
The Middle East morass, the loss of U.S. influence in the
world, vanishing jobs, wealth transference, the disappearance
of the middle class, dwindling fossil fuels and global warming
are but a few of the current problems with which we are transfixed
when we should also be looking over the horizon to see where
all these events are taking us and how they will impact the
future of our civilization.
David Houle has been doing just that! Houle is the Alvin Toffler
of the Shift Age who is thinking about where we are headed and what
we should be doing now to prepare for it. I highly recommend his book
to anyone who believes in advance notice because David gives you plenty!
John A. Hennessey
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Just ordered more copies, June 11, 2008
This review is from: The Shift Age (Paperback)
The Shift Age is one of the best books I've read this year, and I read a lot of non-fiction. I just ordered more copies to give to my friends -- I can't imagine anyone not getting some good ideas from it. What I liked the most about it is how Houle brings together research, historical perspectives, and very current political and economic issues as a basis for his "Shift Age" premises. From a snapshot of our lives in the mid-1980s to a review of the Agricultural and Industrial Ages to a look at the immense changes we're experiencing today, Houle's writing is thought-provoking and engaging. I found myself thinking and talking about his ideas and statistics days after reading a section. And that's the other thing I liked about it: he has structured the book so it can be read in relatively brief chunks and still be provocative and interesting. I just don't have time to sit down and read huge pieces at once, and Houle has recognized that fact as part of the age we're in.
Interestingly enough, the other book I've been reading the last few weeks is a wonderful account of Lewis and Clark's expedition, by Stephen Ambrose (Undaunted Courage). As Ambrose talks about life 200 years ago, it's striking how much it dovetails with Houle's points about how fundamentally different the speed of change is now. Ambrose and Houle both point out that 200 years ago, NOTHING moved faster than the speed of a horse: not information, not people, not goods. Ambrose's account, as a history, leaves the point there. For Houle, that's a jumping off point in contrasting the instantaneous transmission of information today and the impact it has on all of us.
So, I'll stop. But if you have any interest in thinking about history or where we're going next, I'd buy a couple copies of this book. You're going to want to give it to people.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Welcome to Another Planet, June 27, 2008
This review is from: The Shift Age (Paperback)
I found "The Shift Age" strangely comforting. As I spin forward in my life, reaching for my cell phone while speeding along a highway, or sipping my morning coffee while reading about Earthlike worlds in the universe, or dismantling my computer with the help of a woman on the phone from India -- who calls herself Shirley, author David Houle gives me something to hold on to.
He compares what we are all experiencing to a kind of psychological earthquake - a shifting under our feet that we can't control. But to counter our concerns, he gently takes us into the past to anchor us to our humanity and then through a series of topics (technology, economy, environment, media) into a future which offers "a great transformation for us all."
Houle is an optimist with a plan; I guess that's what a futurist is. Writing about space exploration Houle says: "While it is important to search for other places than earth that might be hospitable for human life, it is even more important to look for life as we might not know it." Welcome to "The Sift Age" because living life as we might not know it is here to stay.
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