We are increasing the sophistication of deception faster than the technology of verification. The consequence of that is the end of truth.
Predictor: Toffler, Alvin
Prediction, in context:In a September 1995 article in Insight on the News, journalist Gayle M.B. Hanson offers predictions she gathered from futurists, policy analysts and administrators. The article includes material culled from the Internet and direct interviews, including some remarks made by futurist Alvin Toffler in The New York Times Magazine June 11, 1995. Hanson writes: ”Today, as we stand with one foot rooted on the terra firma of the 20th century and one foot tentatively stepping into cyberspace, the primacy of technology will not guarantee us a secure future. And even as the advertising world urges us to break down all boundaries and ‘Just Do It,’ part of what we must continue to do is survive as a culture. Futurist Alvin Toffler, writing about virtual reality, describes its ‘boundless capacity for deception.’ We are, he says, ‘increasing the sophistication of deception faster than the technology of verification. The consequence of that is the end of truth.'”
Date of prediction: January 1, 1995
Topic of prediction: Community/Culture
Subtopic: Ethics/Values
Name of publication: Insight on the News
Title, headline, chapter name: Paved With Fool’s Gold?
Quote Type: Partial quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
Page 33
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Guarino, Jennifer Anne