The future shock paper definitely was a good read. The beginning really got me thinking about how today’s society has transformed on every level due to our “throw away” mentality. From a psychological standpoint to the physical world. People are users and abusers and take for granted the fact that the resources we have are limited. Plastic shopping bags are ridiculous. At the store I have to tell the person performing the transaction that I do not want a bag every single time. I guess it is just second nature to them to put it in a plastic bag. People who keep their things are stereotyped as hoarders and this is because they’re beliefs are based on permanence and see the value in keeping things for future use.

Another favorite part of mine is when the topic is shifted from transience to impermanence. As the topics shift they built on themselves though. How the author related our everyday lifestyle to the “throw away” mentality was very fascinating. The fact that as time has progressed the switch to apartment housing in the United States has sky rocketed. An interesting  point was made that says, “It might be noted that millions of American home ‘owners,’ having purchased a home with a down payment of ten percent of less, are actually no more than surrogate owners for banks and other lending institutions. For these families, the monthly check to the back is no different from the rent check to the landlord. Their ownership is essentially metaphorical, and since they lack a strong financial stake in their property, they also frequently lack the homeowner’s strong psychological commitment to it.” After reading that it made me realize that a mortgage is the exact same thing as renting. The foreclosure of a home is a terrible thing but it often happens to those who live in transience. It is embedded into their physiological wellbeing that everything is disposable.

A quote that really intrigued me says, “‘No one – not even the most brilliant scientist alive today – really knows where science is taking us,’ says Ralph Lapp, himself a scientist-turned-writer. ‘We are aboard a train which is gathering speed, racing down a track on which there are an unknown number of switches leading to unknown destinations. No single scientist is in the engine cab and there may be demons at the switch. Most of society is in the caboose looking backward.'” I completely agree with this quote because Ralph Lapp is right, who knows where technology will take us in the future? This is a topic that is very mysterious. I think that in intellectuals need to have a general idea as to where to steer technology. It seems as though societies are acting on impulse without any real goal in mind. Technology is like a perpetual motion machine that was sent into motion by our ancestors. As a generation it is up to us to guide technology down a path that is beneficial to society instead of creating a monster that we do not know its capabilities.