Peter Yen
Sociology 022 – In the Facebook Age – Spring 2010 – Dhiraj Murthy

The movement towards an “information society” seems to be inevitable given the rapid development of technology in recent times. Globalization and Laing’s idea of the “one-world” is indicative of this new shift. The development of computers seems to aim at Laing’s concept of “ubiquitous computing” where almost everything is linked in one massive network. While this may seem initially far fetched, one must reflect on the trajectory that we have been put on since the advent of the computer. Who 20 years ago would have believed that mobile phones would be capable of accessing the internet?

Laing and Forrester from yesterday would both note that people have a tendency to exalt efficiency. Forrester notices this 60 years ago just in human nature whereas Laing notices this trend in light of the move toward the information society. Our present situation gives credence to Forrester’s original predictions.