People of the Future The inhabitants of the globe are divided not only by race,nation,religion or ideology,but also,in a sense,by their position in time.Examining the present populations of the globe,we find a tiny group who still alive,hunting and food-foraging,as men did millennia ago.Others,the vast majority of mankind, depend not on bear-hunting or berry-picking,but on agriculture.They live,in many respects,as their ancestors did centuries ago.These two groups taken together compose perhaps 70 percent of all living human beings.They are the people of the past. By contrast,somewhat more than 25 percent of the earth's population can be found in the industrialized societies.They lead modern lives.They are products of the first half of the twentieth century,molded by mechanization and mass education, brought up with lingering memories of their own country's agricultural past.They are, in effect,the people of the present. The remaining two or three percent of the world's population,however,are no longer people of either the past or present.For within the main centers of technological and cultural change,in Santa Monica,California and Cambridge, Massachusetts,in New York and London and Tokyo,and millions of men and women who can already be said to be living the way of life of the future.They live today as millions more will live tomorrow. What makes them different from the rest of mankind?Certainly,they are richer, better educated,more mobile than the majority of the human race.But what specifically marks the people of the future is the fact that they are already caught up in a new,stepped-up pace of life.They"live faster"than the people around them. Some people are deeply attracted to this highly accelerated pace of life-going far out of their way to bring it about and feeling anxious,tense or uncomfortable when the pace slows.They want desperately to be"where the action is."A person living in Mississippi reports:"People who are used to a speeded-up urban life-can't take it for long in the rural South.That's why people are always driving somewhere for no particular reason.” But if some people thrive on the new,rapid pace,others are fiercely repelled by it. To engage at all with the emergent super-industrial society means to engage with a faster moving world than ever before.They prefer to disengage,to idle at their own speed. Much otherwise incomprehensible conflict-between parents and children, between husbands and wives-can be traced to differential responses to the acceleration of the pace of life.The same is true of clashes between cultures. Each culture has its own characteristic pace.F.M.Esfandiary,the Iranian novelist and essayist,tells of a collision between two different pacing systems when German engineers in the pre-World War II period were helping to construct a railroad in his country.Iranians and Middle Easterners generally take a far more relaxed attitude toward time than Americans or Western Europeans.When Iranian work crewsPeople of the Future The inhabitants of the globe are divided not only by race, nation, religion or ideology, but also, in a sense, by their position in time. Examining the present populations of the globe, we find a tiny group who still alive, hunting and food-foraging, as men did millennia ago. Others, the vast majority of mankind, depend not on bear-hunting or berry-picking, but on agriculture. They live, in many respects, as their ancestors did centuries ago. These two groups taken together compose perhaps 70 percent of all living human beings. They are the people of the past.By contrast，somewhat more than 25 percent of the earth’s population can be found in the industrialized societies. They lead modern lives. They are products of the first half of the twentieth century, molded by mechanization and mass education, brought up with lingering memories of their own country’s agricultural past. They are, in effect, the people of the present. The remaining two or three percent of the world’s population, however, are no longer people of either the past or present. For within the main centers of technological and cultural change, in Santa Monica, California and Cambridge, Massachusetts, in New York and London and Tokyo, and millions of men and women who can already be said to be living the way of life of the future. They live today as millions more will live tomorrow. What makes them different from the rest of mankind? Certainly, they are richer, better educated, more mobile than the majority of the human race. But what specifically marks the people of the future is the fact that they are already caught up in a new, stepped-up pace of life. They “live faster” than the people around them. Some people are deeply attracted to this highly accelerated pace of life—going far out of their way to bring it about and feeling anxious, tense or uncomfortable when the pace slows. They want desperately to be “where the action is.” A person living in Mississippi reports: “People who are used to a speeded-up urban life—can’t take it for long in the rural South. That’s why people are always driving somewhere for no particular reason.” But if some people thrive on the new, rapid pace, others are fiercely repelled by it. To engage at all with the emergent super-industrial society means to engage with a faster moving world than ever before. They prefer to disengage, to idle at their own speed. Much otherwise incomprehensible conflict — between parents and children, between husbands and wives — can be traced to differential responses to the acceleration of the pace of life. The same is true of clashes between cultures. Each culture has its own characteristic pace. F. M. Esfandiary, the Iranian novelist and essayist, tells of a collision between two different pacing systems when German engineers in the pre-World WarⅡperiod were helping to construct a railroad in his country. Iranians and Middle Easterners generally take a far more relaxed attitude toward time than Americans or Western Europeans. When Iranian work crews