On the Threshold of Paradise

The history of civilisation shows that it has passed through three major phases, and now all the indications are that it is in the fourth and final stage of its journey. The three significant civilisation phases are as follows: 1. The Stone Age; 2. The Agricultural Age; 3. The Industrial Age. It is a matter of common knowledge that these three phases of civilisation have already taken place. However, Alvin Toffler, author of the bestseller, Future Shock, says that the fourth phase, probably the last period of civilisation, will occur in the future. This author calls this fourth phase the Super-Industrial Age, which will be less materialistic than the previous stages. Therefore, equating this fourth phase with spiritual civilisation would be more appropriate. Let us take the first period of civilisation. It was a time when a man could only use whatever material was present in its original form on the Earth. The stone was the most readily available and useful of all the materials. Although many other things existed on the planet apart from stone, like wood and animals, and