Is the ability to cooperate with others more important today than in the past?

[Hyunji]

Hello.
This is quite an emergency situation for me, since I have the TOEFL test on this sunday, but I still can't finish in time. Please leave some tips for me.

Before the Industrial Revolution, most people were farmers, or fishermen, which are the occupations that do not seriously need a relationship between people. However, the industry and society are more complex and complicated nowadays, which asks a more associated and connected work between co-workers. It may seem that close works were more needed in the agricultural lives; nevertheless, since a larger amount of workload should be done accurately in today’s industry, one’s capability of working together is considered more significant nowadays.

With the invention of internet, which literally means that many computers, or people, are interconnected to each other, it became capable to work with a lot of people. The workload today is complicated, so a large part of tasks in companies are done by a group of people. When people are doing the same work simultaneously, the ideas are produced continuously, and evaluated right away by others. In this process, the communication between workers is very significant. Their abilities to cooperate with others will also lead to an increase of efficiency in work.

The twenty-first century is also known as the information age. Information is overflowed in internet and other mass communications. It is impossible for a person to acquire all the information needed for a system to be made. While cooperating, people will share and exchange information and techniques, making the burden of each workers decrease. Additionally, a person can obtain additional knowledge that he did not know in the past during the process of cooperation.

The world is getting more globalized and unified; the people are also getting more together. There are many chances to meet diverse people from different countries. Therefore, the communication skills and the ability of working with many people will be considered as an important point in judging people.

TOEFL listening discussions: A conversation between two students at their university cafeteria