Future frontiers
New futures concepts are discovered by exploring future frontiers—looking ahead to discern the leading edge of human cultural and technological development. This longer-term view informs and expands the horizons of nearer-term commercial futures work. Here are links to pieces I have written going back to the 1980s – and standing the test of time so far.
Cultural values in transition
Over the last few decades cultural values have been shifting and this process has now reached a ‘crossover point’ where the new values are about to become dominant. The new cultural outlook can be expected to create a strong social and political constituency for a rethink of the psychological, social, ecological and economic aims and assumptions underlying our current system.
Ecosystemic infrastructure
Our industrial economy is on the threshold of a transition from a linear to an ecosystemic flow of materials, with the adoption of an ‘industrial ecology’ perspective. Just as the biosphere evolved from its early non-cyclic origins—when oxygen first began to accumulate in the atmosphere—so the technological infrastructure of industry needs to transition away from being a one way ‘take, make, waste’ system if we are to enjoy sustainable abundance in the future.
Restoring human identity
Reductionism has been a powerful strategy for generating knowledge, but it is not helpful as a means of understanding the deep nature of human beings. Taking things apart to understand their components does not work the other way round to help us understand or bring order to complex wholes. Our human future will depend on restoring our sense of the qualities of wholeness, and bringing ourselves back to a full appreciation of what it is to be human.
World upside shock?
The world is at a major turning point. Transformational forces are sweeping away the old power structure and a completely new social order is about to replace it. In terms of world scenarios we are at a fork in the road. A global struggle to determine which scenario will dominate is reaching its climax, and deep change is likely to happen rapidly and unexpectedly. The most probable path is an upside shock which dispels prevailing pessimism and brings in real freedom – together with the responsibility to decide the type of future civilization we want. The vision of Star Trek is within reach – we could become an enlightened, high technology, space-faring species. This prospect is increasingly plausible, and our future looks far more exciting than we might have thought.
(Report in preparation)