Values and Spirituality
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How Do We Shape Our Social Future: Or is it Being Shaped for Us?

A global youth culture grows stronger as societies, even in China, age. What will life be like for young people in an arthritis economy? Will there still be underground raves if the world is full of old people? Presenting a long-term view of our social future with images and stories we’ll explore critical factors in how our individual desires, changing behavior, porous cultures, public passions, and the pressures of our environment, will come together to shape future social realities.

Will our future be boring or thrilling? Are we all going to be post-modernists and what does that mean? Are we likely to become environmental puritans or virtual hedonists or will we pursue collective aspirations for enriched lifestyles?

Who should attend: Anyone who wants to explore about what our lives will be like in 2018-2020.
What you'll learn: Participants will learn how global and local forces shape society, individual desires, behavior, culture, and what societies believe is important.
How can this knowledge be applied: Attendees can use this information to apply to new business ventures, new products, new marketing ideas, and strategic options. Individual reflections on how to shape your own future and what you want to do differently.

Jennifer Jarratt, principal, Leading Futurists LLC, Washington, D.C.
John B. Mahaffie, principal, Leading Futurists LLC, Washington, D.C.

key Words: society, culture, global forces
issue areas: Values and Spirituality, Social and Cultural Trends, Business and Careers

Utopian Visions and Values for the Future

We will explore selected historical and literary utopian visions of ideal human societies in the future. The speakers will focus on the values that key utopian thinkers throughout history have used to define the “good society” and we’ll consider how these values addressed and offered solutions to the social ills of the time. We’ll also discuss the modern enlightenment vision of economic progress and material abundance. We’ll analyze why the realization of this utopian vision has failed to produce a society free from war, poverty, violence, environmental degradation, and other social problems. The presenters will critique the vision of economic progress as a viable image of the ideal human society.

Who should attend: Philosophers, educators, social scientists, humanists, historians, and all interested in the topics of social issues and human values.
What you'll learn: Participants will gain a broad understanding of utopian images of ideal future societies and the values associated with these different images.
How can this new knowledge be applied: This new knowledge will provide an overview of key social values and practices that support positive, growth promoting human organizations and groups.

Jeanne Lombardo, facilitator, Employee and Organizational Learning, Rio Salado College, Tempe, Arizona; co-founder, Center for Future Consciousness, Scottsdale, Arizona
Tom Lombardo, futures professor and chair, Psychology and Philosophy, Rio Salado College, Tempe, Arizona; co-founder, Center for Future Consciousness, Scottsdale, Arizona; author

key words: values, utopia, society
issue areas: Values and Spirituality, Social and Cultural Trends, Governance and Communities

The Future of the Religious Right

Political and media stereotypes in the United States often equate "religious" with "conservative," but a new progressive reality is challenging the monologue of the Religious Right, coming from such groups as Sojourners, Emergent Village and renewed mainline congregations. We'll explore the weak signals of change that are sounding across the religious landscape and how younger evangelicals are increasingly rejecting doomsday theology, preemptive war doctrine, the prosperity gospel, or a singular emphasis on individual salvation to focus on global climate change, genocide in Darfur, extinction of species, fair trade and ethical buying, exploitive employment practices, and community foresight. Three voices from the "emergent church" will explore this capacity of postmodern Christianity to embrace and redefine tradition, and further the cause of justice in the world.

Who should attend: Any futurist who feels that everything must change about religion and is curious about how progressive Christianity is a leading indicator of change.
What you’ll learn: Attendees will learn how to ground their leadership and foresight in the concerns of tomorrow’s spiritualities and relate religious concepts to futures thinking through a theology of hope.
How can this new knowledge be applied: Participants will leave with a deeper understanding of how postmodern spiritualities are reshaping conservative theologies and communities.

Diana Butler Bass, author, senior fellow, Cathedral College of the Washington National Cathedral, Washington, D.C.
Brian McLaren, pastor and thought leader for the emergent church; author, Laurel, Maryland
Mike Morrell, graduate fellow, Strategic Foresight, School of Global Leadership & Entrepreneurship, Regent University, Virginia Beach, Virginia,

key words: religion, politics, globalization
issue areas: Values and Spirituality; Social and Cultural Trends

Navigating the 21st Century: Who Are We? Where Are We Going?

Making continuous improvement in human well-being requires individuals and institutions to make wise choice relentlessly. To do that we all need to know who we are and where we are going. Four dimensions of this question will be explored: (1) human actions: how we think, learn and make choices; (2) culture and values: foundation for continuity and change; (3) the long view: trends, eras and turning points; and (4) our common agenda: our choices today and their implementation. The presenters will use a cautiously optimistic scenario based on the assumption of good citizenship, leadership, and luck to illustrate what is possible in this young century.

Who should attend: This session is important for all people engaged and interested in the highly integrated and comprehensive approaches to thinking about and acting to make wise choices about where we are going.
What you’ll learn: Participants will learn tools to help individuals and organizations in the decision-making process.
How can this new knowledge be applied: Organizations can apply this new knowledge when making decisions that will impact their effectiveness in the new global marketplace.

Kenneth W. Hunter, senior fellow, Office of International Programs, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland
Delos Smith, president and chief economist, Delos Smith & Associates; professor, Fordham University, New York, New York

key words: future, humanity, values
issue areas: Values and Spirituality, Social and Cultural

The Fourth Wave: The Transhuman Revolution, From Humans to Posthumans

The world is moving fast towards a fourth wave in which humans will become transhumans, and later posthumans, due to the rapid advances of technology.

Transhumanism represents a radical new approach to future-oriented thinking that is based on the premise that the human species does not represent the end of our evolutionary progression but, rather, its beginning. Transhumanism is an interdisciplinary approach to understanding and evaluating the possibilities for overcoming biological limitations through scientific progress. Transhumanists seek to expand technological opportunities for people to live longer and healthier lives, and to enhance their intellectual, physical, and emotional capacities.

The historical human desire to transcend physical and mental limitations is deeply intertwined with a human fascination with new knowledge that might be both inspiring and frightening. How these technologies are used could fundamentally change the ways in which our society functions, and will raise crucial questions about our identities and moral status as human beings. Transhumanists, as the real futurists among the futurists, are concerned about all these issues.

Who should attend: Anyone interested in finding out how the new wave of technological changes will radically transform humanity as we know it today. Anyone planning to live more than 20 years and see the beginning of the "singularity" and the first transhumans.
What you’ll learn: Attendees will be exposed to the main ideas of transhumanism and the major future technologies that will radically change humanity.
How can this new knowledge be applied: The ideas discussed will help individuals to understand accelerating change in order to anticipate and influence the future.

José Luis Cordeiro, founder, Venezuela Chapter of the World Future Society; former director, World Transhumanist Association, Chiba, Japan

key words: transhumanism, future studies, science, evolution, singularity, biotechnology, nanotechnology
issue areas: Values and Spirituality, Technology and Science

New Eyes, New Lenses, and a New Palestine: A Spiral Dynamic Perspective on Cultural Emergence and Nation-Building

This presentation will illustrate the use of Spiral Dynamics in reframing the “hot” issues of our day. Rather than reinforcing the stereotypes around race, religion, and ethnicity, the focus will be on the real human differences at the core of conflicts. Likewise, it will illustrate when, why, and how “new eyes” form, creating new political models, bridging over great divides, and making possible new initiatives around mutual understanding and conflict avoidance. This is not just another theory of human behavior; rather, it is an action-oriented conceptual system that has a great deal of power and precision in addressing historic problems that many believe are intractable. Based on the seminal work of Professor Clare W. Graves, this bio-psycho-social system framework was first field-tested in dealing with Apartheid in South Africa, and is now being used literally around the world to address major issues. The current application in the Middle East, both within and between Israel and Palestine,  represents perhaps the most difficult challenge that confront those applying this emerging conceptual system.

Also, in this session the presenter will describe how to use Natural Design in such a way as to meet people at different levels of complexity. These are the “new eyes” to which we must aspire if we want to address our serious problems in this century.

Who should attend: Individuals seeking practical solutions to complex problems; those looking for better ways to understand diversity, complexity, and change; those who wish to explore more deeply into an understanding of human nature and how people, companies, organizations, and societies actually change; and those who are serious about making a difference in the world.

What you’ll learn: A new perspective on human nature; new models that make the old paradigms obsolete; and creative approaches to dealing with conflict, the sense of being left behind, and other deep causes of social turbulence. Participants will get to understand why so many “Road Maps” for the Middle East have failed—and how to get it right.

How can this new knowledge be applied: By dealing with deeper codes rather than behavior, systems and structures, or even minds and ways of thinking, it becomes possible to get to the core of interpersonal, organizational, and societal problems or even to actually “change” organizational cultures.

Don Beck, founder, Center for Human Emergence; co-founder, National Values Center; author, Denton, Texas
Elza S. Maalouf, co-founder and CEO, Center for Human Emergence-Middle East, La Jolla, California

key words: Middle East, natural design, values, spiral dynamics
issue areas: Values and Spirituality, Governance and Communities, Social and Cultural Trends

For more information contact: World Future Society, 7910 Woodmont Avenue, Suite 450, Bethesda, Maryland 20814;
Tel: 1-800-989-8274 or 1-301-656-8274;  Fax: 1-301-951-0394;  Web Site: www.wfs.org;  E-mail: sechard@wfs.org.