1995 Annual Conference

FutureProbe: Imagining Possibilities, Creating Opportunities
Held July 18-20, 1995
Atlanta Hilton Hotel & Towers
Atlanta, Georgia

"The future is like a roller coaster ride," David P. Snyder told attendees at the World Future Society's 1995 annual conference. "The problems going on now are not the result of faltering leadership, but merely part of a historical cycle of change."

By being aware of the cycle's highs and lows, we may come to better understand our world and ourselves. But we must be prepared to deal with rapid social and technological change, said Snyder, who is principal of Snyder Family Enterprise, a consulting firm in Bethesda, Maryland.

"In past decades, people had a choice concerning change. They didn't necessarily have to be the ones risking it all by being pioneers," Snyder said. "But now people are enveloped in the future. The vast majority of Americans will soon have no choice but to be innovators and pioneers in the face of such constant change."

Snyder was one of nearly 150 futurists and other experts who spoke at the World Future Society's 1995 annual conference. The three-day event, FutureProbe: Imagining Possibilities, Creating Opportunities, was held July18-20, 1995, in Atlanta, Georgia. Co-chaired by Rita Callahan, an Atlanta consultant, and David Medendorp, president of the MVE Corporation, the meeting attracted more than 800 participants from across the United States and some 30 other countries to discuss topics ranging from artificial intelligence to conscious communities, from creative-thinking skills to chaos theory for crisis prevention.

Speakers put forth some interesting predictions, including:

• If the United Nations is to survive another half century, it will have to reach out to nongovernmental organizations, suggested futurist Hazel Henderson, author of Building a Win-Win World. "During the next 50 years, the United Nations will not only need a better partnership with its member nations, but also with the private sector and civil society." These partnerships, Henderson said, will be necessary to tackle such problems as hunger and poverty.
• Employers may soon have to pay greater attention to the lighting in offices, said Arnold Brown, business consultant and co-author of Office Biology. "With the work force becoming older, employers will have to realize that the retinas of people over 60 only pick up one-third of the light that a 20-year-old does."
• "By 2013, Hispanic groups will be the largest minority in the United States, displacing African Americans," said consultant John Mahaffie of Coates & Jarratt, Inc. By the year 2040, 40% of the U.S. population will be made up of minorities.
• The nature of reality will be severely altered as we grow more dependent on information technology, according to Jerome C. Glenn, author of Future Mind. People may start to become paranoid if information they receive is repeatedly found to be false. "Psychiatrists may need to consult with people using information technology more and more," he said.
• Putting more police on the street isn't the best way to combat crime, according to criminal-justice professor Gene Stephens. Instead, law enforcement has to be on more-intimate terms with communities. "There will be a greater proactive involvement by members of the community, as well as improved interagency information and communication exchange," said Stephens. Policing will be tailored to individual communities and their unique problems.
• Science-fiction writers have examined many potential impacts—both positive and negative—of subjects such as genetic engineering, said Richard Kirby, president of the World Network of Religious Futurists. Since their writings have helped us to form values on these subjects, he suggested that "laboratories could have science-fiction writers in residence to examine the long-term ramifications" of various research projects.

A complete article covering this conference is available in the November-December 1995 issue of The Futurist. To order.

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