David H. Rosen's blog

WikiLeaks' data dump of diplomatic cables this week sparked a furious debate about transparency -- a key component of many idealized and vilified visions of the future.

With 17.3 percent underemployment, the only thing shrinking faster than wallets are time horizons.

Mobile homes usually aren't a part of futuristic images, but the Choices blog offers up seven this week and they're pretty. Some are real, others are concepts, but all offer the promise of womb-like protection coupled with high adventure.

I don't think futurists could ever be compared to psychics, but anytime a government starts regulating people who base their livelihoods on the future, it's worth taking a look. Exhibit A, the government of Warren, Michigan just passed a law that requires fortune tellers to register, get fingerprinted and submit to a background check to run their businesses.

Speeches by government leaders offer some of the most vivid applications of the future “frame” (see this excellent definition of frames for more info). Punctuated with references to history and destiny, they appeal to both the head and heart.

Check out this segment from NPR on how scifi has inspired younglings to pursue careers in science and turn fiction into fact. Amit Singhal of Google talks about how he's helping to make search into something as easy as talking to the Enterprise's computer.

People born before 1992 were left feeling like geezers last week with the release of the famous Beloit College "Mindset List." Now in its 12th year, the list aims to help professors understand the unique perspectives of their incoming freshman.

In deficit debates, you hear a lot about how we're "borrowing against our children's future." The counterpoint being (crashes aside)since the economy has always grown more efficient in the past, it will continue to do so in the future and we can pay off today's debt with tomorrow's increases in productivity.

So where does this belief come from?

Social networking is now more popular online than email and pornography. But while much of its growth is simply people connecting to friends or reading blogs to do their jobs better, an ideology about social media has taken root. And it’s flourishing largely by offering a utopic vision of the future.

Welcome! I’m delighted to re-launch my Selling Tomorrows blog on the World Future Society’s new website. As you may know from posts during the beta, I study futurism but am not a futurist.

I don’t create visions of tomorrow -- I take them apart to learn why they work.

Why? So glad you asked.