Happy New Year

Why a Web Log
February 2007

© 2007
World Future Society
7910 Woodmont Ave., Suite 450
Bethesda, MD 20814, USA
Tel: 800/989-8274 or 301/656-8274
Fax: 301/951-0394

    Someone wished me a "Happy New Year" last week and while that might seem strange (and well over a month late), after I had thought about it, I decided that hoping for a better future (even so short-term as the coming year) is a great way to expand the discussion of the first question in my initial list, i.e., "What is the study of the future all about? What are its goals?" SO, HAPPY NEW YEAR! (Of course, it was also the (Asian) Lunar New Year at the time, so there seems to be a second lesson about cultural sensitivity)

    First, I want to say how pleased I am with the feedback I am getting. Some of it is my phone or in person (which somewhat sidesteps the concept of a Web Log, but all dialogue is good dialogue) but what is on the web site is just what I had hoped for….i.e. ‘What I missed….?’ And ‘What I should have missed….!’ What is very interesting in all of the recent feedback is how much divergence of opinion there is among well-informed individuals…which in my mind is what the World Future Society is all about!

Moving right along with the discussion…
    I recently heard an opinion that foresight was a sophisticated variation of the basic human instinct from early times of ‘Flight or Fight’, that is, to know when to run and when to battle for a better future. In a modern context, the phrase might be ‘Return on Investment Analysis’ or ‘Strategic Decision-making,’ i.e., wanting the best for yourself, your family, organization or even nation state and needing to understand the potential outcomes of your actions. And at times, there may be a bit of legacy thinking in there as well, hoping to provide the best possible future for your decedents ‘Onto the Seventh Generation’ as Native Americans often say. Actually, the presentation I recently made to a national conference of Native American leaders was very well received, as their group interest in potential futures is very high indeed

    I would say that there are wide range of reasons why individuals and groups study the future and try to understand what it might bring. The founder of WFS, Ed Cornish, recently shared with the readers of The Futurist his early concerns about the possibility of an, even more destructive Third World War, and thus he began in the 1960s to explore strategies, like founding WFS, to assure that the human race would have any future at all.

    Another way of putting the question might be, "What are the various reasons individuals and organizations have for deciding to join the World Future Society?" A number of our members do have professional responsibilities, working either as a consultant or an in-house futurist, which requires them to assist in strategic planning, technology assessment, competitor intelligence or any number of tasks which include understanding future possibilities. Others are educators at all levels, who provide their students with the hope, tools and desire to build themselves better futures and better lives.

    Another aside, since it really is a journal format….I had the opportunity this past weekend to address the national finalists for the Future City competition, a part of National Engineers Week. Middle school students from across the US (and Japan and India) use the SimCity (Version 4.0) software to design a working city that addresses and solves energy, transportation, sanitation, housing, etc. challenges facing cities worldwide in the future. They then build models of their city, write essays about their design choices and explain/defend their creation in an oral presentation. What was most thrilling was the response of these young people to the idea I offered that what had been for them a very engaging exercise of a few months’ duration could in fact become a life-long way of thinking and problem solving. I believe it was a transformative experience for them…and I know it was for me. (And I believe the Minnesota team is coming to this year's conference.)

    As well, other WFS members have said they joined as concerned citizens, that is, individuals who want to understand how to best understand and respond to the increasing rates of change and occasional disorientation that we all observe in modern society. A majority are looking for information, tools, networks or settings to learn more and connect with those of similar interests. HOWEVER, as I have been learning as WFS President, I learn more when I listen than when I talk. What might you, as a reader, be willing to share with others about the value you see in the study of the future and what you have gotten or hope to get from WFS? I am all ears!