Futuring

When I was a kid it seemed like every refrigerator had a bottle of Thousand Island dressing in it.

Now, it seems nearly every refrigerator has a bottle of Ranch dressing in it.

Progress under consumer capitalism is marvelous and inexorable. Who knows what salad dressing will grace the refrigerators of the future?

The DaVinci Inventor Showcase is an annual event produced by our amazing team at the DaVinci Institute. Now in its 8th year, we attract inventors from all across the U.S. to be part of what has become one of the nation’s most prestigious inventor events. As a futurist, it is the brilliance of these visionaries that breathes inspiration into the work that I do. But this is only scratching the surface. Here’s what you really missed.

On Day 1 of the World Future Trends conference, Daniel Epstein of the Unreasonable Institute, blew the minds of a fairly sophisticated audience that by all accounts lives and breathes trends and innovation for a living.

originally published at The Trends and Foresight blog.

By Michael Lee, founder of the Southern African Chapter of the World Future Society, Institute of Futurology and author of Knowing our Future - the startling case for futurology.

Each year since 1985, the editors of THE FUTURIST have selected the most thought-provoking ideas and forecasts appearing in the magazine to go into our annual Outlook report. The forecasts are meant as conversation starters, not absolute predictions about the future. We hope that this report--covering developments in business and economics, demography, energy, the environment, health and medicine, resources, society and values, and technology--inspires you to tackle the challenges, and seize the opportunities, of the coming decade. Here are our top ten.

WorldFuture 2013: Exploring the Next Horizon has been chosen as the theme for our next conference. We are seeking new ideas to help us explore the next horizon seriously and methodically, and to transform the way we live, work, and communicate across the world. Let us know how you are contributing to this progress. Submit a proposal to speak at WorldFuture 2013 before October 31st.

Planned obsolescence has caused an enormous amount of damage to our environment around the world.

From plastics floating "islands" in our seas, to mountains of  discarded computers and cell phones. E-waste has become a huge 21st-century issue and it will only continue if we do not do something to stop it.