Contents of the Current Issue

Executive Summaries

COVER STORY:
The Super Longevity Revolution: How It Will Change Our Lives
By Michael G. Zey
SUMMARY: The human species is in the early phases of the Superlongevity Revolution, the expansion of the average human life span into the hundreds and beyond while individuals live more youthfully for longer periods. This article examines how the Superlongevity Revolution will impact work, marriage, career, retirement, and leisure patterns, and also explores strategies that society and the individual can pursue to adapt to these changes.

Futurists Gather to Develop Foresight, Innovation, and Strategy
By Cynthia G. Wagner
SUMMARY:Highlights of the 2005 conference of the World Future Society include: a description of a futures decision-making methodology called the Implications Wheel, developed by Joel Barker, co-author of Five Regions of the Future; an overview of new opportunities and challenges created by the "age wave," presented by Ken Dychtwald, author of The Power Years; reports on issues emerging from nanotechnology, neuroscience, space exploration, and other leading-edge areas of science research and development; and more. The increased presence and participation of young people at the meeting was also noted, and Society President Tim Mack announced new initiatives such as a mentoring program designed to encourage the career prospects of tomorrow's futurists.

OUTLOOK 2006
SUMMARY: The World Future Society's annual round-up of the year's most thought-provoking forecasts: we'll see a job boom in solar industries; the gender gap among America's elderly will narrow; more of the world's poor will fall victim to diseases of affluence such as diabetes; urban heat waves will be hotter and last longer; more energy will come from oceans in the form of tidal and offshore wind power; and smart surveillance cameras will "predict" violent behavior, then call the cops to prevent it.

SPECIAL REPORT ON JOBS:

Hyperjobs: The New Higher-Level Work and How to Grow Into It
By Richard W. Samson
SUMMARY: As traditional jobs disappear--due to outsourcing, offshoring, and "off-peopling" (automation)--people will need to develop their non-automatable skills to remain marketable and productive in the "Hyper-Human Economy." In many cases, workers won't go after existing jobs, but rather create them by identifying problems to be solved with their hyper-human skills, such as judgment, creativity, empathy, and communication.

Working in the Future: How Today's Trends Are Shaping Tomorrow's Jobs
By John A. Challenger
SUMMARY: Corporations will likely continue to be major employers, but the positions that need to be filled will evolve along with changes in the macroenvironment. Globalization, aging, and trends in technology and society will open a variety of new positions in future businesses, such as "offshore outsourcing coordinator," "corporate age adviser," and "eco-relations manager." And, to keep it all in perspective, we'll also need "corporate historians."

Career Planning for the 21st Century
By Joyce Gioia and Roger Herman
SUMMARY: Future employers will seek workers who combine broad knowledge and specialized skills. Many new jobs will require work never done before because they will involve innovative new processes or technologies. Sample jobs of the future include telemedicine technician, skycar mechanic, and underwater hotel manager.

VISIONS: Powered by Play: A Child-Run Water Pump
By Patrick Tucker
SUMMARY: A simple piece of playground equipment--a roundabout--uses the natural energy of children to draw some 1,400 liters of water an hour in rural African villages. Inventor Trevor Field of the South African Roundabout Outdoor tells The Futurist's Patrick Tucker about the additional benefits of the device, including the time it frees up by not forcing villagers to walk for miles to obtain water.

To order the print edition of the November-December   2005 issue of THE FUTURIST ($4.95 plus $3 postage and handling) or to become a member of the World Future Society ($49 per year).

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