Jamais Cascio (of WorldChanging and OpenTheFuture fame, among others) gave a talk at UC Berkeley’s iSchool on Tuesday, 2/5/08, entitled “Futurism and it’s Discontents.” Abstract below:
In a rapidly-changing, uncertain environment, the ability to think constructively about various future possibilities is more important than ever. “Foresight Specialists”, “Scenario Planners”, “Trend Spotters” and good old “Futurists” provide a specialized service that few businesses, non-profits, and governments have organically — and fewer still recognize that they need. I’ll talk about why today’s futurism has more to do with imagining the possible than thinking the unthinkable, why futurist ethics matters more than futurist economics, and whether futurism might just be the best job out there for the easily-distracted generalist.”
Oh, how I would have loved to have attended this. I can’t agree more with Jamais, particularly the part about futurism being the best job out there for the easily-distracted generalist. I know a few of those types, and I’ve been called worse.
It brings me great joy to report that an audio recording of this talk has been posted.
