http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futures_studies
Related: Future Studies • Our final invention • FUTURES STUDIESINTRODUCTION TO FUTURE STUDIES Dr. Linda Groff & Dr. Paul Smoker Co-Directors, Global Options Technological singularity Hypothetical point in time at which technological growth becomes uncontrollable and irreversible The technological singularity—also, simply, the singularity[1]—is a hypothetical point in time at which technological growth becomes uncontrollable and irreversible, resulting in unforeseeable changes to human civilization.[2][3] According to the most popular version of the singularity hypothesis, called intelligence explosion, an upgradable intelligent agent will eventually enter a "runaway reaction" of self-improvement cycles, each new and more intelligent generation appearing more and more rapidly, causing an "explosion" in intelligence and resulting in a powerful superintelligence that qualitatively far surpasses all human intelligence. I. J. Good's "intelligence explosion" model predicts that a future superintelligence will trigger a singularity.[7]
Futures techniques Futures techniques used in the multi-disciplinary field of futures studies by futurists in Americas and Australasia, and futurology by futurologists in EU, include a diverse range of forecasting methods, including anticipatory thinking, backcasting, simulation, and visioning. Some of the anticipatory methods include, the delphi method, causal layered analysis, environmental scanning, morphological analysis, and scenario planning. Anticipatory thinking protocols[edit] Delphi method[edit] The Delphi method is a very popular technique used in Futures Studies.
Association of Professional Futurists - What Is A Futurist? A professional futurist is a person who studies the future in order to help people understand, anticipate, prepare for and gain advantage from coming changes. It is not the goal of a futurist to predict what will happen in the future. The futurist uses foresight to describe what could happen in the future and, in some cases, what should happen in the future. Most people use some sort of foresight all the time - something as simple as listening to the weather forecast to prepare for the next day.
Singularity University Singularity University is an unaccredited university[2] located in Silicon Valley whose stated aim is to "educate, inspire and empower leaders to apply exponential technologies to address humanity’s grand challenges."[3] It was founded in the summer of 2008 by Peter Diamandis and Ray Kurzweil in Moffett Field, CA.[3] Singularity University's programs range from an annual ten-week summer course intended for graduate and post-graduate students to seven-day programs for senior corporate executives and senior government leaders. Other programs include Singularity University Labs, global outreach, and conferences.
The Future of Futures Studies Today, the increasing number of futurists, scholars, business planners, and others in the futuring field is a good sign of the usefulness of Futures Studies for humanity, just as Dator wished so 26 years ago (Dator, 1986). Masini (1989) described the future of Futures Studies 23 years ago in this manner: “Global models have lost their appeal, and there is a growing movement toward Futures Studies that are local. … As for methods, strategic planning will become more important in both the public and the private sectors.” Just a decade ago, Bell hoped that the future of Futures Studies was bright, “because it is reasonable to hope that futurists will be able to establish the field in most of the world’s colleges and universities” (Bell, 2002). In his view, a trans-disciplinary matrix for Futures Studies was emerging composed of shared assumptions, values, methods and key concepts. I think that beauty is the lost element in many of our works.
Life extension The sale of putative anti-aging products such as nutrition, physical fitness, skin care, hormone replacements, vitamins, supplements and herbs is a lucrative global industry, with the US market generating about $50 billion of revenue each year.[2] Some medical experts state that the use of such products has not been proven to affect the aging process, and many claims of anti-aging medicine advocates have been roundly criticized by medical experts, including the American Medical Association.[2][3][4][5][6] Public opinion[edit] Life extension is a controversial topic due to fear of overpopulation and possible effects on society.[10] Religious people are no more likely to oppose life extension than the unaffiliated,[11] though some variation exists between religious denominations. A Spring 2013 Pew Research poll in the United States found that 38% of Americans would want life extension treatments, and 56% would reject it. Average and maximum lifespans[edit] Diets and supplements[edit]
World Futures Studies Federation The World Futures Studies Federation is a global non-governmental organization that was founded in 1973 to promote the development of futures studies as an academic discipline.[1][2] History[edit] The Federation was chartered at the 1973 meeting of the International Futures Research Conference. Past organization president Eleonora Barbieri Masini said in 2005: "The vision of the Federation is just as valid today as it was when the Federation started.
About the Millennium Project Purpose: Improve humanity's prospects for building a better future. Mission: Improve thinking about the future and make that thinking available through a variety of media for feedback to accumulate wisdom about the future for better decisions today. Vision: A global foresight network of Nodes, information, and software, building a global collective intelligence system recognized for its ability to improve prospects for humanity. A think tank on behalf of humanity, not on behalf of a government, or an issue, or an ideology, but on behalf of building a better future for all of us.
Transhumanism Transhumanism (abbreviated as H+ or h+) is an international cultural and intellectual movement with an eventual goal of fundamentally transforming the human condition by developing and making widely available technologies to greatly enhance human intellectual, physical, and psychological capacities.[1] Transhumanist thinkers study the potential benefits and dangers of emerging technologies that could overcome fundamental human limitations, as well as the ethics of developing and using such technologies. They speculate that human beings may eventually be able to transform themselves into beings with such greatly expanded abilities as to merit the label "posthuman".[1] History[edit]
2015-16 SOF by Jerome C. Glenn, Elizabeth Florescu, and The Millennium Project Team The Global Futures Collective Intelligence System offers the full version of the State of the Future with ongoing updates to the 15 Global Challenges plus access to all The Millennium Project research Individual – US$14.95/month (Purchase on GFIS) Individual – US$99.95/year Government – $850/year* Corporations – $2100/year* Universities, non-profit organization - $400/year * UN other international organizations - $799/year* * includes 10 users; additional users beyond 10 cost $25/year Subcribe here Table of Contents
Nanotechnology Nanotechnology ("nanotech") is the manipulation of matter on an atomic, molecular, and supramolecular scale. The earliest, widespread description of nanotechnology[1][2] referred to the particular technological goal of precisely manipulating atoms and molecules for fabrication of macroscale products, also now referred to as molecular nanotechnology. A more generalized description of nanotechnology was subsequently established by the National Nanotechnology Initiative, which defines nanotechnology as the manipulation of matter with at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100 nanometers. This definition reflects the fact that quantum mechanical effects are important at this quantum-realm scale, and so the definition shifted from a particular technological goal to a research category inclusive of all types of research and technologies that deal with the special properties of matter that occur below the given size threshold.
MSc Elective Future-Oriented Strategising Fall 2017 - Future Orientation Participate in our MSc Elective on Future-Oriented Strategising. Registration period is May 1st-7th. How can companies actively create superior positions in markets of the future? What helps them to better see, understand, and act upon change?