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Technology Articles: Becoming A Futurist

By L. Winslow

Often people ask me why I became a Futurist? The interesting thing is that our minds are set up to plan for the future, perhaps this is why the human species has indeed made it this far. Unfortunately, if we do not plan in advance and throw caution to the wind too often we make rather poor decisions and the law of unintended consequences prevails.

You see, we are all futurists in reality and to what degree of a futurist you are will depend on how far into the future you are willing to think. For some people it is scary, for others it is entertaining and for a few it is very serious.

Originally I joined The World Future Society just to get their book review lists and was not disappointed, that alone was worth the membership fee. To become a futurist all you really have to do is proclaim yourself such and think about the future. Of course if you like to join groups then you can join the WFS or World Future Society.

After a while I became concerned that the WFS were telling everyone what to read and teaching them how to think to become a futurist. They have classes and seminars on how to think like a Futurist. Then it occurred to me, no wonder I am always, or most always correct and the other futurists are often way off in estimating the future.

You see the real problem is that if you tell everyone how to think and what to read they all start thinking the same thing and then verify with each other to prove that they are correct.

http://ezinearticles.com/?Teaching-Humans-to-Think-Does-Not-Mean-Indoctrination-in-How-to-Think&id=326742

Anyway, I am glad to have considered this for today's article as it brought the fact that the renewal membership is sitting in my "To Do" pile. The Futurists do take some considerable Flak from the media at times and yet at other times the media clings to their every word. Indeed I did defend them against an attack from Wired Magazine, although I do have to say they did deserve a tad bit of criticism, for so many false predictions. Here about 2/3 down the page;

http://www.wfs.org/fbeditorial03.htm

I sometimes worry that the Futurists are becoming too politically slighted and thus are losing good insight from the other side of the fence. I think that is dangerous to limit thought like that. I purposely go out of my way to hear what people who think differently than me, have to say. Some Futurists only wish to pad their resumes, I think that is short sided, as it defeats the value and the purpose.

Actually, I am sure it can be done much better. I do not think that spouting political party lines does justice to future we all seek. If everyone fights over the means, no one wins in the ends. And then the blame games start, "I told you so" and that does no one any good at all. But what do I know? I am just another self-proclaimed Futurist?

L. Winslow is a Economic Advisor to the Online Think Tank, a Futurist and retired entreprenuer. Currently he is planning a bicycle ride across the US to raise money for charity and is sponsored by http://www.Calling-Plans.com and all the proceeds will go to various charities who sign up.

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http://EzineArticles.com/?Becoming-a-Futurist---It-May-Be-In-Your-Future&id=525420

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