Think: I've written extensively on the power of the human imagination but I'd never contemplated the notion that we are "living in the product of other peoples' imagination"--and, yet, it is true. As I argue in this post, The Future as Battle of Imaginations, this startling insight of “living in the imagination of other people” [...]
Recently, I was listening to Kristen Tippett interview Adrienne Maree Brown on her podcast “On Being.” One particular phrase from their conversation jumped out at me. Brown said we “are living in the imagination of other people.” “That’s it,” I thought to myself. As a futurist, I have written and spoken extensively about the vital [...]
Later this evening, I will be addressing 500 young farmers in Iowa. One unusual question I intend to pose to them is this: Why should farmers care about a new line of cocktails (and mocktails) now being served at the Ritz Hotel in London?* The answer lies in the nature of the cocktails–all of the [...]
Think in Questions: As you think about your future, I encourage you to spend some time thinking about questions. Specifically, what question(s) do you want to answer with your life? In my case, I have a "secular" question and a "spiritual" question. Both inform how I live my life. If you're interested, you can read [...]
Poetry has been helpful on my journey of personal and professional discovery. One poem I’ve come to admire and reflect upon is Rainer Maria Rilke’s poem “Live the Question Now.” I especially enjoy this advice: “... have patience with everything in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves as if they were [...]
Editor’s note: If you missed last week’s edition of the newsletter, I encourage you to give it a read because it explains the direction I am taking my career – and life. For those interested or curious, here are a couple posts I wrote this week which also reflect this emerging direction: A Spiritual Futurist, [...]
"We are either ministers of the sacred or slaves to evil." This quote from Rabbi Abraham Heschel has resonated with me since I read it a few days ago. As a professional futurist, I am finding it increasingly difficult to speak about the future without publicly acknowledging my faith in a Higher Power. I [...]
I recently finished reading Abraham Heschel's book, "I Asked for Wonder." (I highly recommend it.) Near the end of the book, he wrote: "The future of all men depends upon realizing that the sense of holiness is as vital as health." Finding, sustaining and growing in this "holiness" has not been easy for me. In [...]
This past May 1st, I indicated I intended to take my career in a new direction. It is now time for me to begin moving in this direction in earnest. I have struggled with what precisely this direction should be and, to be honest, I suspect I will take countless more twists and turns during [...]
There is no shortage of intelligent, competent and insightful professional futurists. Amy Webb, for example, describes herself as the “quantitative futurist,” Micheal Rogers refers to himself as the “practical futurist,” and James Pethokoukis uses the moniker the “conservative futurist.” I am sure other futurists use similar descriptors to distinguish their work from that of their [...]
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