Articles By Futurists

Abstract Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a new approach to the study of the future. Design/methodology/approach – The paper describes six foundational concepts (the used future, the disowned future, alternative futures, alignment, models of social … Continued

Beyond a Game of Musical Chairs – Creating a Commons Economy Written by Dr. Jose Ramos *The article is adapted from an original version in Stir Magazine. Many of us grew up with the game of musical chairs. The music starts … Continued

What is a futurist? What is this strange profession that dabbles in the future? It is 2am on a Wednesday morning. Rob, who is the CEO of a medium-sized tour operator based in California, is awake and incredibly worried. A … Continued

ALTERNATIVE SCENARII FOR ASIA –  FUSION AND INNOVATION OR COPYCAT AND SNAKES AND LADDERS by Sohail Inayatullah What will Asia of the future be like? Will the continent continue to be divided, copying the used and discarded cultural and economic … Continued

Teaching and Learning in Disruptive Futures: Automation, Universal Basic Income, and Our Jobless Futures* Dr. Sohail Inayatullah UNESCO Chair in Futures Studies Tamkang University Taipei, Taiwan   Abstract: Given the likely disappearance in jobs due to automation, how should national educational … Continued

Economies of Life: Patterns of health and wealth   Bill Sharpe International Futures Forum www.internationalfuturesforum.com ISBN 978-0-9557681-3-2 © International Futures Forum 2010  Published by Triarchy Press Ltd.   Many of the insights from these essays have been put into practice … Continued

Futures Studies: Theories and Methods Sohail Inayatullah >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> INTRODUCTION   Futures studies is the systematic study of possible, probable and preferable futures including the worldviews and myths that underlie each future. In the last fifty or so years, the study … Continued

Most people use ‘jobs’ and ‘work’ interchangeably, but they are not the same.  Jobs are but one way of getting work done, although the way our economy has evolved over the past two hundred years, jobs have been a very … Continued

“HOW WELL DO YOU GET ALONG WITH YOUR ROBOT” Automation and our jobless futures Sohail Inayatullah Professor Tamkang University, Taiwan; The University of the Sunshine Coast, Sippy Downs; and Melbourne Business School, The University of Melbourne.  Also Director, metafuture.org   THE … Continued

Introduction The successful operation of a modern economy is based on a significant majority of adult citizens earning the income they need to survive through the work they do.  It is those in the labour force who produce the goods … Continued

Where Australia will be by 2101 will depend on decisions made today (and decisions made in the near  and mid-range future). As I see it, Australia has a great potential to become even wealthier, whilst simultaneously reducing income disparities, with … Continued

1.  The Great Transformation This scenario occurs for a number of reasons including personalized health care –  wherein each child born by then will have a full life probability pathway given, based on genomics, where they live (geomedicine), parents, income … Continued

ABSTRACT Based on the history of the planet earth, it seems almost certain that humanity will face at least one survival crisis during the next 1,000 years. Although some individual humans will almost certainly survive almost any exogenous or endogenous … Continued

ABSTRACT What does it mean for humanity to strive for something?  And how big a vision does humanity need to have in order to sustain it during the next 1,000 years? This paper makes a start at answering these questions, and … Continued

ABSTRACT One of the few certainties about the year 3000 seems to be that there will still be 168 hours in each and every week.  Creating a viable way for all humanity to use their 168 hours is a major challenge … Continued

While there is a great deal of bad, indeed, horrendous,  news in the world ­ global warming, terrorism, the global financial crisis, water shortages, worsening inequity ­ there are also signs of positive change. GENOMICS First, in genomics, the revolution of … Continued