A Blog of the Ridiculous and Sublime, by Mark Sackler
“The Universe is under no obligation to make sense to you.”–Neil deGrasse Tyson
The universe? Really? I’m still trying to make sense of Twin Peaks, and keep track of how much time is left on the parking meter. Don’t talk to me about the universe.
I am trying to make sense of the future at www.seekingdelphi.com.
“I’m spending a year dead for tax purposes.”–Douglas Adams
“Another year shot to hell”–Anonymous
Douglas Adams had the right idea, though in my case I’d just spend the year dead to goof off. In other words, nothing has changed.
But I am making one resolution. My new Seeking Delphi podcast, on all things related to the future, will indeed debut by the end of January. I promise. Anyway, it’s too late for 2016, it’s already shot to hell.
“The future always comes too fast and in the wrong order.”–Alvin Toffler
Alvin Toffler
No funny chickens for this one. The world lost its foremost futurist in the past week, a man who was one of my heroes. Alvin Toffler taught the world how to think about the future some 45 years ago. It’s a lesson the world should relearn. I read Future Shock away back in 1973–and have been thinking about it–and the future–ever since.
Writing in the New York Times on July 6, Farhad Manjoo lays out clearly and concisely why Toffler’s ideas are so relevant today. I highly urge you to read this piece, and to read Future Shock if you’ve never done so. I intend to reread it now. We have never needed foresight more than we do today.
My foresight related blog is available at www.seekingdelphi.com
“Never predict anything, especially the future.”–Casey Stengel
The one and only
The Ol’ Perfessor knew what he was talking about. Well, maybe he didn’t, but the advice is sage nonetheless. It is notoriously difficult to predict anything in the future with consistent accuracy. So why in the world would anyone want to become a futurist? Why bother? Well, to be blunt, that is exactly why! Ignoring the opportunities and dangers of the future is what I like to call The Ostrich Syndrome. Go ahead, hide your head in the sand. The future is not going to go away. And if we can’t predict it, there are certainly ways to prepare for it. To prevent bad outcomes, or at least make them less likely. To create good outcomes, or at least make them more likely. And to be better prepared to deal with whatever does come.
The sad fact is, we live in a short-term oriented society with a short attention span. So what is the antidote to this malady? It is more thoughtful foresight. We have everything to gain and nothing to lose. Kurt Vonnegut compared science fiction writers like himself to the proverbial canary in the mine shaft, warning of weak danger signals before others perceive them. That’s what futurists do, though those weak signals can signal opportunities as well as dangers as the world changes. That’s what I aim to do with the rest of my life. I’ve enrolled in the University of Houston’s Masters in Foresight program. I’m adding a foresight element to a friend’s existing market research business. I’m becoming an advocate for taking a longer view of everything. Economics. Education. Environment. Government. You name it. And I’m starting a second blog, aptly named Seeking Delphi™ after the famed Oracle of Delphi. We can’t predict the future, but we can anticipate the possibilities, avoid the catastrophes (or some of them) and create the opportunities. So here goes something. See you tomorrow and beyond.
The first post on Seeking Delphi is linked here. Keep an eye out for the addition of a podcast in the coming weeks.
I'm not the most interesting man in the world, but I might have the most cluttered mind.
The Millennium Conjectures™ 