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The Money Matter Section of the Vandejong blog posted a great profile about my work as a Futurist.
“Many people believe there is one future that will happen to them. I’d like people to understand there are many possibilities.” – American futurist and filmmaker Heather Schlegel
Find out why I think American Express, Nike, Virgin and Burning Man are really interesting future facing companies to watch.
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In case you haven't noticed, I have an ambitious streak.
In 2012, I wrote a seminal paper. (Well, I think in retrospect it will be seen as seminal. It seminal to me.) I had been asked to write a paper exploring one of the world's biggest "wicked" problems. Typical problems of this genre are climate change, economic crisis, water crisis, peak oil, etc. Big disasters that threaten the END OF HUMANITY!!!!!1!!!1!!!1
While these are truly big problems, I do not get particularly worked up by them. Part of this has to do with my galactic timeline view of the human species. Sure, from our perspective, these are big deal problems, but in the scheme of the universe, I don't think these things will destroy the earth, or the solar system. These problems _will_ make it difficult to continue as a species. Anyway, with this nonchalant perspective and because I like a challenge; I decided how boring to address only ONE problem. Instead, I tackled ALL the problems. And by looking at ALL THE PROBLEMS, I found a brand new perspective.
If you know me, you know I don't think like most people.
My paper, The Human Problem, explored the results of this inquiry. The Association of Professional Futurist awarded me first place for it. (This was the third year in a row I had been awarded by the APF - I'm abstaining submitting anything this year - I think it's only fair.)
I presented an in-depth talk about the paper at Iowa Wesleyan last October. I had forgotten they filmed it, but found it online this morning. It's a pretty fantastic talk, if I do say so myself. I am fairly happy with the presentation.
If you are interested in learning HOW TO SOLVE ALL THE WORLD'S PROBLEMS (and I can't help but type this with a snark in my eye), then check it out. Enjoy!
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