Being a futurist is about anticipating trends, rather than making specific predictions, however, today I’ve decided to do both. First of all, after winning her THIRD gold medal in the pool today, Stephanie Rice is going to be in the public eye a lot more than before. Additionally, I predict a special edition box of Rice Bubbles bearing her name:

Brace yourselves, Australia!

(Americans mistakenly call Rice Bubbles “Rice Krispies”, in case you yanks were wondering…).

Well done, Stphanie! Man, she’s fast, isn’t she?

ABC News (USA) is preparing for what may be their most important ever newscast – and they’re accepting submissions from citizen journalists around the world.

Our biosphere is offering us multiple signals indicating the systems on which we rely are under stress. There are hopeful signs that there is a willingness in the world for major technological innovation and cultural changes, but what if we ultimately settle for business-as-usual? What will 2015, 2050, 2070 and 2100 look like?

Embracing the trend of user-generated content, ABC News’ Earth 2100 website explains how you can get involved:

You, our reporters from the future, will invent short videos from the years 2015, 2050, 2070, and 2100.  The ideas and events in your videos will be combined with the projections of top scientists, historians, and economists to form a powerful web-based narrative about the dangers of our current path.

The most compelling reports will also form the backbone of the two-hour prime time ABC News special: Earth 2100, airing this fall.

I’d love to know your thoughts – let me know if you’d like to submit a video – I’d love to track your progress.

Thanks to Stephen McGrail for the tip.

I describe myself as a futurist and this is often the starting point for conversation about the choices that are being made that will impact the futures we live in. At the very least, the question, “What does a futurist do?” is occasionally asked… I’ve decided to pool together quotes that I hear or read that represent perspectives different practitioners bring to the discipline.

Please feel free to include quotes or definitions you like as a comment!

“(Futurists focus) in any of three areas:

1. Forecasting the future, using quantitative and qualitative means,
2. imagining the future, using primarily intuition and writing skills, and
3. creating the future, using techniques of planning and consulting.”

-Glen Hiemstra

“The role of a futurist (and anyone can be one) – is to honour the past, inhabit the present (notice what’s going on now) and engage the future – to be involved in a process of stimulating our friends and our loved ones and even strangers to getting the grips with the fact that the future itself is a race between self-discovery and self-destruction…”
-Richard Neville

Sydney-based futurist Richard Neville is now posting youtube videos with bite-size chunks of insight… His use of constantly changing background images – themed to his words – is really engaging and if I ever do stand-up youtube videos look out for this technique – I’m feeling inspired…

In this video he defines “futurists” as anyone who is prepared to live in three timezones – past, present and future. He explains this well and I’ve decided to start a post to list definitions of futurist that I like…

Anyway, here’s the video. Welcome to the future…

When HSBC made a policy change that would cost some customers more money, thousands of students used Facebook to organise, and threatened to take to the streets. The threat was enough to turn HSBC around. Activists 1, Bank 0.

For details, check out this Guardian article or the Facebook group where it all started (login required).

With thanks to KLM for emailing the Guardian article!