Futurist

“Today the term most commonly describes authors, consultants, organizational leaders and others who engage in interdisciplinary and systems thinking to advise private and public organizations on such matters as diverse global trends, plausible scenarios, emerging market opportunities, and risk management.” Wikipededia

We at Relativity will also want to show the relationship between the professional consulting institutions like RAND and academic groups, visionaries and third culture intellectuals. What is the difference between anticipatory thinking, prediction, technology forecasting and futurist?

Why do we not think of Jules Verne or H.G.Wells as futurist but philosophers? Can what we collectively think and dream create the future. Are we co-creators or just witnesses to the evolution of life. Why do we consider literary intellectuals “the intellectuals” excluding scientists such as Edwin Hubble, John von Neumann, Albert Einstein, Niels Bohr, Werner Heisenberg, or Arthur Eddington?

We definitely want to talk about recognized futurists: Ray Kurzweil, John Naisbitt, Alvin Toffler, Michio Kaku, Stephen Hawking and others. How can we understand the difference between these scientists and “men of letters”? Where do we draw the line between the methodologies they used and their personal beliefs.

Can we some day join together the best of our scientists, philosophers, and futurist? Is there time and space? As we reach the end of time, what questions should we be asking?