Imaginable: How to See the Future Coming and Feel Ready for Anything—Even Things That Seem Impossible Today

the fact that we saw the future coming before it happened creates a specific response in the brain. The very first emotion we feel isn’t shock but recognition. We recognize this strange new world because we’ve spent time there, in our imagination, before. Recognition communicates to us: You know this. You’ve got this. It’s a powerful antidote to fe

mental time trip

future is always uncertain, in flux, and changeable; it is a perpetually expanding and collapsing set of possibilities.

Coursera, has seventy-seven million learners; edX has over thirty-five million. And user data reveals that two-thirds of them have already completed a bachelor’s degree or higher, while more than half are learning while holding a full-time job. There is clearly an appetite for continuing education—for new skills, new communities, new opportunities.

Go as far into this future as you want. What’s the best possible outcome of a global wintering that you can imagine? What progress has been achieved during these ten years to make the world more sustainable and climate-resilient? What’s the good news in this future? How do you celebrate when the technology gets turned off and full sunlight is resto

I’d like to get involved in Jane’s Walks. What if researchers at the Institute for the Future led people on guided walks through future scenarios? We could challenge our students: Take at least one person in your neighborhood on a guided walk to talk about how a future scenario might play out in your local community. I’d love to try it myself. Mayb

In addition to a brief written scenario, we created a ten-minute video showing how people might use the fictional FeelThat network, to help participants feel more immersed in this future. You

I recommend doing one search a month, to learn just one new thing.

What’s one “surprising” thing you saw coming and felt ready for? What’s one important change you made, or helped make—in your life, or in your community, or in the world?