possibility studies

The book focuses on a simple question: how could we become better at imagining the society in which we might like to live a generation or two from now?

(4) The dominant notion of reality is deeply related to the fact that we (moderns) believe in science and abstract knowledge as arbitrators of truth, in the autonomous and competitive individual as the kernel of society, and in the economy as a separate domain ruled by “free markets.” These entangled set of beliefs have created the modern idea that

will have histories that have not been written yet. Possibility is the hope we wear when we charge into battle. It is stronger than assumption or reaction because it is intentional.

The overwhelming threat of climate change has amplified the sense that global capitalism is out of control or that the best we can hope for is to avert catastrophe.

Although science may proceed through the experimental pluck of one scientist or another, it is ultimately a collaborative endeavor. Similarly, speculative fiction is read by the singular reader but experienced by a fanbase and sometimes a whole culture (or cultures).

My argument is that to reimagine what’s possible is one of the most complex cultural and political acts one can engage in at present, whether we are in the academy, activism, or policy making. This is because one of the most pernicious effects of today’s dominant political, economic, and belief systems has been to narrow down, if not colonize, the

It is designed to be an antidote to fatalism—to remind us that other worlds are possible.

Beyond immediate sensory information, we create our perceptions of the social and physical world using a range of highly personal sources collected across our lifetimes.

“Hope is the embrace of the unknown and the unknowable, an alternative to the certainty of both optimists and pessimists”—Rebecca Solnit *“Any useful idea about the future should appear ridiculous”–Jim Dator*