possibility studies
If you are asked to imagine a future city, you are bound to think of its transport, its buildings or its public spaces, not the invisible patterns that may explain much more about its character. The discipline of imagining physical things can be extremely creative, and today’s architects are at the forefront of thinking through how to live entwined
... See moreGeoff Mulgan • Another World Is Possible: How to Reignite Social and Political Imagination
This vision of a society where violence and conflict are uninteresting, where everyone is seen in their power and full emotional breadth, created a yearning in me. I want to make that world come true,
adrienne maree brown • Loving Corrections_adrienne Maree Brown
In general, the dynamics of possibility should not be thought of as confined to a particular period of life
Tamar Kushnir • How Children Learn to Transcend Limits: Developmental Pathways to Possibility Beliefs
“The Official Future” tells us to “think exponentially, act incrementally,” beckoning us to utilize foresight in service of the ever-expanding present systems of quantifying, micro-analyzing, extracting, consuming, and automating. This way of futuring is at the heart of Epistemic Uncertainty. “The Emergent Future” instead challenges us to “ think... See more
The Future Thinker’s Dilemma
lots of this is too nebulous - but the mindset shift from ‘think exponentially, act incrementally’ to ‘think transformationally, act transitionally’ is really potent
It’s better to prefer incompleteness over completeness; capacious imagination instead of futures that are too specific or neat; and experimentation and exploration over visions and blueprints. I’m sceptical of overly coherent utopias or the belief that societies follow simple logics. Instead, I see the work of imagination (and the life of real
... See moreGeoff Mulgan • Another World Is Possible: How to Reignite Social and Political Imagination
The impossible we can imagine also serves as a mirror, confronting ourselves with our responses to the wide range of (im)possible scenarios. Why do we assume they are impossible to begin with? What is it about these boundaries that might make us feel uncomfortable? Can we see beyond that and expand our imagination even more?
Loes Damhof • Imagining the Impossible: An Act of Radical Hope
possibility beliefs , for the purposes of this paper, are simply beliefs about our actions and their limits; they help us enumerate options and carve out pathways for action.
Tamar Kushnir • How Children Learn to Transcend Limits: Developmental Pathways to Possibility Beliefs
Philosophically, modernity is often referred to as “The Age of Man.” In ascension since the Renaissance, it crystallized toward the end of the 18th century into a configuration of knowledge that French philosopher Michel Foucault characterized as an episteme in which the figure of Man as the foundation of all possible knowledge. Jamaican
... See moreArturo Escobar • Welcome to Possibility Studies
After all: who gets to decide what is impossible anyway? If the future only exists in our imagination, then who gets to say what belongs between or outside the boundaries of the Futures cone?