possibility studies

‘the results indicate creative thinking is declining over time among Americans of all ages, especially in kindergarten through third grade. The decline is steady and persistent’.11

Indeed, it is this ability to grasp and challenge at the same time, to sense directions of change while simultaneously trying to shift and shape them, that makes imagination both most useful and most exciting.

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?

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?

Consequently, when we think about possibilities it’s not as much about what we do in the present that shapes the future, but more about how we use the future to shape the present (Damhof, 2022).

the capacity to cultivate and foster alternatives to social, political, cultural and economic conditions; it is a prerequisite for changing the world for the better.

any picture of progress in society and politics has to involve some progress in how we think and feel: an escape from illusions and delusions, attachments and symbols that no longer serve us well, towards some deeper and more accurate truths. Much of what we count as progress has been a progress in consciousness of just this kind—progress in our

Speculative-fiction writers riff on reality like jazz musicians riff on standards, summoning strange new worlds, challenging assumptions, and subverting expectations. By journeying through these invented worlds, readers flex their own speculative muscles. Yoga for the imagination is invaluable in an evolving world where flexibility enables

I’ve found a strikingly similar pattern among political leaders, academics, NGO workers, businesspeople and young high-fliers, and not just in Europe and North America. Young people that I met in Africa were generally quite optimistic, but here too, despite burgeoning science-fiction scenes, dynamic hubs of digital innovation and lively political