possibility studies
(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
... See moreArturo Escobar • Welcome to Possibility Studies
The construction of norms, values, and ideologies around who, in society, is expected or has the right to discover new possibilities and, conversely, who is denied such opportunities is a political act. In fact, power relations within and between groups are a key determinant in the dynamic of the possible and the imposition of impossibility.
Vlad P. Glăveanu • Possibility Studies: A Manifesto
Information is as abundant and generative and inevitable and possible as energy.
Pocket Observatory • Mad Meg : Fury Road
While we know that our imaginations shape our sociocultural experience through the creation of worlds, modernity thrives by throwing tight constraints around it, degenerating our ability and capacity to imagine radically new futures into being. This ontological war against possibility is ‘defuturing’ — there are less futures available to us; or put... See more
Will Bull • Building the Infrastructure of Possibility
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
Our assumptions of the future are being challenged: even what we took for granted now seems uncertain. And instead of asking: how did we get here? We are left with the question: what made us think we would never get here? If the unimaginable suddenly becomes a reality, then what is left to imagine? Is it still worth being hopeful? It appears that
... See moreLoes Damhof • Imagining the Impossible: An Act of Radical Hope
Old attitudes and ideas simply aren’t adequate to help us navigate what lies ahead. And pervasive gloom about the future risks being self-fulfilling.
Geoff Mulgan • Another World Is Possible: How to Reignite Social and Political Imagination
Without curiosity, possibility cannot appear on the scene, and without possibility, curiosity has no scene to work with in the first place. The two make one another possible.
Perry Zurn, Dani S. Bassett • Curiosity and Networks of Possibility
What I love about the idea of scenius is that it makes room in the story of creativity for the rest of us: the people who don’t consider ourselves geniuses. Being a valuable part of a scenius is not necessarily about how smart or talented you are, but about what you have to contribute—the ideas you share, the quality of the connections you make,... See more