History of thinking about the future

Nils traces evolving mechanisms for imagining the future from prehistory to modern formalized futures thinking.

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Episode notes

When it comes to the future, ideas matter. From artists and architects, politicians and prognosticators, the concepts guiding what’s next don’t always mix well with what’s right in front of us. This creates "future shock," the disorienting feeling of change happening faster than we can metabolize it. Today, technologists rip storylines from sci-fi into systems of command and control that only they govern. But they don't hold a monopoly on our future.

In this episode, Nils Gilman, historian, futurist, and Editor-in-Chief of Berggruen Press, walks us through the long arc of humanity's grappling with what comes next and describes a future-industrial complex that emerged from chaos in the 20th century. In moments of civilizational crisis, old systems crack under the pressure of accelerating change and make space for new ways of imagining what's possible. That's what Futurology is for.

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Mentioned in this Episode:

Mandarins of the Future: Modernization Theory in Cold War America — Nils Gilman (Book, 2004)

"Teaching the Future" — Osip Flechtheim (Essay, 1945)

Future Shock — Alvin Toffler (Book, 1970)