The Next Big Idea Daily You’re Thinking About the Future All Wrong
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Oct 6, 2025 Nick Foster, a seasoned designer and futurist with experience at Apple and Google X, discusses how our approach to imagining the future is flawed. He explores the idea of 'could futurism,' emphasizing the power of optimistic imagination while acknowledging its pitfalls. He also dives into 'should futurism' and 'might futurism,' stressing the importance of scenario planning. Finally, Foster highlights 'don’t futurism,' which critiques risks and dystopian visions, revealing why a more balanced perspective can lead to better outcomes.
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Hands-On Experience With Radical Tech
- Nick Foster recounts his career at Google X, Apple, Dyson and others working on cutting-edge projects.
- He lists examples like brain-controlled computers, intelligent robotics and neighbourhood-scale nuclear fusion to show hands-on futurism experience.
Why Future Thinking Matters Now
- Rapid technological change has created widespread curiosity, uncertainty, and anxiety about the future.
- We need to improve how we think about the future because past insufficient foresight created current problems.
Futures Thinking Is A Skill To Train
- Foster argues our collective skill at thinking about the future is underdeveloped and underfunded.
- He offers a taxonomy to break futures thinking into four manageable types.
