Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ A toolkit for predicting the future

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community
It's a toolbox with only three tools, but they're good tools:
  • History lessons - patterns from the history of technology, eg., new forms of crime, concerns about privacy, etc.
  • Uneven distribution - in some places, the future is already here, so look for them (eg. in 2001, mobile handsets with cameras and colour screens were commonplace in Japan)
  • the imagined futures of science fiction - not only predictive, but often inspirational
My key tool has always been to focus on the human side of the equation. What will people do, what will people want to do? If tech is the driver, what is the attractor?

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

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Last Updated: Nov 23, 2024 06:00 a.m.

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