Futures studies  

From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia

Loisirs Littéraires au XXe siècle (English: "Literary leasures in the 20th century") is the title of an illustration from the story "The End of Books" by French writer Octave Uzanne and illustrator Albert Robida, a story about a post-literate society in which readers have become 'hearers', consumers of audio books. It was published in the collection Contes pour les bibliophiles (1895). The illustration depicts a female reader of the 20th century, imagined by Robida, who is listening to "12 poètes assortis" (twelve assorted poets) in on the balcony overlooking a future city.

The Trylon and Perisphere, two modernistic structures at the New York World's Fair of 1939-1940
Photo: Trylon, Perisphere and Helicline (Samuel H. Gottscho)

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Futurology (may also be referred as futures studies or foresight) is the study of postulating possible, probable, and preferable futures and the worldviews and myths that underlie them. It is considered as a topic in philosophy. Some claims it is a science, or art. In general, it can be considered as a branch under the more general scope of the field of history. Futures studies (colloquially called "futures" by many of the field's practitioners) seeks to understand what is likely to continue, what is likely to change, and what is novel. Part of the discipline thus seeks a systematic and pattern-based understanding of past and present, and to determine the likelihood of future events and trends.

See also

• Biocultural evolution
• List of emerging technologies
• Outline of future studies
• Sustainocene
• The Human genetic engineering, cyborg technology, and other hypothetical forms of the future human evolution.