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The Houston Foresight Program’s Alternative Perspectives class opens with a week on the nature of reality. Each week thereafter, students open class with “reality checks” by sharing their analysis of various reading touching on the nature of reality – and the future of course. We spend a fair bit of time talking about the “inter-subjective” or social constructionist view of reality (stay with me here). Basically, reality is what we agree it is! Wait, what?
I have found that this concept is actually pretty easy for futurists to get their heads around, because alternative futures or scenarios are by their very nature, social constructions, that is we and the clients craft stories about the future, and agree that they are plausible. They are not “real” per se, but rather constructions. Where it gets a little dicey, is when we say that indeed the present is also a social construction. The principles, conventions, institutions, and even laws that we assume as reality, are in effect temporary agreements, that can be “un-agreed.” For example, marijuana was once an illegal drug, but now it isn’t depending on where you are. And watering your lawn is now a crime, depending on where you are.
In the Alternative Perspectives class, we explore tools that question the “conventional wisdom” of the present as a way to “open up” space to consider alternative futures. Why now, you might be asking? I’m going through Harrari’s excellent “Homo Dues” in which he explains social construction in such an elegant way. This is a very popular book, so social construction is infiltrating its way into mainstream conversation. So, let’ be prepared! – Andy Hines
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