by Really enjoyed my appearance on Ian Punnett’s Coast to Coast radio program with University of Houston Futures faculty colleagues Peter Bishop, Terry Grim, and Garry Golden. [The show is available for download on the Coast to Coast .] Peter and I did hour #2, Terry the first half and Garry the second half our hour #3, and the Peter and I came back to take questions from callers in hour #4.
The topics ranged widely across the future. Given my current work in getting the future of values book together, I was pleased to see that topic was well-received. We talked about the postmodern shift away from an emphasis on material goods and toward the search for meaning, desire for experiences, and self-expression. We also touched on emerging jobs and how changes in the economy inevitably lead to new jobs, such as online reputation managers, virtual real estate developers, or carbon footprint managers.
We talked some about how futurists distinguish the expected future, alternative futures, and preferred futures, and that the point of our work is to help people and organizations get to their preferred futures. We also distinguished discontinuities (shifts off of the the expected future) and wildcards (low probability and high impact events).
The questions hour was fun. One caller asked about the shadow government and we were able to tie the response to our Social Change course, noting that one theory was that a power elite is the key driver of change. Ian was great and has a real interest in the future — he even came to our last Association of Professional Futurists meeting in Denver on “The Big Questions.” Andy Hines
[…] same point came up on Coast to Coast Futures show over the weekend. As we discussed the emerging jobs of the future, the point was made that feminine […]