Institute For The Future

Interns Week 1: A crash course in futures thinking

During the first week of our summer internship program, the members of IFTF organized a series of talks and activities, presenting the history, methodology and toolset of the Institute. First off, Matt Chwierut provided his insights on the California Dreaming project through an exercise identifying and analyzing signals that point to future visions of growth, constraint, transformation, and collapse scenarios, challenging us to use our closest environment, Palo Alto downtown, as a resource for ideas. Brad Kreit shared research that IFTF has developed in the field of health and food, adding to our understanding of the meaning of signals. The ideas from all the different sessions were interwoven through discussions with Anna Davies, who has played an active role in organizing the internship and connecting it to the future of California. 

Throughout the past week, gaming and other participatory practices that mix storytelling with everyday realities emerged as thought and emotion provoking methodologies. Jake Dunagan shared examples of projects he has developed in public and urban environments to engage audiences in future thinking, through the use of subversive strategies. Jason Tester, introducing the idea of persuasion and the future of human and computer interaction, presented "Artifacts from the Future" as well as a series of projects using participatory platforms to help communities develop their visions for the future. We were able to take advantage of the launch of a new Foresight Engine project, Magnetic South, in our first week and experience the platform first hand.  Mathias Crawford presented the fundamentals of game design as well as the different strategies and ways that people engage as players. In the form of a hands-on creative exercise, we experienced the different stages and the practical aspects of game design.

Changes in the idea of agency, as well as the political, social and institutional notions connected to this, emerged as a concept relevant to interests of many IFTF researchers. Marina Gorbis presented her research on the social production of education through emerging networks of scientists and citizens. Knowledge, as an open participatory experience, has involved into forms of active thinking and social responsibility, creating meaningful connections across disciplines. Ariel Waldman shared examples of initiatives to organize communities through the creation of channels to facilitate participation in hacking and open science events. 

We also had the chance to listen to stories from the past, connecting the ideas with the place, time, and mentalities of Silicon Valley, as well as the Institute's history. Mike Liebhold took us through his work on Augmented Reality, and presented his ideas around social and personal ecologies and "supercharged" data. Highlighting the uncertain context of being in the present and also forecasting for the future, Bob Johansen described his view of reciprocity, as an emerging form of currency regulating relationships through forms of genuine giving. The economic aspects of forecasting were further analyzed by Devin Fidler, who presented perspectives of a scenario of future growth, drawing from his experience of foresight for financial organizations. Overall during this week of orientation and interaction with the IFTF members, we were exposed to forecasting as a complex and inclusive methodology that can be effectively and creatively communicated.