Speeches
I give talks about the history of the future inspired by the years of research for my book and more than a decade of working in the field of futurism.
A rich and varied topic, the history of the future can be talked about and discussed
from many different angles. There is for example a more academic approach that takes a
look at the methods that have developed over the years, and how they have been employed
by governments, companies and individuals to meet various ends. Or one can take a more
entertaining look at the history of futurism from a “lighter” perspective – the
foibles and fantasies of all the weird and wonderful people who tried to make predictions:
The History of the Future
The history of predicting the future is the fascinating story of the most interesting, important and influential futurists over the years,
and how their methods, mistakes and successes can help future thinking today.
From Delphi’s virgin visionaries, to pop futurists, science fiction writers, trend gurus and evolutionary experts,
I show how futurism developed into a real and respectable discipline and how it has branched out to adapt to the changing needs and greeds of civilization.
In trying to predict how we would live, work and even love, some of these futurists were spectacularly right, some were embarrassingly and hilariously wrong,
and some really gave the future a run for its money.
- Which are the key lessons to learn from the world’s first and most successful future prediction business, the Delphi Oracle?
- Who were (and are) the key movers and shakers in the business of predicting the future, what can we learn from them, their methods and their mindsets?
- What does it take to become a great future thinker and why you should beware of the “futurists monkey trap”?
- From scenarios and game theory to media scanning and Trendtrekking. How forecasting methods have developed over the years, and which ones can we rely on?
Speech approx 45 minutes long, including discussion and an illustrated Keynote presentation.
Events coming up
New events coming up soon
Archive
19 February 2009:
The Weird and Wonderful History of the Future
London Metropolitan University (event open to the public)
asd-realtime.org
September 17th 2008:
The Weird And Wonderful
History Of Future
DESY Hörsaal, Hamburg
www.desy.de
June 14th 2007, 6.30 pm, British Bookshop, Weihburggasse 24, 1010 Wien:
A Brief History of the Future: Presentation, reading and discussion.
www.britishbookshop.at
Book presentation in Vienna, March 2007