Embodied Futures

Class Description: Brighter futures aim to affect positive change. At the Institute for the Future we frequently talk about this as the Foresight to Insight to Action cycle. However, futures as visions, as ideas, do not motivate action. Emotions motivate action. This session will explore the futurist as a sculptor in the mediums of hope and fear, and the foresight practitioner as an agent of emotional intelligence and empowerment. At IFTF we draw on a phrase coined by Jane McGonigal, “urgent optimism,” to describe the state we’re trying to steer people towards. Clear-eyed analysis of present reality and future possibility feeds both urgency and optimism, but analysis must always meet an audience where they are emotionally as well as intellectually. Practitioners: please bring your stories of triumph and defeat. Newbies: come and be prepared to "tune your instrument," as mindfulness researcher Jon Kabat-Zinn puts it.