Futures Study Group Beginning!
Navigating the Future
A Minnesota Independent Scholars Exploration
Dr. Tom Abeles
NavigatingFutures.com
612 803 6459
Meeting Schedule and Location:
Monthly, 3rd Wednesday of the month (starting September
Time 7-9 evenings
Location: weather permitting, The Tiny Diner (38th street and 11th Ave South
Alternative: Zoom
Initial Meeting:
Questions, comments, suggestions: Tom Abeles, tabeles@gmail.com
Introduction:
Navigating the Future is a monthly discussion group which will explore contemporary issues and future trends. It will be topical using a mixture of fiction and essays as an approach to critical topics.
The initial topic, The Metaverse, came to the public attention with Facebook’s founder, Mark Zuckerberg’s announcement that Face Book will become a Metaverse. The virtual online space was first named by Neal Stephenson in 1992 in his novel Snow Crash. The first Metaverse on the internet was Linden Laboratories’ Second Life which comes out of the gaming arena. The technology has advanced so that students in primary schools are able to build out their own spaces in Minecraft and interact with others in their “metaverse”.
Explorations:
The Metaverse:
The Metaverse Primer, https://www.matthewball.vc/the-metaverse-primer
Neal Stephenson’s The Diamond Age (also Snow Crash, Fall)
The Future of Humanities Institute
Information, Mis/Disinformation in an internet world:
The Matrix, 1999 movie and sequels
“You take the blue pill…the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill…you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.”
Culatta, Richard, Digital for Good
Mis/Disinformation: https://www.billhalal.com/blog/misdisinformation/
Sustainability:
The Global Development Goals: https://tinyurl.com/ydjtze2p
Raworth, Kate, Doughnut Economics: 7 Ways to Think Like a 21st Century Economist
Reyes, Oscar, Change Finance, Not the Climate
White, David, Ecocide
Hudson, Michael, and forgive them their debts
Kelton, Stephanie, The Deficit Myth
Other materials to be added.