Futurism and the African Imagination (Routledge Studies in African Philosophy)
This book investigates how African authors and artists have explored themes of the future and technology within their works. Afrofuturism was coined in the 1990s as a means of exploring the intersection of African diaspora culture with technology, science and science fiction. However, this book argues that literature and other arts within Africa have always reflected on themes of futurism, across diverse forms of speculative writing (including science fiction), images, spirituality, myth, magi...
The Artificial Intelligence Contagion
by David Barnhizer and Daniel Barnhizer
Examines how AI/Robotics is overwhelming the fundamental institutions of Western society. But are we prepared for the social impact of the vast changes soon to be upon us? - Half the world's workers could be replaced by machines within the next 30 years. The McKinsey Global Institute and Oxford University researchers predict massive job loss with 47% to 50% of US jobs eliminated by 2030 and up to 800 million more jobs destroyed worldwide. - Nor will the AI/robotics transformation produce large n...
In these pages you will find inspiring, true stories of people who didn't have hope?until they had a home. Stories of children who gained identity and confidence for their future. Of families made stronger and healthier and prison inmates who are now giving back to their communities. Of entire communities bonding together around an ethic of hard work and mutual respect. Of denominational, political, and racial barriers falling with every swing of the hammer. Of a growing host of young people eng...
From the remarkable minds of Sputnik Futures, this visually engaging exploration of the microbes that surround us and how these unseen powerhouses are shaping our future is perfect for readers of I Contain Multitudes and 10% Human. Let’s face it, microbes rule the world! Bacteria, fungi, archaea, protozoa, algae, even viruses—these microorganisms may go unseen, but the impact they have on our lives is unmistakable. From panspermia (the bacteria dust from our galaxy) and the microbiomes of our h...
Anthropologies and Futures
Anthropology has a critical, practical role to play in contemporary debates about futures. This game-changing new book presents new ways of conceptualising how to engage with a future-oriented research agenda, demonstrating how anthropologists can approach futures both theoretically and practically, and introducing a set of innovative research methods to tackle this field of research.Anthropology and Futures brings together a group of leading scholars from across the world, including Sarah Pink,...
The Invention of Tomorrow
by Thomas Suddendorf, Jon Redshaw, and Adam Bulley
Our ability to think about the future is one of the most powerful tools at our disposal. In The Invention of Tomorrow, cognitive scientists Thomas Suddendorf, Jonathan Redshaw, and Adam Bulley argue that its emergence transformed humans from unremarkable primates to creatures that hold the destiny of the planet in their hands. Drawing on their own cutting-edge research, the authors break down the science of foresight, showing us where it comes from, how it works, and how it made our world. Jour...
Routledge Handbook for Creative Futures (Routledge Environment and Sustainability Handbooks)
As the uncertainty of global and local contexts continues to amplify, the Routledge Handbook for Creative Futures responds to the increasing urgency for reimagining futures beyond dystopias and utopias. It features essays that explore the challenges of how to think about compelling futures, what these better futures might be like, and what personal and collective practices are emerging that support the creation of more desirable futures. The handbook aims to find a sweet spot somewhere between...
The Future Is Faster Than You Think (Exponential Technology)
by Peter H. Diamandis and Steven Kotler
From the New York Times bestselling authors of Abundance and Bold comes a practical playbook for technological convergence in our modern era. In their book Abundance, bestselling authors and futurists Peter Diamandis and Steven Kotler tackled grand global challenges, such as poverty, hunger, and energy. Then, in Bold, they chronicled the use of exponential technologies that allowed the emergence of powerful new entrepreneurs. Now the bestselling authors are back with The Future Is Faster Than Y...
1 of a set of 12 books in a series in which some of the worlds most distinguished academics and writers in their particular fieldsattempt to forecast the future, over the next 50 years, across a range of social, economic, political , geographical and technological subject areas.
How do our unique conscious minds reflect and amplify nature's vast evolutionary process? This book provides a scientifically informed, psychologically holistic approach to understanding and enhancing our future consciousness, serving as a guide for creating a realistic, constructive, and ethical future. Thomas Lombardo reveals how we can flourish in the flow of evolution and create a prosperous future for ourselves, human society and the planet. Author Awarded Fellow of World Future Studies Fe...
Refusing the digital world of late capitalism In this uncompromising essay, Jonathan Crary presents the obvious but unsayable reality: our “digital age” is synonymous with the disastrous terminal stage of global capitalism and its financialisation of social existence, mass impoverishment, ecocide, and military terror. Scorched Earth surveys the wrecking of a living world by the internet complex and its devastation of communities and their capacities for mutual support. This polemic by the aut...
Disappearing dress codes, customers as designers and wearable technology; in recent years the production and function of clothing has undergone massive change. New manufacturing technologies have brought bespoke design within reach of many consumers for the first time. Miniature sensors can turn ordinary garments into smart devices. And blurring gender roles and class distinctions point the way towards a more fluid approach to clothing, fashion and design. The Future of Clothing offers a criti...
Future Sense offers an interweaving of global and personal themes, which are often kept apart: a far-reaching synthesis of ideas in tune with emerging global developments. It points to how greater whole intelligence can strengthen us in transforming the world and our lives at the same time. Faced with today’s enormous global challenges, humanity often seems ineffective, distracted, or powerless. Many are pessimistic about their descendants’ future chances. In Future Sense however, Malcolm Parlet...
Charting China's Future
Every day and everywhere, China figures prominently in global attention: companies and banks weigh billions in investments; hedge fund managers assess and speculate on downside risks; commodity traders and natural resource producers salivate over China's energy appetite; intelligence agencies carefully track China's growing global footprint; militaries monitor China's growing military capabilities; diplomats grapple with a new assertiveness in China's diplomatic posture; scholars try to understa...