The future in Bristol

The guys at Futurelab led an interesting discussion yesterday about futures, and specifically the near-term future in Bristol. Interesting first of all that more than a dozen people came indoors for this on a Saturday afternoon when they might have been idling by the harbourside outside the Arnolfini in the sunshine (well, the sunny folk [...]

What I learned in school today…

We know the past but cannot influence it: we can influence the future but cannot know it.
So said, Stuart Brand, or something like that. It is one of those cute comments it is tempting to quote. But Andrew Curry of the Futures Company relates that once asked to reconsider it, he immediately realised it is [...]

Signals from the future

The title is the phrase which leaps out from the thoughtful new report from Global Dashboard’s Alex Evans and David Steven. Their effort is directed at focussing ideas about how to respond to climate change on reshaping international institutions, which has to be right.
The phrase is supposed to mean that such institutions need to manage [...]

aaah… singularitarians are resurrectionists, too

Always fascinating to read about Ray Kurzweil’s dogged extrapolation from where he thinks we are now to where he wants to be – that is, immortal. He’s putting himself about a bit in the UK in connection with the new film about him. First in the Guardian, now in New Scientist.
He says all the usual [...]