Series of editorial posts
We produce a number of articles that land somewhere between design research and curatorial writing. Their purpose is to
1) draw attention towards the themes is a first step in engaging our collective intelligence and capacity for problem solving 2) engage in the conversation people and projects already doing relevant work and that we could support and be supported by in activities driven by Edgeryders and other networks or organisations 3) set the foundations for design of new opportunities or activities.
Themes
1. How to learn to look beyond ones own construction of reality. And be able to convince others of the need to do so. Both to those for whom it is a new idea, and to those who get it in “theory” but fail to take it into account in practice. Suggestions for processes, tools, software to explore.
-
How to make oneself and others internalise that the dimension of the future is a contestable ground / projection / way of looking at the present (and why that matters). Suggestions for processes, tools, software to explore.
-
How to learn to think like a complexity scientist. Story of how and why discipline emerged and how relates to the kind of transformative work people in this community are trying to do. As individuals but also as a collective. How/where to learn more. Suggestions for processes, tools, software to explore.
4. How to learn from others already using the future. Stories from protagonists of how they are going about doing it. Both professionals and people doing futures thinking in the wild. Key concepts. Suggestions for processes, tools, software to explore. Suggestions for processes, tools, software to explore.
- How to find strategies for managing the tension between need for sense-making and action in one’s work. Issues of control and freedom, networks versus organisations, accountability and engagement ethics. Suggestions for processes, tools, software to explore.
Interpretations of themes (the posts)
1. How to learn to look beyond ones own construction of reality
Jeff Andreoni’s Interpretation - It sounds like Plato’s parable of the cave: “By analogy, Socrates is implying that the enlightened philosopher must descend from a continuous intelligible contemplation of the good to share in the visible lives of his fellow citizens for the well-being of the whole. (520a-c)”. Result: Get back in the Box!
Daniel Van Den Helden and Vinca Kruk’s Interpretation- Design Futures under capitalist realism: we can design smart highways and other gadgets of the internet of things but “sorry, we can’t design and build healthcare and housing for all”… why is that and what is wrong with our current idea of designing the future? Result:
2. How to make oneself and others internalise that the dimension of the future is a contestable ground / projection / way of looking at the present (and why that matters)
Daniel Van Den Helden and Vinca Kruk’s Interpretation- Political representation and the democratic system in the deep state. This deals with the failure of representative politics and the basic necessity to keep re-inventing democratic society instead of relying on the current model of representation as the “final” one. What does the future need in terms of reinvention of the political sphere? Result:
3. How to learn to think like a complexity scientist
Daniel Van Den Helden and Vinca Kruk’s Interpretation- Biopolitics and agency. What new biopolitical formations emerge out of the current life-work configurations, our increased networked connectivity and the displacement of established social norms and institutions—and what do these formations promise for collective agency in the future? [Feedback from Matthias: This is ambiguous and unintelligible]. Result:
4. How to learn from others already using the future
Nathaniel James’a Interpretation - Who can use the future?
Riel Miller’s Interpretation - Embed video#2 in this blogpost.
Daniel Van Den Helden and Vinca Kruk’s Interpretation - Civil liberties and our rights to freedom from surveillance. Systematic spying undercuts the presumption under which citizenship is possible. The Snowden revelations have had little to no policy repercussions in the overdeveloped West. Post-democratic treaty superstructures make this surveillance a standard feature of global governance, enabled by a massive military-technological complex that earns billions and billions of euros/dollars of taxpayers’ money on the constant reproduction of fear. We have a right to a future free from surveillance. Result:
Nadia’s Interpretation - Narrativised case studies i.e video interviews from the Knowlab.
5. How to find strategies for managing the tension between need for sense-making and action in one's work
Daniel Van Den Helden and Vinca Kruk’s Interpretation- Aesthetics. A progressive politics worth living in should look and feel from the future. Progressive politics needs to reclaim the future—not just in content but also in the forms. Result:
Juha Van’t Zelfde’s interpretation - Cause and affect: Developing our senses and precognitive awareness to improve our ability to navigate realities. Focus on: Visceral, affective, embodied experience. Result: