Future Perfect :: essays research papers

<a href="http//www.geocities.com/vaksam/">Sam Vaknins Psychology, Philosophy, Economics and Foreign affairs Web SitesMany futurologists - professional (Toffler) and less so (Naisbitt) - time-tested their choke at predicting the future. They proved quite successful at predicting major trends save not as lucky in delineating their details. This is because, inevitably, every futurologist has to resort to peeled tools much(prenominal) as extrapolation. The modern day versions of biblical prophets are much(prenominal) better informed - and this, precisely, seems to be the problem. The cluttered information obstructs the outlines of the philosophically and conceptually most important elements. The futurologist has to divine which - of a host - of changes which occur in his times and place ushers in a new era. Since the speed at which military personnel societies change has radically accelerated - the futurologists work has become more than compounded and less certain. I t is better to stick to truisms, however banal. True and tried is the key to successful (and, therefore, useful) predictions. What faecal matter we rely upon which is immutable and invariant, not hooked on cultural context, technological level, or geopolitical developments? Human nature, naturally. The display of human nature into the equation which should yield the prediction may besides complicate it. Human nature is, arguably, the most complex thing in the universe. It is characteristically unpredictable and behaviourally stochastic. It is not the kind of paradigm conducive to clear-cut, unequivocal, plain forecasts. This is why it is advisable to isolate two or three axes near which human nature - or its more explicit manifestations - revolves. These organizational principles mustiness possess comprehensive explanatory powers, on the one hand - and usher some kind of synergy, on the other hand. I propose such a trio Individuality, Collectivism and Time. Individuation is the Separation principle, the human hot for uniqueness and idiosyncrasy, for distinction and self sufficiency, for independence and self expression. Collectivism is the human propensity to agglomerate, to stick together, to assemble, the herd instincts and the group behaviours. Time is the principle which connects both. It is the link linking individual and society. It is an epiphenomenon of society. In other words, it arises only when people assemble and can compare themselves to others. This is not Time in the physical sense, which is discernible by the relative positions and physical states of physical systems. Every human - alone as he may be - is bound to notice it.