World futures review最新文献

{"title":"Is the ‘Technological Singularity Scenario’ Possible: Can AI Parallel and Surpass All Human Mental Capabilities?","authors":"S. Tariq, Asif Iftikhar, Puruesh Chaudhary, K. Khurshid","doi":"10.1080/02604027.2022.2050879","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/02604027.2022.2050879","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This paper explores and discusses those human mental processes and capabilities which pose a serious challenge to the actualization of the Technological Singularity scenario. It posits that the contemporary human mind-intellect 1 and its further evolution is the main issue and not AI takeover. It elaborates some relatively less explored aspects of human mental architecture and functioning that defy emulation by AI. It introduces the concept of ‘integrated autonomous intellect’ as the future evolutionary stage of the human intellect. It opts for a positive vision of the harmonious collective future(s) of human mind-intellect and AI instead of the Technological Singularity scenario.","PeriodicalId":92860,"journal":{"name":"World futures review","volume":"20 1","pages":"200 - 266"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-03-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73663498","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A Conversation with Zia Sardar","authors":"Liam Mayo","doi":"10.1080/02604027.2022.2041994","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/02604027.2022.2041994","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract These are excerpts of a conversation with Ziauddin Sardar in early 2020. Zia gives his definition of postnormal times: how it describes the rapid nature of change, and how it describes the changing nature of change itself. He confronts the inevitability of postnormality given the erosion of trust in politics, and in the spread of fake news and disinformation. It is a characterization of the “hanging between,” the period in between the end of one paradigm and the emergence of another. Given that, it is our obligation to consider the unthought, to drop our assumptions and precepts from the past to navigate to desirable futures. Postnormal times theory is also a theory of change that incorporates the pace of change and resulting complexity, contradictions, and chaos. Unsurprisingly, Zia criticizes postmodernism and distances postnormal analysis from it in no uncertain terms. It is uncertain how long the transition may be to a new paradigm, a new normal, perhaps centuries, but the fact remains, we cannot control postnormal times, simply navigate them.","PeriodicalId":92860,"journal":{"name":"World futures review","volume":"1 1","pages":"111 - 120"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-03-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"75360826","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The futures dilemma:to be left behind or make a difference","authors":"Yelena V. Muzykina","doi":"10.1177/19467567221082365","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/19467567221082365","url":null,"abstract":"An Interview with Sohail Inayatullah for the Special Issue on Central Asian Futures","PeriodicalId":92860,"journal":{"name":"World futures review","volume":"6 1","pages":"158 - 164"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-03-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"75830475","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Scenarios From Artificial Narrow Intelligence to Artificial General Intelligence—Reviewing the Results of the International Work/Technology 2050 Study","authors":"Osmo Kuusi, Sirkka Heinonen","doi":"10.1177/19467567221101637","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/19467567221101637","url":null,"abstract":"This article introduces the Work/Technology 2050 study of the global Millennium Project and its main results. The article highlights how (invited) experts from different countries see the development of work and technology until 2050 and how they assess the three featured scenarios based on these views. In terms of technology, the study focused on the potential effects of artificial intelligence, while the role of basic income was given special consideration in the development prospects of work. In connection with the scenarios, the study produced hundreds of proposals for action under five different themes. Besides presenting and evaluating these scenarios and proposals for action, the Finnish authors of the article provide their own reflections and some critical remarks.","PeriodicalId":92860,"journal":{"name":"World futures review","volume":"10 1","pages":"65 - 79"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79692528","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Teaching China’s First Critical Futures Studies Courses: Insights and Issues","authors":"M. Anthony","doi":"10.1177/19467567221076184","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/19467567221076184","url":null,"abstract":"There is a common perception that Chinese students are proficient test takers, but less adept at critical thinking. There is conflicting evidence to support this claim. In this article, the author first briefly traces the development of critical and independent thinking in Chinese history and outlines the situation in Chinese education today. Secondly, he presents his personal experience of encouraging the development of Futures-oriented and critical thinking in a Chinese tertiary education setting, via the creation and teaching of China’s first extended Critical Futures Studies courses. The criticality component of the program was modified specifically for the Chinese context. An ethnographic approach is taken in the latter part of this article as the author shares details of that curriculum, as well as successes and shortcomings gleaned from the experience. The purpose of this sharing is to assist other Critical Futures Studies educators in setting up Critical Futures Studies courses in China, or in similar environments where Futures thinking and critical thinking have not been emphasized within the culture and/or educational curricula. The article also posits suggestions on how to develop such programs and related critical thinking processes in broader school curricula. Finally, the author reflects upon his/her role as a critical futurist in China, using Inayatullah’s (2018) Causal Layered Analysis.","PeriodicalId":92860,"journal":{"name":"World futures review","volume":"22 1","pages":"45 - 64"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"91323390","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Past is Holding Us Back: Applying Foresight to Move the Disciplines of Political Science and International Relations Forward","authors":"Angela Miller","doi":"10.1177/19467567221098747","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/19467567221098747","url":null,"abstract":"This article examines the extent to which the academic disciplines of political science and international relations (IR) are incorporating foresight or futures thinking into their work. The disciplines of political science and IR grapple with important issues that affect lives across the world and have the potential to influence the future in ways that reduce conflict, enhance allocation of resources, and improve processes in general. This article offers a review of the political science and IR literature and course content that incorporates foresight, concluding that only a handful of journals appear to be publishing research that applies foresight. Some academic institutions on the other hand are encouraging a more multidisciplinary approach to resolving global challenges with an eye toward the future in their course content. The article concludes with several recommendations on how political science and IR scholars can incorporate foresight’s best practices to ensure the disciplines are more forward looking and effective at shaping a better future.","PeriodicalId":92860,"journal":{"name":"World futures review","volume":"53 1","pages":"80 - 85"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"76255714","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Anti-Archetypes: Patterns of Hope","authors":"Leah Zaidi","doi":"10.1177/19467567221076204","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/19467567221076204","url":null,"abstract":"Positive stories of change can play a powerful role in shaping systems. In systems-thinking, stories can take the form of systems archetypes which depict recurring themes and organizational dramas. Though these patterns are important for uncovering problems, they also have the potential to help us identify patterns of hope and aspirational futures. This paper will introduce Anti-Archetypes: systemic patterns of hope that allow us to move beyond what is to what is possible. The Anti-Archetypes are not radical redesigns of the existing Archetypes; instead, they reframe familiar stories to reflect more positive dynamics and outcomes.","PeriodicalId":92860,"journal":{"name":"World futures review","volume":"124 1","pages":"29 - 44"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-02-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"78088911","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"How Pandemic Films Help Us Understand Outbreaks: Implications for Futures and Foresight","authors":"Zhaoli Song, Alessandro Fergnani","doi":"10.1177/19467567221076569","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/19467567221076569","url":null,"abstract":"We analyzed 30 pandemic films and developed a processual model to explain the social-level coping mechanisms to confront pandemics as portrayed in films. The model describes the underlying collective understanding of disease outbreaks. The model suggests that pandemic films divide the disease outbreak into three phases: emergence, transmission, and termination. Concurrently, three social processes tend to be activated to cope with the pandemic: healthcare, political, and public awareness. This model is used to compare the social imaginary reflected in films with the current COVID-19 outbreak. The resemblance of the model and the current outbreak suggests that fictional pandemic films may still follow our collective understanding of the pandemic dynamics. Four scenarios are suggested as road maps for futures and foresight practice concerned with future pandemic outbreaks.","PeriodicalId":92860,"journal":{"name":"World futures review","volume":"304 1","pages":"9 - 28"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-02-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"77422451","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Digital Mockingbird: Anthropological Transformation and the “New” Nature","authors":"Piero Dominici","doi":"10.1080/02604027.2022.2028539","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/02604027.2022.2028539","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Within a world-system characterized by processes and dynamics whose interconnections and interdependencies increase exponentially each day, we are passing through an extremely delicate and complex phase of global mutation. What we are witnessing is a radical overturn of the complex interaction between natural (biological) and cultural evolution. The ongoing paradigm shift and profound anthropological transformation create new dimensions, openings, epistemological implications that require new thinking and new thought, as well as different approaches and methods. We are the constitutive elements of a “new” Nature, from a structural, ontological and substantial point of view, in need of a New Humanism that must re-define certain categories (humanity, identity, dignity, Person, values, rights, etc.) in order to succeed in rethinking “being human” within a renewed and complex relationship with the ecosystems. The grand illusions of the hypertechnological civilization: rationality, control, measurability, predictability, and elimination of error; are reinforced systematically by the carte blanche delegated to technique/technology, reintroducing reductionist and deterministic approaches, analyses and explanations, exclusively based on technical knowledge and skills: that is, those which are guaranteed to best support precisely these very illusions. It is precisely this attitude which prevents us from being prepared, which dooms us to an eternal apprehension of black swans, little aware that our very lives are emergency; that they are infinite sequences of black swans. The present-day obsession with doing, designing, studying, and funding only what is “useful,” the insistent search for control and certainty in order to cling onto an illusory sensation of familiarity and reassurance in the face of the radical unpredictability and variability inherent to life and reality (“tyranny of concreteness”). With the advent of artificial intelligence, it has become of the utmost importance to reflect upon the relationship/interaction between man and machine, and the dangers posed by pursuing the simulation of human thought.","PeriodicalId":92860,"journal":{"name":"World futures review","volume":"78 1","pages":"343 - 371"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-02-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"81304090","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Activism and Political Opportunity: Environmental Management on the Move in Sylhet City","authors":"C. Mia, A. Zakaria","doi":"10.1080/02604027.2022.2028537","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/02604027.2022.2028537","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract We aim to explore the nature of environmental (streams/canals and hillocks) management in terms of how government authorities and environmental groups attempt to control environmental threats around Sylhet City. Adopting a qualitative approach, we interviewed seventeen key informants of government stakeholders and environmental activists involved in local grassroots movements. We argue that dynamic environmental management allows the government and environmental groups to respond conditionally. Although responsible government institutions manage the environment, local movements demand more active presence, raise flags into their actions if found any reckless attempt, strive for more accountability of authorities and push toward eliminating growing threats. We propose a rational perspective of environmental movements related to political opportunity structure.","PeriodicalId":92860,"journal":{"name":"World futures review","volume":"12 1","pages":"91 - 112"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-02-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"77797653","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}