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7/23/12

Futurists see the world changing, from food to technology - by Amanda Kwan

What is a futurist? Not a fortune teller, oracle or prophet. Futurists are simply people who take foresight seriously, applying past and emerging trends to envision how our lifestyles and industries will develop in the years ahead.

But the future isn’t what it used to be: What was once a field dominated by experts such as Future Shock author Alvin Toffler or artificial-intelligence guru Ray Kurzweil is now becoming one that involves more amateurs, as large-scale information and the processing power to analyze it become more accessible. And that’s a welcome development to most of the pros.

“Really, anybody who has a prefrontal cortex is a futurist,” says Patrick Tucker, communications director of the World Future Society. “We spend the vast majority of our time thinking about the future. This is where we plan, where we create actions we are going to commit ourselves to.”

Next weekend, Toronto will host the World Future Conference, bringing together people from disparate fields to discuss how the world is changing – and how it ought to.

Read more: Four ways futurists see the world changing, from food to technology - The Globe and Mail

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