 By Jim Selman | Bio
It is almost impossible to turn on the television or read a
newspaper or a magazine without encountering one pundit, expert or “man
on the street” either talking about the future or trying to blame
someone for something. Our media commentary is rarely about what is
happening now: mostly it’s about what happened in the past or what
someone thinks is going to happen in the future. Combine the
establishment media with all of the blogging and chatting going on, and
it is incredible how fixated we are on what will happen next.[ Read More]
Written by eldering at Wisdom in Action
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 By Jim Selman | Bio
Our
relationship to risk and our fears is closely related. Most of our
lives we’ve made decisions based on some formal or informal process for
assessing ‘risk’. In our conventional way of thinking, this means
trying to predict what will or will not happen and with what
probabilities based on some scenario or course of action. It is a
‘forward looking’ posture and, as with all predictions, draws on
historical data or experience and projects it into the future. In other
words, we take our past, project it into the future and then make our
choices and commitments based on what our predictions (the past) tell
us will probably happen. Anyone who is even mildly
paying attention can easily grasp that the predictions are wrong more
often than they are right.[ Read More]
Written by eldering at Fearless Aging
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 By Jim Selman | Bio
Today is ‘back to work’ for most of us. We’ve
eaten too much, survived another holiday season and are now preparing
for what’s next. This year is different for many throughout the world.
The economy, climate, war and poverty are continuing sources of
suffering. I hear more and more people expressing their fears about the
future and predictions that 2009 will be ‘very tough’. Unfortunately,
if enough people have a pessimistic view of their future, then as I
have said on this blog many times, we are creating a self-fulfilling
reality. We will get what we resist and fear unless and until enough
people create a critical mass to create a different, unpredictable
future.[ Read More]
Written by eldering at Leadership
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Well, it looks like Hillary is bowing out—actually more like accepting
the fact that she can’t win. Polls in that league are realists above
all else. I assume we’ll get the inside dope on whatever backroom deals
were made in the weeks ahead. Now the healing and reunification of the
Democratic Party must begin. However, before we relegate Hillary to the political graveyard, I want
us to stop and reflect on what an incredible process this has been and
acknowledge her for her strength and courage.[ Read More]
Written by eldering at Leadership
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In the 1970s, I belonged to The World Future Society. I even toyed with
the idea of becoming a ‘futurist’. I vaguely recall that there was a
magazine on the subject and various intellectuals were trying to get
prediction raised to the status of a science. According to Wired
magazine, the Society still exists and there are people who call
themselves professional futurists, but the numbers are shrinking and
their status seems to be less than in the past—primarily because the
future is increasingly less predictable (if it ever was). Yet, why do people continue to seek answers to what will the future be?[ Read More]
Written by eldering at Fearless Aging
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Read Creativity I.
Now it's easy to hear this conversation about 'standing in
possibilities' of what the future might be as some sort of optimism
versus pessimism discussion—the “Just be happy” versus “There’s no
hope” maxims. I am not suggesting this at all. Optimism and pessimism
are grounded in positive or negative predictions of the future. Changing how we observe is not a function of prediction: it is a function of commitment. [ Read More]
Written by eldering at Wisdom in Action
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My friend Dan at Curmudgeon recently sent me a very interesting video of a speech by Sir Ken Robinson.
He is a British educator committed to reinventing education to give
creativity in our schools as much weight as we now give to literacy.
This makes sense. One of the underlying principles of Serene Ambition
is that we need intergenerational collaboration. No one has any idea
what the future will be and, therefore, we need to collaborate in new
ways. Collaboration isn’t problem-solving: it is creative dialogue and
coordination of action. Creativity isn’t just the province of the
young—it is a possibility for everyone—and we can continue to be
creative to our last days.[ Read More]
Written by eldering at Wisdom in Action
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