The intentional leader Shrewd futurists scour the past as well as investigating the possible in their never-ending search for clues and insights into the present. In terms of the social order our forebears so diligently created, that which manifests today, the past happens to be the most enlightening of these three domains.
For many of us the reality that is the ʻhuman conditionʼ emanates from a bizarre blend of primitive superstitions and visionary ideas, reckless deeds and astonishing inventions – all nurtured by a cultural complexity that is awe- inspiring and beyond understanding.
Those that are able to embrace such expansive epistemological variety, yet can also acknowledge the ominous shadows of an unintended dystopia in the storm clouds threatening almost everything we take for granted are, as yet, relatively uncommon. But at a time of universal disquiet these philosophers and scientists are the myth-makers, people to whom we can confidently turn for coherence and hope.
Indeed we ignore their wisdom at our peril, for they proclaim compelling possibilities combined with the means for averting potential catastrophe in a new story for humanity. Their narrative is inspiring simply because it is one of societal renewal – a metamorphosis from the appalling detritus of denial and dysfunction that crashes in on us daily. Not content merely to punctuate circumstances, these individual are the intentional leadersi of a new ʻGaianʼ age.