Hacker News Reader

Comment by ACow_Adonis | Hacker News Reader

I cringe every time i have to call myself a data scientist, but I guess I should be thankful I don't have to yet call myself an academically trained futurist :P

View on HN

Haha, yes, I'd trade futurist for data scientist.

In academic circles, we're called foresight or futures studies field but no one knows what that is.

Have you read The Futurological Congress by Stanisław Lem? That's the first thing that came to my mind after reading about your profession.

I have not, but I'll check it out. I've read "The Futurist" which is also a satirical look. I think the field can be made better with a healthy dose of introspection via satire, so I welcome reading this book. Thanks!

I can't believe this is a real thing. I really thought you were pulling a high-quality troll.

It legitimately sounds like you belong working at the Ministry of Magic.

madamelic, yeah I've gotten a lot of funny looks from people. When I explain that its relates to scenario planning, it sounds a bit less silly.

There are some govts, like in Finland or Singapore, that invest heavily in futures studies. Singapore Gov't has multiple foresight teams within the prime minister's office, ministry of trade etc. UAE has a quasi-Ministery of the Future: https://www.mocaf.gov.ae/en

I'd rather be working at the Ministry of Magic though. :p

Oh, I wasn't like putting down your work. From what I found poking around it sounds like an important field.

Just the name cracked me up. :)

Reply on news.ycombinator.com