Comment by bckr | Hacker News Reader

Comment by bckr | Hacker News Reader

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Well, let's start with thinking. Or rather, brainstorming, fantasizing, hypothesizing, theorizing, imagining.

Ask yourself the following questions:

What will the world be like in 10,000 years?

1,000 years?

100 years?

10 years?

1 year?

Record the ideas that come to mind. Explore those ideas with further thinking, writing, and google searches.

Whatever that turns up that grabs your attention, dig into. Books are often the best gateways to the ideas. Wikipedia and YouTube can supplement a bit. When you get really deep into something, that's when you start reading the academic literature.

You have to pretend you're in a PhD program doing a research project on the future.

When you've got the ideas, then you can ask yourself how you can organize your life to exploit / create the future. And keep going through the process in a cycle. It's a journey of curiosity.

In 1 year, the world will be the same, except with more political turmoil and social agitation.

In 10 years, the world will be in deeper social disintegration due to clashing personality types, in addition to the fact that the dinosaurs holding onto the current economic system will be resisting transition to a more logical economic system.

In 100 years, humanity will have completely rebuilt the international social order due to climate change, and new technology in addition to thr rediscovery of old technology (e.g. nuclear) will be implemented to deal with the new agricultural and geographic realities caused by climate change. We'll also have mass migrants from Africa to more climate hospitable regions like Canada.

1,000 years into the future is very far. It could be possible that we're living in a world where AI is the dominant form of intelligent life, but I still don't think humanity will have left the solar system. Traveling extreme spatial distances is extremely difficult in this type of universe.

Any feedback?

Feedback:

1) Work backward from the furthest future you can imagine to the present. If something will be so in 1000 years, what will have to happen in 100 years to make that true?

2) Start at a global scale in the future, and as you work back to the present, become more detailed and focused on smaller circles of influence, until you're talking about your own life and actions. So: 1,000 years - global; 100 years - industry / large social circles you're part of; 10 years - your immediate social circle and experiences; 1 year - your own choices.

These are just some guidelines. You'll need to tap into your own genius to make use of these ideas.

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