How can we occupy the future?

When considering the future of humankind, many of us feel out of control. But our future doesn’t need to be ominous, remote or intangible.

FutureFest is all about acting now to create the future that you want to see. This year, we are calling on you to occupy your future and imagine multiple paths into tomorrow.

We asked some of our speakers, how can we increase our sense of agency and occupy the future? Here’s what they had to say:

Paul Mason

Paul Mason, journalist, author and film maker

Realise human beings have agency over society and economics - both collectively and individually. Reject fatalism. Begin to act as if we are not helpless. Imagine a future we want and band together with others to take huge strides towards it. Above all, decide on what basis you, as a human being, claim autonomy and individuality versus the machines and code that will be deployed to control you.

Douglas Rushkoff

Douglas Rushkoff, journalist, author and documentarian

Find the others. Engage with them in real life. Learn to see the future less as something we arrive at than something we create together. Then start small. Eat less meat. Buy less stuff. Use less energy. Support people in your community. Find fun offline. Look into people's eyes. Establish rapport. Listen to the stories of elders.

Ruby Wax

Ruby Wax, entertainer and mental health campaigner

Well, I’m not a politican or a CEO, but I’d say, start with you. Fix yourself before you try and fix the world. Don’t just fixate on you – but if you can understand and accept your own feelings, then you won’t have a negative ripple effect.

Kate Raworth

Kate Raworth, author of Doughnut Economics

We cannot control the future, but we can shape it to be regenerative and distributive by design. And the best way to do that is to start with economics that are fit for the 21st century.

Joanna Walsh

Joanna Walsh, journalist and author

The future doesn’t exist. What exists is what’s now. If we can improve economic, social and cultural conditions so that everyone feels they are respected members of society with the power to act, they will take us into the future. We need to think about what’s happening now and that will take care of the future.

Vinay Gupta

Vinay Gupta, Founder, Mattereum

What we really need is more people to be involved in creating the future that they want. A really simple thing that we need to do is put science fiction back into the literary canon. Science fiction was exiled as genre fiction. It’s never retained any respectability and as a result intelligent, literate, educated people know nothing about the future and don’t have the tools necessary to think about it.

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Kyle McDonald, Artist working with code

I am trying to focus on my personal issues and the relationships in my life. Global issues are super important, but I’ve been feeling that the number of people who can have a real impact at that scale is fairly small. It’s dangerous to get distracted by all the things you can’t help with. A lot of real changes happen through small collective actions. I’m a big fan of sharing meals, especially with people that might be new to an area or group. I’ve also been learning to pay more attention to resources I use: what I eat, how much I travel. I used to think this sort of awareness was just for activists and hippies. How much change can you create with your own actions? But I’ve realized how much these small changes effect my perspective and attitude about how I fit in to the world. These little changes can be powerful not only in changing your own mindset but in setting an example to others around you. If we want to occupy our future, we’ll have to start by focusing on our personal relationships and our everyday behavior.

Carlo Ratti

Carlo Ratti, Director, MIT Senseable City Lab

We can occupy our future by exploring multiple futures now – a role that designers can greatly contribute to. As Herbert Simon once said: "The natural sciences are concerned with how things are. Design, on the other hand, is concerned with how things ought to be".

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Rebecca Allen, Visual artist and UCLA Professor

Diversity is crucial, now more than ever. In certain societies, people are finally saying something must change. For example, the technology industry must diversify, and they’ve been reluctant to do so. A more diverse contribution to technology will be crucial. We must act now to prevent greed and violence from being the ruling philosophy and I think a more of a female presence can facilitate new perspectives and ideas.