The Atlantic
Our pandemic cocoons are breaking open, and some of us might miss them.
Jean Gaumy / Magnum
I’ve spent the pandemic taking daily walks around my neighborhood, along what are now overly familiar blocks. I try to vary my route, but I can tell you which patches of sidewalk are most treacherous, which houses have the most stylish doors, and where the yippiest dogs reside. Last week, a text interrupted this routine, with a link to schedule my first vaccination appointment. For a second, I thought it was spam. But I stopped, and clicked, and very shortly had snagged an appointment, for just a few days later.
‘We are now at a place of kindness in the world’- Faith Popcorn Hein Kaiser
Man showing kindness to his elderly father. Picture: iStock “Kindness is not simply being naïve to one another, but it has far-reaching socio-political and economic reach and takes many shapes” says futurist and author Faith Popcorn.
‘Double double toil and trouble, Fire burn and cauldron bubble’. Shakespeare’s famous couplet in Macbeth called it for today’s reality. More and more it feels like the present and the near future is a stew of crazy with socio economics literally in the soup. Navigating the present tense is equally as hard for individuals as for business with the future a jumble sale of possibility. The Covid-19 pandemic accelerated this confusion. Yet, celebrated
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The pandemic, which has seemed stranger than science fiction in so many ways, has occasioned much debate about the role of speculative fiction in imagining the future: The possibilities of such stories have felt, to some, like answers amid uncertainty, even as others have questioned the limits of dystopian visions. But perhaps an equally relevant literature to revisit is speculative
nonfiction: the constantly evolving genre we might call “pop futurism.”
What are the telltale signs of a “pop futurist” book? It sketches out possible tomorrows, highlights emergent trends to watch, and promises ways for even nonspecialists to apply these insights to their own life and work. It’s likely to sport an arresting cover, a style dating back to the work that arguably pioneered this genre and still casts a long shadow.
Sex Zoom Hookups, AI and Flying 1,000 MPH: 5 Futurists On What s Ahead
What s ahead this year?
Really, it s anybody s guess, but there are experts in the art of forecasting trends. They call themselves futurists.
International Business Times asked five futurists to weigh in on what life - holds post-pandemic. Here are their insights:
Meet your new co-worker
Soon, we ll be talking to automated online assistants all because of advancements in artificial intelligence, robotics, and analytics.
Maybe you ve already had a chat with one already if you think your electric bill is wrong or want to know why your package hasn t been delivered yet?
Listen in on the BizNews conversation with legendary trend futurist Faith Popcorn – described as the Nostradamus of marketing – and Henley Business School Africa director and Dean Jonathan Foster-Pedley, who discuss whether the pandemic has made the world more accepting of the need for kindness. The author of The Popcorn Report says it is critically important for brands to demonstrate that they care. Foster-Pedley cautions against toxic kindness and explores how to get kindness right in the business world. Popcorn and Foster-Pedley provide fresh thinking on corporate compassion. – Jackie Cameron
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