[ExI] What's Wrong With Academic Futurists?

[BillK]

On Sun, Jan 26, 2014 at 4:55 PM, spike wrote:
> The military has a specific branch of service with a specialized calculus
> designed to deal with an astonishing array of variables in the field of
> futurism.  When guys retire from this discipline, they are highly prized by
> industry for that ability.  Like a related discipline, feedback control
> systems, their mathematical models have ways of dealing with disruptive
> technologies such as the internet and cell phones, in a way similar to how
> control system aviation technology deals with unexpected large inputs such
> as an concussive explosion near the aircraft.
>
>

One big advantage the military has (or must have) is the ability to
stop innovations that conflict with their objectives (as specified by
corporate and political leaders).

The difficulty that futurists have is trying to detect which branches
of the future spreading tree of possibilities will flourish and which
will stop.

Being able to prune disliked branches makes your own future plans more
predictable.


BillK