Designing the carefully contrived experiences in Future Shock, a classic that is 50 years young
This article is adapted from “Storytelling for Survival”, a contribution to the book After Shock by Maggie Greyson MDes, published in 2020 by the Abundant World Institute.
Future Shock was written in 1970 by Alvin and Heidi Toffler. Future shock is a symptom of rapid change that, at its worst, can render us ineffectual. The Tofflers coined the phrase future shock in response to a toxic social phenomenon they were seeing. Future Shock describes a condition whose characteristic of “shattering stress and disorientation” would inevitably be brought about by “too much change in too short a period of time.” This was the first book by a futurist that went mainstream and millions of copies were sold. The term future shock has impacted generations since. Much of the book identifies social trends and consequences of future shock, some of which are remarkable in their forecast.
Even if you disagree with some of their prediction, read all the way to the end. The writers suggest ways that humans may counteract future shock. The “How might we…?” questions — ones that cultivate our sense of agency — are in the last section of the book.
When we think of distant futures, we tend to envision trends coming to their full expression. “In 30 years… everyone will…” or “No one has…” statements. We often neglect to imagine a “day-in-the-life” that evokes “sometimes” or “might” statements. It’s just much easier to do this (I’ve described it in my paper Making the Futures Present, AHM Greyson). Those nuances affect the difference in how we make strategic decisions today. We can do this by practicing living in the future, as if it is the present. The Tofflers propose that an individual can be “pre-adapted” to an otherwise unfamiliar future by seeing and hearing, touching, tasting, and smelling a new world.
Experiential simulations
The Tofflers describe “experiential simulations” that are designed for the public to help people to pre-adapt. “He will be able to interact vicariously with the people in his future,” they wrote, “and to undergo carefully contrived experiences designed to improve his coping abilities.” The Tofflers suggest that experiences within a myriad of future-oriented environments encourage and develop long-term thinking skills. For example, their concept of “enclaves of the future” help compensate for our temporal lack of “future heritage.” These enclaves are environments like a community square, a gated community, or remote villages. These communities provide a focal point for contrived “work-learn-and-play” environments staffed with artists, poets, labourers, and other skilled talent. They are a public design studio for families and communities to become conditioned and prepared to “cope with their own personal tomorrows.”
“Local government, schools, voluntary associations and others,” they wrote, “also need to examine their potential futures imaginatively. One way to help them do so would be to establish community ‘imaginetic centers’ devoted to technically assisted brainstorming. These would be places where people noted for creative imagination, rather than technical expertise, are brought together to examine present crises, to anticipate future crises, and to speculate freely, even playfully, about possible futures.”
A perspective
An experience of the future is a shot in the arm in the present. We can immerse ourselves in authentic debates. We designers must practice humanizing our futures for the citizens, customers, and creators we serve. Ideally, when we design we aspire to address the burning question of people like Greta Thunberg, “Is this what we want for our next generation?”
Experiential learning can help us to be deliberate about creating the future we want. Elements of storytelling: character development, setting, plot, conflict, theme, narrative arc, situation, and props, contribute dimensions of understanding. It is a process and a product for constructing future experiences and artifacts to help us think critically. Uncertainty is a fertile space. It can help us learn how to cope.
A call to action
I call on all designers to address an immediate question in our work, “Is this what we want for our next generation?” Robust imagining of a person, place or thing supports the scenario in our mind to become a reality. We get to decide, if it’s a reality that we prefer, long before we see it play out in the real world.
Speculative design is an emergent form of experiential simulations that connects people with uncertain consequences. Anab Jain is a speculative designer, Professor of Design, TED Speaker, Futurist, and director of the design and film studio Superflux. She says, “We have learned in our work that one of the most powerful means of effecting change is when people can directly, tangibly, and emotionally experience some of the future consequences of their actions today.”
We will always need frequent reminders of the day-to-day consequences that may result if long-term thinking is neglected. My recommendation for speculative design is to put “What if…?” at the front of your design process. Consider the potential of your ideas with these suggestions:
- Research the broader ecosystem that your product, process, or service will be entering. Then, consider how it might be different in the future.
- Add grit with “day-in-the-life” scenarios by scripting complex relationships between people and things. How is this same scenario different for other generations?
- Connect design decisions with fundamental human needs to help participants to “pre-adapt” to innovation. Where does this behaviour happen now? What are the impacts?
Future shock has become our collective experience, “too much change in too short a period of time.” Your carefully contrived experiences become powerful learning tools in support of our authentic exploration. You provide a rare space for us to ask each other, “Is this the future we want for the next generation?”
After Shock: The World’s Foremost Futurists Reflect on 50 Years of Future Shock―and Look Ahead to the Next 50 is launching in hardcover on February 4, 2020 with contributions by Ray Kurzweil (Author), George Gilder (Author), Martin Rees (Author), Newt Gingrich (Author), Alan Kay (Author), David Brin (Author), Po Bronson (Author), John Schroeter (Editor), Deb Westphal (Foreword), and Maggie Greyson.
