Futures Studies, Foresight, Futurism, Futurology, Futures Thinking…What Name???
This story was translated into Italian and Portuguese.
There are so many names to refer to the discipline that investigates alternative futures. Futures studies, foresight, futures literacy, futures thinking, anticipation, futurism, futurology, and many others. These terms are often used -and misused- interchangeably without explanation of the reasons why they are to be considered synonyms. Clearly, there is a lot of confusion on which term we should use and which term(s) we should not use. Countless times, I have been asked to elaborate on the difference between these monikers, especially by newcomers in the field, in absence of clear guidelines. So let’s try to make some clarity.
The most commonly used terms to refer the investigation of alternative futures are futures studies and foresight. Let’s look at the similarities and differences between these two terms first.
