Futures Thinking & Existential Questioning

June 10, 2019 by Steve Gould

In reflecting on recent case studies/ consultancies, I sense a correlation between futures thinking concepts and existential philosophy. Both seek answers to the eloquent questions, both offer an opportunity and process for critique. Both invite us to engage, enter and exit the liminal spaces of the unknown, the unfamiliar and the uncertain.

We may find ourselves questioning that which is privileged, the unquestioned, the known and the comfortable. We may find ourselves morphing into other ways of knowing, to courageously offering up the self for analysis, to question our historical identities, our cultural, political and powering understandings of our self, our selves, and others. To become less certain about what makes a good life, less confident in our arguments of how the world is or ought to be, or should become…

What could motivate the individual to seek such an experience…? Anxiety reduction or adaptive resilience? What do you think?