Choose the Non-Apocalypse

This project is my response to the current apocalyptic zeitgeist. In the contemporary discourse, there is only the end of the world. The Rapture, the Revolution, the Climate Apocalypse, the Singularity, Shit Hitting the Fan, the Storm. The common theme of all these beliefs is that they say nothing about the future. It is a blank, an unknown, an unknowable. The problem with this is that without a future to work towards, we have no way to organize ourselves. We are left wandering aimlessly at best and in despair at worst.

Change the Arc of the Story

The goal of this project is to help you see the positive future we can strive for and and guiding you to a project to help us get there. There are four steps on this journey.

1. A Future of Your Own: See the possibilities of the good future and find a part you want to work towards. Find inspiration in all the projects already in motion toward the good future.
2. Acknowledge the Wicked Problem: Understand the challenges ahead at the level necessary to know their dimensions but not get bogged down.
3. Find Your Small Solution: Join a project that appeals to you, that works with your life. We need to work at scales from inside your to states and nations. Every piece , no matter the scale is important and necessary.
4. Build the world: Bring your small solution to fruition and contribute your piece to the good future. Your project will become part of the inspiration for the next people who come to Find the Future.

The Good Future

The first step to a good future is imagining it. This is a collaborative world building exercise. We are not creating an imaginary world. We are envisioning a future we can get to. Not a utopia, but a realistopia. A real place. One where we are solving the challenges that face us and our lives are better than they are today. This future is anchored in and inspired by the systems and technologies people are building today.

A Future of Your Own

The Challenge Ahead

To get to the good future, we must meet the challenge ahead of us. It is essential to acknowledge these problems but not be overwhelmed by them. These problems are so miassive and complicated that it is hard to define what the problem actually is. We are dealing with a wicked problem.

From Wikipedia

A wicked problem is a problem that is difficult or impossible to solve because of incomplete, contradictory, and changing requirements that are often difficult to recognize. It refers to an idea or problem that cannot be fixed, where there is no single solution to the problem…

The wicked problem we face is made up of a set interlocking problems. Each section below outlines one aspect of the challenge we face.

Acknowledge the Wicked Problem

But how do we act when we can't know what the problem is?

Wicked Solutions