Some Theories of Social Change for Futures Practitioners

Jonathan Peck

mechanics ； relativity ； objective ； subjective mind ； complexity ； evolution ； opposed complementarity ； psychological types ； vision

Journal of Futures Studies

14卷2期（2009 / 11 / 01）

107 - 122

英文

This paper describes how a sampling of theories from the fields of physics, chemistry, biology and psychology help inform the work of a practicing futurist and offer futures studies a basis for viewing a future beyond images arising from history alone. Physics, chemistry and biology offer theories that are particularly helpful for the more objective forecasts describing future technologies and systems. Psychology offers theories for addressing the more subjective changes in society, including values and beliefs. These theories help shape methods that make the future useful to a diverse clientele. After describing different theories from multiple fields the author offers a vision of the future that emerges as an imagined 21(superscript st) century.