Beyond Prediction: Hayy ibn Yaqzan as a Prototype of Futures Literacy

 

The 12th-century Andalusian philosopher Ibn Tufayl wrote Hayy ibn Yaqzan, a story often regarded as the first philosophical novel. It tells of a boy, Hayy, raised alone on a deserted island, without human contact. Through observation, experience, and reflection, he discovers nature’s patterns, develops reason, and ultimately reaches a deep spiritual understanding of reality.

At its heart, the story is about learning without guidance—about discovering the world by asking questions, experimenting, and rethinking assumptions. This resonates strongly with what UNESCO today calls Futures Literacy: the skill of using the future not just to predict, but to imagine, challenge, and innovate.

In the same way Hayy built knowledge without a teacher, Futures Literacy invites us to build foresight beyond existing institutions and fixed narratives. Both insist on curiosity over certainty, on seeing the unseen, and on using imagination as a tool for survival and meaning.

Observation as foresight: Hayy studied the stars, animals, and natural cycles. Futures thinkers scan signals and trends, seeking weak patterns that may shape tomorrow.

Experimentation as scenario building: Hayy dissected, tested, and explored. Futures Literacy pushes us to run “what if” scenarios, to test possible worlds.

Wisdom as transformation: Hayy discovered that ultimate truth lies in transcending appearances. Likewise, Futures Literacy is not about predicting the “right” future but about transforming our relationship with uncertainty.

Ibn Tufayl’s tale reminds us that futures thinking is not new. It is deeply human, embedded in our capacity to question and reimagine. Hayy ibn Yaqzan was a prototype of a foresight exercise: a solitary mind imagining alternative ways of living and knowing, unbound by tradition.

Today, Futures Literacy calls us to do the same—whether in classrooms, policymaking, or daily life: to see beyond the given, to imagine alternatives, and to prepare for worlds not yet born.

Why Every Company Needs a Futurist on Payroll

 

In a world where disruption is no longer the exception but the norm, companies are beginning to realize that forecasting quarterly results isn’t enough. Technology shifts, social change, political upheaval, and climate crises are altering the business landscape at breakneck speed. To navigate these waves, organizations need more than analysts and strategists — they need futurists.

Beyond Prediction: Futurists as Sensemakers

A futurist is not a fortune teller. Their role isn’t to predict exactly what will happen in 2030 or 2040, but to help organizations anticipate possibilities, identify weak signals, and prepare for alternative futures. They help leaders zoom out from short-term pressures and see the bigger picture, connecting today’s emerging trends with tomorrow’s challenges and opportunities.

Building Strategic Agility

Most companies plan for the next quarter, or at best, the next five years. A futurist encourages longer time horizons, often two or three decades ahead. This doesn’t just stretch imagination — it builds strategic agility. By asking “what if,” companies can test different scenarios:

• What if automation replaces 30% of our workforce?
• What if water scarcity reshapes supply chains?
• What if AI ethics becomes a central customer expectation?

Thinking ahead in this way doesn’t paralyze decision-making — it strengthens resilience.

Protecting Against Blind Spots

History is full of companies that ignored signals of change until it was too late. Kodak failed to respond to digital cameras. Nokia underestimated the smartphone revolution. Blockbuster laughed at Netflix. Futurists are trained to notice early indicators of disruption and translate them into concrete strategies before competitors do.

Inspiring Innovation and Culture Change

A futurist’s work isn’t confined to the boardroom. They engage teams across the organization, sparking curiosity, and creating a culture where employees feel empowered to think about the future. This often leads to unexpected innovations, new product ideas, and stronger alignment between business goals and social responsibilities.

The Cost of Not Having One

Without a futurist, companies risk being reactive instead of proactive. They spend more time extinguishing fires than planting seeds. In a time when consumer expectations shift rapidly and regulators move faster than ever, failing to invest in foresight is far costlier than maintaining a futurist on the payroll.

A Competitive Advantage for the 21st Century

Forward-looking governments, universities, and NGOs have already embraced full-time futurists. For businesses, this role is rapidly becoming a competitive advantage. A futurist does not replace strategists, analysts, or R&D — they connect the dots between them, ensuring the company isn’t just surviving the present but shaping the future.

 In short: Every company needs at least one person whose job is to live in tomorrow, so the rest of the team can succeed today.

 

From Martial Arts to Mental Arts: Kung Fu and Futures Literacy

 

Kung Fu is not only about fighting techniques but about discipline, patience, and practice. It trains body and mind to respond with awareness rather than impulse. Futures literacy works in the same way: it disciplines the imagination, helping us train for uncertainty so that our responses to change are deliberate and skillful rather than reactive.

Flow and Adaptation

Kung Fu emphasizes flexibility—using the opponent’s force, flowing with change instead of resisting it. Futures literacy also stresses adaptation: instead of fearing uncertainty, we use it as energy to explore multiple futures. Both arts cultivate resilience by embracing change rather than clinging to control.

Weak Signals as Invisible Strikes

In martial arts, masters sense the slightest movement—the shift of weight, a flicker in the eyes—that signals the next move. Futures literacy also teaches us to notice “weak signals”: small, subtle hints of social, technological, or cultural change that could shape tomorrow. Awareness of the small makes us ready for the big.

Balance of Inner and Outer

Kung Fu balances inner cultivation (breath, focus, intention) with outer expression (movement, strikes, defense). Futures literacy mirrors this: foresight is both inner (mindset, imagination, questioning assumptions) and outer (strategies, policies, innovations). Both remind us that mastery requires harmony between inner vision and outer action.

Kung Fu as Futures Literacy in Motion

At its core, Kung Fu is about readiness—preparedness not just for combat, but for life. Futures literacy is readiness at a societal scale: being able to imagine many futures, let go of rigid predictions, and act with wisdom. Both are arts of anticipation, resilience, and transformation.

Kung Fu and futures literacy converge as practices of disciplined awareness, flexibility, and foresight. One trains the body for combat and balance, the other trains the imagination for uncertainty and possibility. Together, they show that the future—like Kung Fu—is a practice, not a prediction.

 

Futures Literacy Laboratories – Experimenting with Tomorrow

 

When we think of laboratories, most of us imagine scientists in white coats experimenting with chemicals, formulas, or machines. But what if there were laboratories not for physics or biology, but for the future? That’s exactly what Futures Literacy Laboratories (FLLs) are: spaces where people come together to test, imagine, and explore possible futures.

What is a Futures Literacy Laboratory?

A Futures Literacy Laboratory is a structured workshop where participants practice “using the future.” Instead of trying to predict what will happen, an FLL invites people to surface hidden assumptions, imagine alternative futures, and then reflect on how those images shape choices in the present. It is less about producing one “correct” vision of tomorrow and more about cultivating the skill of futures literacy—the capacity to engage with uncertainty as a resource.

How does an FLL work?

Typically, an FLL unfolds in three phases:

1. Reveal assumptions – Participants first express their default images of the future, often without realizing how much these are shaped by culture, education, or media.
2. Explore alternatives – Through scenario building, storytelling, or creative exercises, they are exposed to radically different possible futures. These futures may feel strange, uncomfortable, or inspiring.
3. Reflect and reframe – Finally, participants step back and ask: What have we learned about our assumptions? How does seeing multiple futures change our understanding of the present?

This cycle helps people become more agile in dealing with complexity and surprise.

Why are they important?

Futures Literacy Laboratories matter because they democratize foresight. Instead of futures being imagined only by policymakers or corporations, FLLs bring ordinary citizens, students, activists, and communities into the process. They encourage participation, dialogue, and creativity, showing that everyone has a role in shaping tomorrow.

They also build resilience. By practicing scenarios—optimistic, pessimistic, and surprising—people learn not to fear uncertainty but to use it. For communities facing climate change, rapid technological shifts, or social transitions, this skill can be transformative.

Examples in practice

• In Africa, FLLs have been used to explore the future of higher education, helping universities rethink their role in a rapidly changing society.
• In Europe, communities have run FLLs on the future of migration, offering new perspectives beyond fear or crisis.
• During the COVID-19 pandemic, virtual FLLs allowed groups worldwide to reflect on health, trust, and social resilience in ways that traditional planning could not.

A tool for the 21st century

In a world marked by uncertainty, FLLs function like rehearsal spaces for possibility. They remind us that the future is not a straight line, but a landscape of choices. By learning how to navigate that landscape together, societies can build not only better strategies but also deeper trust, imagination, and inclusion.

Futures Literacy Laboratories are not about predicting what tomorrow will look like. They are about strengthening our imagination muscles today, so that we can respond to change with creativity rather than fear. In doing so, they transform the future from something we anxiously await into something we actively practice—together.

The Tarik and Tomorrow: Futures Literacy at the Mamak

 

In Malaysia, the mamak restaurant is more than a place to eat—it is a living classroom of society. Day or night, it is where families gather, students revise late into the evening, workers decompress after long shifts, and friends argue passionately about politics, football, or the latest trends. The clatter of plates, the smell of roti canai and teh tarik, the constant flow of people—these make the mamak a unique social ecosystem. But what does this have to do with futures literacy?

At its heart, futures literacy is the ability to imagine, rehearse, and experiment with many possible futures. And the mamak, surprisingly, is one of the best spaces to see this in action. Every conversation at the table is a kind of scenario-building exercise. Someone speculates about the future of the economy, another wonders what AI will do to jobs, others dream of travel or business opportunities. These are micro-labs of futures thinking. The mamak, with its open accessibility, invites people from all walks of life to share, debate, and construct narratives about tomorrow. It democratizes foresight in a way that formal workshops or academic spaces sometimes cannot.

The food itself carries futures lessons. Mamak cuisine is a story of adaptation: Indian Muslim heritage blended with Malay, Chinese, and global influences. Menus evolve with time—adding cheese naan, fusion dishes, or healthier options—responding to new demands while preserving traditions. This is futures literacy embodied in food: an ability to adapt while holding onto identity. The same spirit can be applied when we think about our collective futures: we do not abandon our roots, but we remix them to remain relevant.

Even the 24-hour cycle of the mamak symbolizes resilience and preparedness. It shows that life is not confined to nine-to-five. The future, like the mamak, is always open, fluid, and unpredictable. Those who gather there learn, consciously or unconsciously, to live with uncertainty, to stay flexible, and to improvise—skills essential for navigating a complex future.

So perhaps when UNESCO talks about cultivating futures literacy, we don’t need to look far. It may not only be found in conferences or policy labs. It lives in everyday places like the mamak, where ordinary people already practice the art of imagining tomorrow. To sip a glass of teh tarik at midnight while listening to friends debate about politics, technology, or personal dreams, is to witness futures literacy in its raw, communal form. The mamak is not just a restaurant; it is a futures café for all Malaysians.

Money and the Future – Personal Finance Decisions Shaped by Long-Term Thinking

 

Money isn’t just about paying bills or saving for next month’s expenses. Every financial choice we make—whether to spend, save, invest, or borrow—is also a choice about the future. Yet, many people treat money as if it only belongs to the present. Futures literacy can help us see personal finance in a new light: as a way of shaping not just our security, but the kind of lives and futures we want to create.

Short-term habits vs. long-term vision

It’s easy to get caught up in the short-term: the temptation of a new gadget, a weekend trip, or the comfort of not worrying about tomorrow. But financial decisions ripple forward. A single credit card balance carried over months can become a weight, while a small recurring investment can grow into something transformative. Thinking long-term doesn’t mean denying the present—it means aligning today’s habits with tomorrow’s dreams.

The power of compounding futures

Albert Einstein famously called compound interest the “eighth wonder of the world.” From a futures perspective, compounding is more than math—it’s a philosophy. Small, steady actions (like saving 5–10% of income, or learning a new skill regularly) may look trivial now, but over years they accumulate into life-changing results. Futures-oriented personal finance asks: What seeds am I planting today that will bear fruit tomorrow?

Scenario thinking for personal finance

One practical way to apply futures literacy to money is through scenarios. Instead of assuming one fixed future, imagine several:

• Optimistic future: You consistently invest, the market grows, and you achieve financial freedom earlier than expected.
• Challenging future: A recession hits or health costs rise sharply—how resilient is your plan?
• Surprising future: You change careers, relocate, or inherit responsibilities you didn’t expect.

By stress-testing your finances against different futures, you prepare not just for the “most likely” path but for the unexpected.

Values, not just numbers

Futures literacy reminds us that money is never neutral—it reflects our values. Some may prioritize stability and security, others growth and opportunity, and others generosity and legacy. Asking “What future do I want my money to build?” shifts personal finance from anxiety-driven budgeting to purpose-driven planning.

Practical steps to think long-term

• Pay yourself first: Automate savings and investments before spending on extras.
• Diversify: Spread risk across savings, insurance, and investments.
• Learn continuously: Stay updated on financial literacy, because what works today may not work in 10 years.
• Plan for transitions: Retirement, career shifts, or supporting family are easier when anticipated.
• Balance joy and prudence: Long-term thinking doesn’t mean never enjoying today. It means spending with intention.

Money and the future are inseparable. Every ringgit or dollar carries a time dimension—it can buy comfort now, or it can compound into freedom, security, and possibility later. Futures literacy helps us see finance not just as arithmetic but as storytelling: the story of the lives we want to live, the risks we want to reduce, and the legacies we want to leave. With long-term thinking, money becomes not only a tool for survival, but a bridge to futures worth imagining.

Using the Future: A Guide to Thinking Beyond Today

 

Comment and Review: Using the Future by the Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies

The Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies (CIFS) has long been a thought leader in foresight, but Using the Future stands out as one of its most accessible and practical publications. The report takes the abstract idea of “the future” and reframes it as something not distant or mystical, but as a tool we already use every day. Its central claim is disarmingly simple: whenever we make decisions—whether to take an umbrella based on a weather forecast, or to invest in a new business model—we are “using the future.” The challenge, then, is to become more deliberate and less biased in how we use it.

Strengths of the Report

1. Clear Vocabulary of Futures Thinking
   The glossary provided is a strength in itself. It untangles jargon—futures literacy, foresight, backcasting, wild cards, megatrends—and places them in plain, usable terms. For a blog audience, this makes futures studies less like an academic ivory tower and more like a set of tools for everyday strategy.
2. Integration of Psychology and Behavioural Insights
   By drawing on Daniel Kahneman and behavioural economics, the report grounds futures work in the realities of human decision-making. The exploration of status quo bias, confirmation bias, and optimism bias makes a strong case for why foresight work must go beyond spreadsheets—it must tackle human blind spots.
3. Timely Emphasis on Wild Cards and Black Swans
   COVID-19, climate shocks, and geopolitical volatility make this discussion highly relevant. The report wisely points out that the value of considering wild cards is not prediction, but resilience-testing—asking whether organisations could still thrive if the unimaginable occurred.
4. Democratising the Future
   Perhaps the most important shift is the call to make futures thinking more inclusive. By highlighting futures literacy as a capability for all, not just strategists or policymakers, CIFS positions foresight as a civic tool. The sections on participatory futures and decolonising futures resonate strongly in an age where old narratives are being challenged globally.

Critical Reflections

• A Corporate Bias Remains: Despite its call for “futures for the people,” the report still leans heavily toward organisational and governmental applications. Readers hoping for more grassroots-level methods—how individuals or communities can practically “use the future”—may find these sections underdeveloped.
• Technology Optimism vs. Caution: The discussion on AI-augmented foresight is both exciting and slightly naïve. While AI can indeed scan vast data, the report risks overstating its neutrality. Algorithms too are shaped by biases, and the future of foresight will need critical interrogation of these tools as much as enthusiastic adoption.
• Limited Engagement with Ethics: Although the report touches on “decolonising futures,” ethical dimensions could be more deeply examined. Who gets to define “preferred futures”? How do power structures shape the futures we imagine? These questions are raised but not fully wrestled with.

Why This Matters for Today

The report is particularly relevant now, when uncertainty feels like the new normal. From pandemics to AI disruptions, we are constantly confronted with futures arriving faster than expected. CIFS reminds us that uncertainty is not only a risk but also a resource. By embracing uncertainty—rather than fearing or ignoring it—we can make decisions that are not only resilient but also imaginative.

Using the Future is both a primer and a provocation. For beginners, it demystifies futures thinking; for practitioners, it offers reminders to expand beyond corporate boardrooms and engage the wider public. Its greatest contribution lies in urging us to treat the future not as a distant inevitability but as an everyday practice.

Review of Futures Literacy: Knowing How to Embrace the Unknown (UNESCO, 2020)

 

UNESCO’s 2020 report is a landmark document that formalized and globalized the idea of futures literacy (FL) as a human capability. Edited by Riel Miller, it brings together contributions from scholars, practitioners, and policymakers, presenting futures literacy not just as an academic tool but as a civic and cultural practice that can empower societies to navigate uncertainty.

Strengths of the report

1. A clear definition of futures literacy
   The report establishes FL as a skill similar to reading and writing: the capacity to imagine and use the future to make sense of the present. This framing makes the concept both accessible and universal.
2. Plurality of voices
   By gathering essays and case studies from around the world, UNESCO avoids the trap of presenting futures literacy as a Western invention. Contributions from Africa, Asia, and Latin America illustrate how different cultural and historical contexts influence how people imagine futures.
3. Practical methodology: Futures Literacy Laboratories (FLLs)
   The report emphasizes FLLs as hands-on workshops where participants experiment with scenarios, question assumptions, and reflect on their relationship with uncertainty. These labs are perhaps the most practical and innovative contribution of the report, moving futures thinking beyond elites to everyday communities.
4. Timeliness and relevance
   Published during the global COVID-19 pandemic, the report resonates strongly with a world suddenly forced to face radical uncertainty. It highlights how the pandemic underscored the importance of being comfortable with the unknown, rather than clinging to failed predictions.
5. Ethical orientation
   The report doesn’t limit itself to technique. It stresses values—pluralism, inclusion, and humility—acknowledging that futures are not neutral, but shaped by power, culture, and choice.

Weaknesses and limitations

1. Dense and conceptual language
   While rich in theory, some chapters are heavy with jargon. For readers unfamiliar with futures studies, the prose can feel abstract and inaccessible. This risks alienating the very audiences (educators, policymakers, citizens) who might benefit most.
2. Limited integration with everyday decision-making
   The report excels in vision but sometimes underplays how futures literacy could be embedded systematically into education systems, policy cycles, or community planning. More concrete examples of long-term institutional adoption would strengthen the case.
3. Uneven contributions
   As an edited collection, some chapters are compelling and clear, while others read more like academic essays. The unevenness may dilute the overall impact for readers looking for a unified narrative.

Commentary

The UNESCO 2020 report is both a manifesto and a toolkit. Its biggest contribution is shifting the conversation about futures from forecasting (What will happen?) to capability-building (How can we use the future differently?). It reframes uncertainty from being a threat to being a resource, which is a profound and empowering shift.

That said, the future of the futures literacy movement depends on accessibility and application. For it to matter beyond conferences and workshops, futures literacy needs translation into curricula, governance, and daily life. If children learn to imagine alternative futures as naturally as they learn math, and if governments design policy through participatory foresight, then the vision of this report will be realized.

In short, Futures Literacy: Knowing How to Embrace the Unknown is an important milestone: it codifies futures literacy as a global practice. But like all futures work, its success will be judged not by the elegance of its ideas, but by the imagination and action it sparks in real communities.

 

Eternal Return, Endless Futures: Reading Nietzsche With Futures Literacy

 

When we think of Friedrich Nietzsche, we often picture the radical philosopher who proclaimed the “death of God” and challenged conventional morality. Yet beyond his provocations, Nietzsche’s work resonates deeply with the spirit of futures literacy—the art of anticipating, imagining, and shaping multiple possible tomorrows.

At the core of futures literacy lies the idea of questioning assumptions. Nietzsche lived this practice. He dismantled accepted truths of his age, exposing how “eternal values” were often constructed by power, culture, and tradition rather than by universal necessity. To him, the future could not simply be inherited—it had to be created. This relentless critique of the present mirrors the futures literacy mindset: we must first unlearn before we can imagine.

Nietzsche’s concept of the Übermensch (Overman) is another key bridge. While often misunderstood, the Overman symbolizes humanity’s potential to transcend current limitations and invent new ways of being. Futures literacy, too, invites us to envision futures beyond the constraints of today. The Overman is not a fixed destiny but a challenge: can we dare to imagine ourselves differently, to embody futures not yet written?

Equally relevant is Nietzsche’s embrace of uncertainty. His idea of eternal recurrence—the thought experiment that asks whether we would live our lives exactly the same way for eternity—forces us to confront choices, consequences, and our relationship with time. Futures literacy asks similar questions: if the future loops back into the present, how do we act now? How do we prepare for possibilities we cannot control, yet must still navigate?

Above all, Nietzsche believed that creativity was the highest act of freedom. He called on us to become “poets of our lives,” to shape meaning instead of passively accepting it. This is the essence of futures literacy. Imagining alternative scenarios is not about prediction, but about cultivating the creativity and courage to live with the unknown—and even thrive within it.

Nietzsche reminds us that futures literacy is not just a technical skill; it is a philosophical stance. It demands that we break free from inherited dogmas, confront uncertainty with strength, and see imagination not as fantasy but as necessity. Like Nietzsche, the futures literate individual does not simply ask, “What will happen?” but insists, “What can I create?”

 

Futures Literacy and Lee Kuan Yew – Vision, Strategy, and Imagining Possibility

 

When we talk about futures literacy—the ability to imagine multiple tomorrows and use the future as a resource—few leaders embody its practice in action as clearly as Lee Kuan Yew, the founding Prime Minister of Singapore. While he never used the phrase “futures literacy,” his governance and long-term vision reflected many of its principles: anticipating uncertainty, questioning assumptions, and shaping pathways toward desired futures.

From survival to strategy

When Singapore became independent in 1965, the island faced enormous uncertainty: no natural resources, high unemployment, and regional instability. Many outsiders assumed it could not survive as a sovereign state. Yet Lee and his team refused to accept this “official future” of failure. Instead, they imagined alternatives: a disciplined, globalized, and innovation-driven city-state. Futures literacy teaches us that the future is not predetermined but constructed through choices. Lee’s leadership exemplified this by turning vulnerability into strategy.

Questioning assumptions

At a time when postcolonial nations were embracing protectionism, Lee Kuan Yew’s government leaned toward open trade and global integration. This went against dominant assumptions of the era, showing a futures-literate capacity to challenge prevailing narratives and imagine different possibilities. His belief that “Singapore must be relevant to the world” was itself a reframing of assumptions: rather than seeing smallness as weakness, he reframed it as agility.

Scanning weak signals

Futures literacy emphasizes the importance of spotting weak signals—early hints of change. Lee’s government was adept at this:

• Seeing global containerization early, Singapore built world-class ports.
• Anticipating shifts in global finance, it positioned itself as a financial hub.
• Recognizing the rise of talent and education, it invested heavily in human capital.

Each move reflected a capacity to detect faint signals, interpret them, and act before they became mainstream.

Building narratives of the future

Lee was also a storyteller of futures. His speeches often painted clear pictures of what Singapore could become: clean, efficient, secure, and globally connected. These narratives were not predictions but motivational visions, designed to align citizens around shared futures. Futures literacy reminds us that futures are shaped by the stories we tell—Lee’s stories galvanized action.

Limits and critiques

At the same time, Lee Kuan Yew’s futures orientation was not without limits. His emphasis on control, discipline, and centralized authority has been criticized for constraining democratic freedoms. Futures literacy as a civic practice seeks plurality and participation, while Lee’s model leaned toward top-down foresight. This tension raises an important question: whose futures are being imagined, and whose voices are excluded?

Lessons for futures literacy today

• Reframe vulnerability into strength – Futures literacy helps us see that what looks like weakness (smallness, resource scarcity) can become a foundation for unique strategies.
• Anticipate, don’t predict – Like Lee’s government, institutions today must use signals and scenarios, not rigid forecasts.
• Balance vision with inclusion – A strong guiding vision is powerful, but futures literacy requires diverse participation to avoid narrow or exclusive futures.

Lee Kuan Yew’s legacy shows both the power and the paradox of futures thinking in leadership. His ability to imagine beyond immediate constraints, to act on weak signals, and to craft compelling narratives transformed Singapore from uncertainty to prosperity. Yet his example also challenges us: the future must not be held by a single leader or elite, but cultivated as a shared capability among citizens. That, ultimately, is where futures literacy goes further—making the ability to imagine tomorrow a collective skill, not just a leader’s gift.

 

Faith, Culture, and the Future – How Worldviews Influence the Futures We Accept or Reject

 

When we imagine the future, we rarely begin with a blank page. Our visions of tomorrow are deeply shaped by the beliefs, traditions, and cultural stories we carry today. Faith and culture don’t just live in the past—they influence what kinds of futures we think are possible, desirable, or even legitimate. In a world facing rapid change, understanding this connection becomes essential.

Futures are never neutral

A plan for the future is never just a technical document. It is also a cultural artifact. Policies on climate, technology, or education carry assumptions about what matters most, who benefits, and what counts as progress. For example, a society rooted in individualism might imagine a future of personal freedom and innovation, while a culture that values community might imagine a future centered on collective well-being and responsibility.

Faith as a guide to meaning

For billions of people, faith provides not only moral guidance but also a framework for imagining time itself. Ideas of hope, accountability, renewal, or destiny are often grounded in religious traditions.

• In Christianity, themes of redemption and stewardship influence how people think about sustainability and justice.
• In Islam, the concept of amanah (trust) can shape how communities approach responsibility toward the earth and future generations.
• In Buddhism, interdependence influences how futures are framed around compassion and balance.

Faith, in this sense, is not just about doctrine but about orientation—how we position ourselves toward the unknown.

Culture and the stories we live by

Culture, too, anchors the way we see the future. Myths, proverbs, and traditions act like invisible scripts. A culture that grew up with agricultural rhythms may see the future as cyclical, while a culture shaped by industrial progress may see it as linear, always moving forward. Popular culture adds new layers—science fiction films, novels, or even social media memes can become shared references that color how communities imagine tomorrow.

Accepting or rejecting futures

Worldviews also explain why some futures feel acceptable while others are resisted. A proposal for genetically modified food might be embraced in one cultural context as innovation but rejected in another as violating natural or sacred boundaries. Similarly, faith traditions may encourage certain futures (a society of justice, equity, and care) while opposing others (a future of unchecked materialism or moral decay).

Building inclusive futures

Recognizing the role of faith and culture in shaping futures doesn’t mean freezing ourselves in tradition. Instead, it invites dialogue. When planners, educators, or leaders design future strategies, they must ask:

• Whose worldview is shaping this vision?
• Which voices are missing?
• What cultural or spiritual values need to be honored?

Futures that ignore culture or faith risk alienation. Futures that embrace them can inspire action rooted in meaning.

The future is not just an abstract space of technology, economics, and policy. It is a lived space of belief, story, and meaning. By acknowledging how faith and culture influence the futures we accept or reject, we open pathways to futures that are not only innovative but also resonant with human values. Ultimately, the task of futures literacy is not only to imagine what is possible but also to ask: What futures feel worth living for?

 

Gulliver’s Travels and Futures Literacy: Imagining the Unknown

 

When Jonathan Swift penned Gulliver’s Travels in 1726, he disguised a sharp social and political satire as an adventure story. Yet if we look at it today through the lens of futures literacy, the book becomes more than a witty critique of 18th-century Europe—it is also a meditation on how humans imagine, misunderstand, and navigate possible futures.

In each voyage, Gulliver encounters societies radically different from his own: the tiny but politically ambitious Lilliputians, the giants of Brobdingnag, the hyper-rational Laputans, and the noble yet troubling Houyhnhnms. These encounters mirror the way futures literacy encourages us to step outside our habitual perspectives. Just as Gulliver is forced to rethink his assumptions when facing beings of different scales and logics, futures literacy asks us to challenge our inherited narratives about progress, technology, morality, and human destiny.

Swift’s satire on the Laputans—the floating island obsessed with abstract science but disconnected from earthly reality—remains strikingly relevant. It warns against a future dominated by knowledge without empathy, foresight without grounding. Futures literacy provides the antidote: it emphasizes scanning weak signals, questioning assumptions, and narrating alternative futures that are both imaginative and responsible. The book becomes a parable for how not to be trapped in one rigid way of thinking about tomorrow.

The Houyhnhnms, rational horses who live by reason alone, seem to embody an ideal future of order and peace. Yet Swift complicates the vision: their cold rationality strips away empathy, leaving Gulliver estranged from both humanity and himself. This tension speaks directly to futures literacy. The future is not about choosing a single utopia or dystopia; it is about holding multiple images of tomorrow in dialogue, understanding their trade-offs, and recognizing the limits of our own imaginations.

Ultimately, Gulliver’s Travels is a story of transformation. Gulliver begins as a conventional European traveler but returns home a stranger in his own land, forever changed by his encounters. Futures literacy works in a similar way: once we learn to see the future not as prediction but as a space for imagination, we can never fully return to old, linear ways of thinking. We become, like Gulliver, both unsettled and enriched—aware that the future is a mirror through which we discover more about ourselves.

Swift never used the term “futures literacy,” yet his satire still speaks to it. His voyages remind us that imagining the future is not a neutral act—it is political, ethical, and deeply human. To read Gulliver’s Travels today is to practice futures literacy itself: questioning what is, envisioning what could be, and recognizing how the stories we tell about tomorrow shape the lives we live today.

 

The Greatest Threat to Futures Literacy

 

Futures literacy is often described as a skill for survival in a rapidly changing world. It is the ability to imagine many possible tomorrows, question assumptions, and use uncertainty as a resource rather than a fear. Yet like any powerful capacity, it is vulnerable. If we ask what the greatest threat to futures literacy is, the answer is not only external—politics, crises, or technology—it is also internal: the ways in which we limit our imagination and silence alternative futures.

The comfort of certainty

Perhaps the most dangerous threat is the human craving for certainty. We prefer predictions, forecasts, and promises that reassure us the future is knowable. This appetite drives us toward simplistic answers—economic projections, political slogans, or technological hype—that leave little room for complexity or alternative possibilities. Futures literacy withers when people treat the future as something already decided, rather than a space to explore.

The dominance of single stories

Another threat is the dominance of a single worldview. When powerful voices—governments, corporations, or cultural elites—push one “official future,” it erases other ways of seeing. A future centered only on growth, only on technology, or only on security risks becoming a prison of imagination. Futures literacy requires plurality, but single stories narrow it into dogma.

The erosion of trust and dialogue

Futures literacy is collective. It thrives on shared dialogue, storytelling, and participation. But polarization, disinformation, and the breakdown of trust between groups undermine the possibility of imagining together. If communities cannot talk across differences, they cannot co-create futures—they only defend their own version against others.

The illusion of speed

In a world obsessed with acceleration, another threat is the illusion that futures work must deliver quick results. Leaders may demand scenarios that fit policy cycles, businesses may want foresight that maps directly onto quarterly returns. But futures literacy is slow work—it requires reflection, humility, and patience. If forced into the mold of instant answers, its depth and transformative power are lost.

Forgetting the past and present

Ironically, the future becomes fragile when we disconnect it from history and the present. Futures literacy is not only about tomorrow—it is about how the weight of history shapes possibilities, and how present choices ripple outward. If we forget context, we imagine futures in a vacuum, untethered from real lives and legacies.

The greatest threat to futures literacy is not one single enemy, but a combination of forces: the comfort of certainty, the dominance of single stories, the erosion of dialogue, the obsession with speed, and the neglect of history. All of these reduce our ability to imagine openly, responsibly, and creatively. If futures literacy is to thrive, we must guard against these threats—not with fear, but with curiosity, courage, and the humility to accept that the future is never fixed, always plural, and always ours to explore together.

 

Sherlock Holmes and Futures Literacy – A Fictitious Detective Meets Tomorrow

Sherlock Holmes is one of literature’s most enduring fictional characters. The detective of Baker Street, created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in the late 19th century, is celebrated for his powers of observation, deduction, and reasoning. But what happens if we look at Holmes not only as a master of solving crimes in the present, but also as a symbol for futures literacy—the ability to imagine, question, and use the future to better understand today? 

Holmes as a foresight practitioner 

Holmes was never simply reactive. He trained himself to notice weak signals—tiny details that others dismissed—that pointed toward deeper patterns. Futures literacy asks the same of us: to treat faint hints of change not as noise, but as clues about what might emerge. Holmes’s skill at connecting seemingly unrelated fragments mirrors the foresight practice of scanning signals and weaving them into scenarios. 

Questioning assumptions 

One of Holmes’s famous lines was, “It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data.” Futures literacy could add: it is a mistake to accept only one image of the future before exploring alternatives. Holmes was relentless about challenging assumptions, pushing beyond surface appearances to uncover what others overlooked. Futures literacy is similar—it trains us to peel back the layers of the present to reveal the hidden stories shaping tomorrow. 

Imagination as method 

Though known for cold logic, Holmes often relied on imagination. He staged experiments, played the violin to think creatively, and even used disguises to see the world through different lenses. Futures literacy depends on the same imaginative flexibility: stepping into “what if” worlds to explore consequences and possibilities. Holmes reminds us that logic alone cannot solve mysteries of the future—imagination must work alongside deduction. 

Futures literacy in detective mode 

Imagine Holmes transported into our century, facing mysteries not of stolen jewels or hidden identities, but of climate change, artificial intelligence, or shifting democracies. His toolkit would expand from magnifying glasses to scenario maps, foresight workshops, and futures laboratories. He would treat the unknown not as chaos but as a puzzle, using uncertainty as a clue rather than a threat. 

The lesson for us 

The enduring appeal of Sherlock Holmes lies in his ability to make sense of the seemingly incomprehensible. Futures literacy asks us to do the same—not with crime scenes, but with the uncertainties of life, work, and society. Like Holmes, we are called to sharpen our observation, question our assumptions, and imagine boldly. Sherlock Holmes may be a fictitious detective, but his methods resonate with the real skill of futures literacy. Both require curiosity, discipline, and imagination. And just as Holmes reminded Watson that “the world is full of obvious things which nobody by any chance ever observes,” futures literacy reminds us that the future is full of possibilities that no one notices—until we learn to look.

Why Children Should Learn to Imagine Tomorrow

 

We spend much of education teaching children about the past and preparing them for the present. History books explain where we came from, and core subjects like math, science, and language equip young people with tools to navigate today’s world. But what about tomorrow? In a rapidly changing world, the ability to imagine different futures is just as important as reading or writing. This is where futures literacy comes in.

What is futures literacy?

Futures literacy is the skill of understanding that the future is not fixed. Instead of seeing tomorrow as something to be predicted or feared, children learn that the future is a space of possibilities. They develop the ability to ask: What if? and Why not?—not just for fantasy, but as a way of exploring real options and preparing for uncertainty.

Why children need it

Children today will grow up in a world shaped by challenges like climate change, artificial intelligence, and shifting global economies. Yet they will also inherit opportunities we cannot yet fully imagine. Teaching them futures literacy helps them:

• Build resilience: They won’t panic when change comes, because they expect uncertainty.
• Think critically: They question assumptions about “how things are supposed to be.”
• Be creative: They see problems as openings for new ideas, not dead ends.
• Act responsibly: They imagine consequences before making decisions.

What it looks like in practice

Futures literacy in education doesn’t require complicated tools. It can start with small classroom exercises:

• Storytelling and scenarios: Students imagine their city in 2050 and write short stories or draw maps of what it could look like.
• Games of “what if”: What if schools had no exams? What if food came only from vertical farms? What if we could speak with animals?
• Exploring weak signals: Spotting small changes around them—like new apps, new habits, or new slang—and asking what these might mean for the future.
• Role-play debates: Arguing from the perspective of different futures (“a robot citizen,” “a climate migrant,” “a child of Mars”).

Through these playful activities, children begin to see futures as something they can actively shape.

Shifting the role of education

Traditionally, education has been about filling students with knowledge. Futures literacy shifts the focus toward curiosity, imagination, and agency. The aim is not to predict the exact jobs or technologies of tomorrow, but to give children the mindset to navigate whatever emerges.

If we want children to thrive in the 21st century, we need to give them more than facts and formulas—we need to give them futures literacy. By learning to imagine tomorrow, they discover that the future is not a mystery to fear, but a canvas to paint. And when imagination meets action, tomorrow becomes not just something to inherit, but something to create.

 

How and When Futures Literacy Started

 

The idea of futures literacy may sound like a recent buzzword, but its roots stretch back decades. It emerged as part of humanity’s growing recognition that the future is not something fixed, predictable, or waiting to be discovered—it is something we can learn to imagine, explore, and even shape.

Early seeds: Futures studies in the mid-20th century

After World War II, the world entered a period of rapid transformation—nuclear power, space exploration, globalization, and the Cold War all fueled uncertainty. Governments, militaries, and think tanks began to invest in futures studies and strategic foresight. The RAND Corporation in the United States, for example, pioneered scenario planning and long-range forecasting in the 1950s. At the same time, corporations like Shell started experimenting with scenarios to prepare for oil shocks.

These early practices were practical and strategic, but they planted the seeds of a deeper question: could foresight be not just a tool for experts, but a skill for everyone?

The UNESCO moment: naming “futures literacy”

The term “futures literacy” gained prominence through the work of UNESCO in the early 2000s, particularly under the leadership of futurist Riel Miller. The concept was framed as a human capability—just like reading or writing—that allows people to understand and use the future differently. Futures literacy was positioned as a right and a skill: everyone should be able to imagine alternatives, challenge assumptions, and not be trapped by single narratives of the future.

UNESCO officially adopted futures literacy as part of its global agenda, hosting Futures Literacy Laboratories (FLLs) across dozens of countries. These labs invited citizens, students, policymakers, and communities to practice imagining multiple futures and to reflect on the stories shaping their choices today.

From foresight to literacy

What made futures literacy distinct from earlier foresight work was its focus on capacity-building rather than prediction. Traditional forecasting asked: What will happen? Futures literacy asked: How can we use the future better? It shifted the emphasis from experts making projections to ordinary people learning to see futures as plural, uncertain, and full of possibility.

Growing momentum in the 2010s and 2020s

Throughout the 2010s, the idea spread beyond UNESCO. Universities began offering courses in futures literacy. NGOs and governments experimented with participatory foresight methods. Schools, museums, and local councils began using futures literacy to engage youth and communities. In 2020, UNESCO published a landmark report, Futures Literacy: Knowing How to Embrace the Unknown, which consolidated its global framework.

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated interest, as the sudden disruption showed just how fragile predictions can be. Futures literacy gained recognition as a way to navigate uncertainty with creativity and resilience.

Futures literacy began in the mid-20th century with the birth of futures studies, but it came into its own in the early 2000s when UNESCO reframed it as a universal human skill. From military think tanks to classrooms, from corporate boardrooms to community workshops, it has evolved into a practice that belongs to everyone. Its history reminds us that the ability to imagine tomorrow is not a luxury—it is part of what makes us human.

Can Futures Literacy Save Democracy? – Foresight as a Civic Tool

 

Democracy is often described as fragile. Around the world, citizens worry about polarization, disinformation, and the erosion of trust in institutions. At the same time, people still hope democracy can renew itself and deliver fairer, more resilient societies. One question worth asking is this: can futures literacy—our ability to imagine and use the future—help democracy survive and even thrive?

Democracy’s time problem

Democracies are supposed to serve both present and future generations, yet they often get trapped in short-term cycles. Election calendars, news cycles, and public opinion polls push leaders to chase immediate wins instead of long-term well-being. Climate change, inequality, and technological disruption reveal how costly this short-term bias can be. Futures literacy can help break that cycle by expanding the time horizon of democratic decision-making.

Foresight as a civic skill

Futures literacy isn’t about predicting the future—it’s about imagining multiple futures, questioning assumptions, and using uncertainty as a resource. Applied to democracy, it means:

• Citizens learn to think beyond today’s headlines, imagining how choices ripple across generations.
• Politicians move from crisis management to scenario planning, weighing different pathways rather than selling one “inevitable” story.
• Communities hold dialogues that ask not just “What do we want now?” but “What kind of future do we want to co-create?”

Opening up alternative futures

A healthy democracy thrives on debate and choice. Futures literacy widens both. Instead of letting powerful groups dominate with a single vision—be it economic growth at all costs, or technological salvation—foresight methods like scenario-building, causal layered analysis, or participatory workshops can surface alternative possibilities. Citizens don’t just vote on fixed proposals; they become co-authors of futures.

Guarding against manipulation

The future is a powerful political tool. Populists and demagogues often exploit it, promising a “golden past to be restored” or a “doomed future unless only they can save us.” Futures literacy equips citizens to spot such manipulations. By recognizing that no single future is inevitable, people are less vulnerable to fear-driven or nostalgic rhetoric.

Building trust through shared imagination

When communities imagine futures together, trust can be rebuilt. A foresight exercise in a local town, for example, might bring business owners, activists, students, and policymakers into the same room to explore scenarios for 2040. The act of listening, disagreeing respectfully, and co-creating visions can itself strengthen the democratic spirit.

The challenge ahead

Futures literacy will not magically “save” democracy. Institutions still need reform, and citizens still need protection from inequality, corruption, and abuse. But it offers tools that can enrich democratic culture: longer time horizons, deeper debates, and greater resilience against simplistic promises.

Democracy is not just about voting—it is about imagining collective futures and deciding together how to pursue them. Futures literacy, when cultivated as a civic skill, helps democracy do what it does best: give people the voice, the imagination, and the agency to shape tomorrow. It may not be the cure for democracy’s ills, but it is a powerful medicine for its renewal.

 

Doctors, AI, and Human Touch – What Care Might Look Like in 2035

 

The future of healthcare is one of the most compelling areas of change. As technology advances, we’re already seeing artificial intelligence assisting in diagnosis, robots performing precision surgeries, and apps helping people manage chronic conditions. But what will care look like in 2035? Will AI replace doctors—or will it become their most trusted partner? The answer lies not in a clash of human versus machine, but in a blending of intelligence and compassion.

AI as the invisible partner

By 2035, AI is likely to be fully embedded in healthcare systems. Imagine:

• Real-time diagnostics: Wearable devices constantly stream your health data, alerting both you and your doctor to potential issues before symptoms appear.
• Personalized medicine: AI designs treatment plans tailored to your genetics, lifestyle, and environment.
• Virtual triage: Before you even step into a clinic, AI assistants assess your symptoms and direct you to the right kind of care—saving time and resources.

Rather than replacing physicians, AI will act as a silent partner, crunching the data and providing insights so doctors can focus on higher-level decisions.

The evolving role of doctors

If machines can analyze scans, predict risks, and automate paperwork, what happens to doctors? Their roles will shift, but they won’t disappear. In fact, human qualities will become more essential:

• Empathy and communication: Explaining a diagnosis or comforting a worried family is something no algorithm can do authentically.
• Ethical judgment: Deciding whether to pursue an aggressive treatment or focus on quality of life requires values and wisdom.
• Cultural competence: Understanding a patient’s background, fears, and hopes requires human connection.

Doctors may spend less time “looking at screens” and more time actually being present with patients, supported by AI’s invisible labor.

Clinics and hospitals of the future

Healthcare spaces in 2035 could look dramatically different:

• Hybrid hospitals with robotic pharmacies, automated logistics, and AI-powered monitoring rooms.
• Telehealth hubs where doctors can consult patients globally, with translation AI breaking down language barriers.
• Community-based wellness centers focused not only on curing illness but on prevention, mental health, and holistic well-being.

The line between “healthcare” and “daily life” will blur, as homes themselves become sites of continuous care, powered by smart environments and biosensors.

Human touch at the center

Even in a future of automation, people will still crave the reassurance of human care. A warm hand on the shoulder, a calm voice in moments of fear, the trust built over years between patient and physician—these are irreplaceable. In fact, as AI takes over technical tasks, doctors may rediscover what drew them to medicine in the first place: healing not just bodies, but whole human beings.

Challenges ahead

Of course, the future of healthcare is not only about potential—it comes with challenges:

• Equity: Who gets access to advanced AI-driven care? Will it deepen global health divides?
• Privacy: How do we safeguard sensitive health data from misuse?
• Trust: How do patients trust AI systems, especially when outcomes are complex or uncertain?
• Ethics: Who is accountable if an AI misdiagnoses or makes a flawed recommendation?

These questions remind us that futures are choices, not destinies.

By 2035, healthcare will be transformed by data, AI, and automation—but the essence of care will remain profoundly human. Doctors won’t vanish; they’ll evolve into healers who work hand-in-hand with intelligent systems. The challenge, and the opportunity, is to design a future where technology amplifies compassion rather than replacing it. Because in the end, the future of health is not just about smarter machines—it’s about better human lives.

 

Soekarno – Vision, Revolution, and Imagining a Nation

 

Indonesia’s first president, Soekarno, was not only a revolutionary leader but also a master of imagining futures. His fiery speeches, symbolic gestures, and bold ideas helped transform the dream of independence into a living reality. Though he never used the term, Soekarno’s politics carried the essence of futures literacy—the ability to use the future as a resource for shaping collective action in the present.

Imagining independence before it existed

Before 1945, Indonesian independence was considered by many an impossible dream. The colonial powers seemed immovable, and nationalist movements often faced repression. Yet Soekarno insisted on imagining a different tomorrow. His insistence on freedom was not just political—it was an act of foresight. Futures literacy reminds us that every revolution begins with the ability to see a future that others cannot yet accept.

Narratives as tools of transformation

Soekarno’s greatest gift was storytelling. Through speeches and slogans like “Merdeka atau Mati” (“Freedom or Death”), he created narratives that mobilized millions. He reframed the Indonesian people’s sense of themselves, shifting from subjects of colonial rule to citizens of a future republic. Futures literacy highlights the power of narratives to make futures tangible. By telling stories of independence, unity, and dignity, Soekarno helped Indonesians act as if freedom was already within reach.

Pancasila as a framework for alternative futures

Soekarno also introduced Pancasila, the five principles that became Indonesia’s ideological foundation: belief in God, humanitarianism, national unity, democracy, and social justice. This was more than constitutional design—it was a foresight exercise. By articulating values that could hold together a diverse archipelago, he created a scaffolding for multiple possible futures. Futures literacy today reminds us that values are the compass that guide our pathways into uncertainty.

Weak signals and radical imagination

Soekarno paid attention to weak signals from global currents—anticolonial movements, socialism, Islam, and Asian solidarity. He used these to weave Indonesia into a broader story of liberation. His calls for the “Bandung Spirit” in 1955, when he hosted newly independent nations at the Bandung Conference, was another futures gesture: imagining a world no longer dominated by colonial powers, but by a new global order of equality.

The paradox of vision

Yet Soekarno’s futures literacy had its limits. His charisma and sweeping visions sometimes overshadowed practical governance. His Guided Democracy experiment, meant to stabilize the nation, concentrated power and led to political turbulence. This tension reflects a crucial lesson: futures literacy must be shared, not monopolized. A future imagined by one leader alone risks excluding others.

Lessons for today

• Dare to dream differently: Like Soekarno, societies must imagine futures that break from the “inevitable.”
• Use stories as bridges: Narratives give shape to abstract futures and mobilize people toward action.
• Anchor in values: Futures built on ethical foundations endure longer than those built on tactics alone.
• Balance vision with inclusion: A foresight that belongs only to leaders is fragile; futures literacy flourishes when communities participate.

Closing thought

Soekarno’s life shows how futures literacy is not just an academic skill but a lived practice of courage, vision, and storytelling. His ability to imagine independence, articulate values, and situate Indonesia in a global movement reshaped history. Yet his legacy also reminds us that futures are stronger when they are plural and shared. To honor Soekarno’s spirit is to continue imagining Indonesia’s future boldly—but also inclusively, as a collective act of foresight.

The Iron Lady and Tomorrow: Rethinking Thatcher Through Futures Literacy

 

Margaret Thatcher, Britain’s longest-serving prime minister of the twentieth century, is rarely discussed in the language of futures literacy. Yet her politics, leadership style, and legacy offer a fascinating lens through which to explore how futures literacy intersects with power, ideology, and societal change. Futures literacy is about the ability to use the future as a resource to rethink the present, rather than treating it as a fixed destiny. Thatcher, by contrast, often framed the future as inevitable — a narrative she harnessed to justify her political project. Reading Thatcher through the lens of futures literacy helps us see both the strengths and the limitations of her approach to imagining tomorrow.

Thatcher was famous for her certainty. Her slogans — “There is no alternative” (TINA) being the most iconic — framed the future as singular and predetermined. Globalization, deregulation, and free-market reforms were presented not as one possible path, but as the only viable one. This rhetorical move was powerful, but from a futures literacy perspective, it narrowed society’s capacity to imagine alternatives. Futures literacy teaches that the future is always plural: there are many possible tomorrows, shaped by human choices and values. Thatcher’s politics often discouraged this multiplicity, using the aura of inevitability to suppress debate.

At the same time, Thatcher was undeniably skilled at mobilizing images of the future. She appealed to visions of a revitalized Britain — competitive, entrepreneurial, and free from what she portrayed as the stagnation of collectivism. In this sense, she demonstrated the power of futures thinking, though in a way more aligned with persuasion than reflection. Futures literacy would encourage citizens not just to consume a leader’s vision of tomorrow, but to co-create and critically question it. Thatcher’s dominance shows what happens when futures discourse is monopolized: the collective imagination becomes narrowed to fit the ideological framework of the few.

Her policies also highlight the risks of neglecting futures literacy. The deregulation of finance and the emphasis on market solutions promised prosperity but also created systemic vulnerabilities, such as growing inequality and financial instability. Futures literacy would have asked: what alternative futures might emerge from these choices, especially for groups left behind? By ignoring such questions, Thatcherism locked Britain into trajectories whose costs are still felt today.

Yet there is also a futures literacy lesson in her political resilience. Thatcher understood the emotional power of futures narratives. She linked personal responsibility, national pride, and economic reform into a story of tomorrow that many Britons found compelling in the late 1970s and 1980s. Futures literacy does not dismiss such storytelling; it recognizes that futures are always embedded in values and myths. What Thatcher teaches us is that whoever controls the story of the future controls the present.

Looking back, Thatcher’s legacy invites a reflection on the importance of broadening futures literacy beyond leaders and elites. A society that depends on one person’s vision of tomorrow risks becoming locked in a single pathway, unable to imagine alternatives when circumstances change. Futures literacy seeks to democratize foresight, enabling not just politicians but communities, organizations, and individuals to imagine different futures and act with greater freedom. Thatcher’s career shows both the effectiveness of a tightly controlled vision of the future and the dangers of excluding alternative voices from that conversation.

In this way, Thatcher and futures literacy represent two contrasting approaches. Thatcher wielded the future as a tool of power, presenting it as singular and inevitable. Futures literacy, by contrast, insists on plurality, imagination, and collective capacity. Juxtaposing the two underscores the urgent need for societies to cultivate futures literacy: not to abandon leadership, but to ensure that visions of tomorrow are not monopolized by the few but shared, questioned, and enriched by the many.