How can we create conditions of concentrated future that accelerate positive technological and social change? And how would we know if we’re succeeding?
These two questions inspired the title and tagline of this site and define its mission. I plan to explore them in two ways: futurist non-fiction and speculative fiction.
Futurist analysis builds upon my education and professional experience in management information systems and healthcare administration. I have seventeen years of experience in healthcare, most recently leading the business intelligence department at a Medicaid managed care organization. I will often focus on healthcare as its innovation, reform and futurism touch on many broader concerns of this site.
The challenge to create, measure and sustain conditions of concentrated future raises progressively deeper questions:
- How do we prioritize which changes to pursue?
- How do we determine that a specific change would be positive?
- How do we assess which visions of the future would be better for humanity?
Speculative fiction, especially its science fiction branch, can metaphorically concentrate the future and take its measure. I was born the year Star Trek premiered; it and many other movies, television shows, comics, novels and stories have shaped my conceptions of what enables or threatens a better future.
Over the last year I have begun writing my own science fiction stories. So far, I have entered them into writing contests, but my goal is to submit stories for publication, ultimately building up to a novel. My stories will focus on plausible depictions of the near to medium future and include ideas involving concentrated future.
The ideas underlying this site have been taking form in my mind for several years. The alarming course of current US and world politics, brought home by the ongoing efforts to dismantle the Affordable Care Act and weaken Medicaid and Medicare, have spurred me to action.
I invite you to join me in explorations of concentrating the future that could grow into actual experiments and projects. And also, to share your appreciation for and how you have been influenced by works of speculative fiction. I look forward to your ideas and discussions in emails and comments, and to our ongoing conversation.
Welcome to Concentrated Future!