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In to-day's information society those are rewarded who can manipulate data. Tomorrow's dream society will value those who can tell stories. 
From  "The Dream Society", by Rolf Jensen at the Institute of Future Research, Copenhagen

Future studies is not a branch of learning by itself. It is a multidiscipline activity for academics of varying skills. Futurists may be historians, political scientists, sociologists, mathematicians, statisticians, engineers and others.

It is appropriate to note that future studies (sometimes developed as different scenarios) are most often performed for business or government purposes in order to predict consequences of technological activities. Future institutes are not much concerned with the effect of psycho-social initiatives, or, studies on the effects of social injustice, the economic effects on a society if crime or violence were reduced, if child or woman maltreatment were diminished, including reduced costs for future psychiatric treatment.

Foresight differs somewhat from future studies because the purpose is not mainly to predict, but also to influence or create a desired future or futures.

Most disagreements about future studies are mainly a result of reality being much more complex (or interactive) than the different study methods are able to see through or cope with. Futurology is still not sufficiently advanced to predict the weather next week, much less scenarios for 2020. This is because the walls are continuously moving in the labyrinth of natural laws. Moreover, short sighted  interests and selfishness guide human behaviour.

Here are links to some important future forecasting sites:

Predictions about the future:

I never think about the future. It arrives soon enough. Albert Einstein

Flying machines heavier than air are impossible. Lord Kelvin, president of the Royal Society, 1895

We do not like their sound. And guitar music is on its way out. Decca Recording Co. when The Beatles were turned down in 1962.

Stock market prices now seem to have reached a permanently high level. Irving Fisher, professor of economy, Yale University, 1929.

640k should be ample for anyone. Bill Gates, 1980

I believe there may be a world market for five computers. Thomas Watson, president of IBM, 1943

The wall will still stand in fifty years time. Yes, I believe it will still be there in a hundred years. Erich Honnecker, February 1989. (the Berlin wall fell 10th Nov. that same year)

Computers may in the future weigh as little as 1.5 tons. Popular Mechanics Magazine 1949

More than any time in earlier history mankind stands at crossroad. One road leads to despair and hopelessness. The other to complete extinction. Let us pray for sufficient wisdom to choose the right one. Woody Allen.

The problem with the future is that it always arrives before we are properly prepared. Arnold H. Glasow.  

 

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