Talk:Futurology
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[edit] Lead section
Lead section is a bit rambling, and needs to be edited for wordiness. The Transhumanist (talk) 23:25, 20 January 2008 (UTC)
- Done - moved most of the paragraphs to relevant sections. The Transhumanist (talk) 00:12, 21 January 2008 (UTC)
[edit] Move to futures studies?
In the archives, Nectarflowed and Paranoid both made extremely valid arguments for why this article should in fact be called Future Studies. Futurology is long forgotten in academic circles, and I can not think of many pop futurists who call themselves futurologists. Please explain why you continue to use the Futurology title! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.97.184.11 (talk) 01:07, 24 January 2008 (UTC)
- I second this comment but with a caveat. The long-accepted term of practice is Futures, not "Future" studies. I'm a member of the Association of Professional Futurists and a graduate of the University of Houston MS program in Futures Studies. No one that I know of uses the phrase "futurology" today. It is of historical but not current importance. Writers who occasionally use it show their unawareness of both the academic and practitioner communities. Likewise, in those communities, "Futures" studies (in plural) has been the accepted parlance (not "Future" studies) for roughly twenty five years (the World Futures Studies Federation, for example, added the "s" to "Future" its name back in 1987), as leading practitioners emphasize that there are a plurality of possible and actual futures, as well as cultural, organizational, and individual preferences with respect to the future. Articulating those is one important aspect (alternative futures) of both academic and professional futures work. JohnMSmart (talk) 20:11, 29 January 2008 (UTC)
- What's "extreme" about the validity of their arguments? The term "futurology" appears to be in wider common usage, and may even be an umbrella term. It is defined all over the Web, and there's a futurology article in both Encarta and Brittanica - I could find no definition of "futures studies" or (this context of ) "futures" in any of the major on-line dictionaries, and neither of the two encyclopedias just cited has an article with these names. Google search also shows that "futurology" is in far greater use than "futures studies". The corresponding article in the HighBeam Encyclopedia is also named "futurology", and presents the definition published in A Dictionary of Sociology 1998, published by Oxford University Press 1998. Users of Wikipedia are much more likely to search for "futurology" than the other terms. Presenting the subject as "futures studies" may be giving it undue weight over "futurology" which is the more popular term. The Transhumanist 22:19, 29 January 2008 (UTC)
I can't help but notice how Nectarflowed and Paranoid's comments have been deleted or otherwise removed from the archives of this discussion. First, the international organization, WFSF, is called the World Future Studies Federation and obviously prefer the term Futures Studies. WFS is the World Futures Society and they use the term Futures Studies. Their magazine is called The Futurist not the Futurologist. Also, the APF or Association of Professional Futurists uses the term Future Studies along with the three American universities which offer graduate degrees, University of Houston, Regent University, and University of Hawaii. The Australian universities prefer the term Strategic Forecasting. Does Wikipedia prefer representing its subjects according to how they are viewed in mass media or according to how the subjects actually represent themselves? So question for The Transhumanist, are you a "transhumanist" or just a comic book dork? No slander intended. Simply proving my point. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.97.184.11 (talk) 20:33, 6 February 2008 (UTC)
- The links to the archives of this discussion are at the top of this page.
- Specialists in a field use specialized terms. But, the policy Wikipedia:Naming conventions clearly states:
- "The names of Wikipedia articles should be optimized for readers over editors, and for a general audience over specialists."
- If mass media and the reference work publication field (encyclopedias, dictionaires, etc.), who serve the general public, use the term "futurology", then that appears to be the right term for the article. If "futures studies" were the more popular term, then you'd expect Encarta and Britannica to name its articles that instead of "futurology". The NPOV policy section WP:UNDUEWEIGHT also applies.
- If you'd like we could bring this discussion to the talk page of the naming conventions policy, to see what the editors there say. Or to the policy discussion page of the Village pump where Wikipedia's policy gurus hang out. Or both. I'm sure they'll be able to help determine what the correct policy-based course of action is.
- The Transhumanist 02:45, 14 February 2008 (UTC)
[edit] Foresight (future studies) merger
There seems to be another article on future studies, and should be considered for merging. My recommendation is to merge the two articles back under the title Future studies as it seems to be the current professional standard, and the term leading and defining the articles, though I acknowledge the WP:UNDUEWIGHT argument, above. Thoughts? --Yamara ✉ 17:28, 7 May 2008 (UTC)
[edit] Lists moved
I moved the extensive embedded lists to List of futurology topics.
The Transhumanist (talk) 11:58, 21 January 2008 (UTC)
[edit] Psychohistory?
In Isaac Asimov's "Foundation" series, his character Hari Seldon develops a system he calls "Psychohistory" through which he is able to predict, with great accuracy, future events. Psychohistory is described as essentially a fusion of sociology and statistics, whereby Seldon determines the most likely path humanity will follow (and he even manages to set events in motion during his lifetime to help improve the odds of the optimal outcome).
While Asimov himself also engaged in futurology to an extent (virtually all sci-fi writers do), I was wondering if it would be worth adding a mention of Psychohistory to the article. In a way, it's Asimov as a futurist predicting the rise of an even more advanced form of futurology. EJSawyer (talk) 18:39, 29 February 2008 (UTC)
[edit] A good picture
Of something like early futurologists or something.
ThisMunkey (talk) 12:43, 5 March 2008 (UTC)
[edit] Inappropriate tone tag
Instances of weasel words, peacock terms, and casual speech can be found throughout the article. --Yamara ✉ 16:59, 6 May 2008 (UTC)
