The further Backward you Look, the Further Forward you can See – Winston Churchill
I really like this quote from Winston Churchill. In a previous post on Learning from History, I was trying to say the same thing. One of the key learnings in looking back at our most transformative period (late nineteenth, early twentieth century), was the Convergence that occurred across multiple domains. I had developed a visual to capture a convergence phenomenon that took place over a one hundred year period – some have called this a Special Century. I updated the visual with new content (click the visual to expand). The color scheme shows the convergence that occurred across the business, science, technology, political, societal and economic domains. The red boxes represent the Catalysts that drove this convergence.
The visual captures a period of great invention that some believe can only happen once – for example, electricity can only be invented once. But what if we are entering another period of great invention? What type of convergence is required to ensure that those inventions enable human flourishing? This time, convergence must span environmental and philosophical domains as well – complicating the work at hand. The catalysts of the past period represent some of the darkest periods in recent history – what are the catalysts of this emerging period? My Blog audience had Their Thoughts.
Reimagining the Future 
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Kevin Mulcahy
+1 (908) 797-2244 kmjazz99@gmail.com http://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinmulcahy https://www.twitter.com/kmulcahy
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In your Visual it appears that you are showing that Technology & Science have not been played a major role in the past approximately 70 years. What has the role of the Space Program and the information we have derived from that sector done to drive both further technology, industry, and economics ( businesses). Lest we forget the information that led to the technology many of our current businesses ( cell phones, medical advances and other technologies). Do we need or is there something on the horizon which will come about to drive this sector as you showed it did in the earlier portion of the Visual. Is it something which will need to be repeated to help a Convergence? Just how will all the Political Actions and Institutions Reformed affect the ability to enact positive change or will it serve to further slow the probability of another Convergence?
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Quite the contrary – science and technology launched everything that followed. I hope the rapid pace of innovation itself drives the convergence required – but it might be geopolitical instability, climate change, societal unrest, or other
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[…] Backward you Look, the Further Forward you can See. That quote has stuck with me, prompting my Looking back to see Ahead. Here is the book […]
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[…] Winston Churchill that said: The further backward you look, the further forward you can see. This Looking Back to see Ahead approach should be added to the foresight frameworks used to chart our course forward. I have spent […]
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[…] talked about the Catalysts of a different era. These horrific events of our past were catalysts towards a better future. This […]
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