Glossaries
From Future
[edit] Terminology
The discipline goes by different names, depending on the cultural context. Such names include future studies, Foresight (future studies)|foresight, futurism, futurology, prospective or vaticination (in France), and perspectiva (in Latin America). Futures studies has become the common term in the English-speaking world.
Futurologists exercised and applied Strategic Foresight for forecasting alternative futures. While forecasting -- i.e., attempts to predict future states from current trends -- is the most common way for the lay person to think about the future, professional scenarios often rely on "backcasting" -- i.e., asking what changes in the present would be required to arrive at alternative future states. Practitioners of futures studies classify themselves as futurists or foresight practitioners.
[edit] Glossary on the Web
There are A LOT of keywords to know, to discover or to learn before becoming a real futurist. Here are some glossaries availabe on the web for free:
- SL4 Glossary About The Singularity
- Transhumanism Terminology
- Nanotechnology Glossary About Nanotechnology and Molecular Manufacturing
- Nanomedical Glossary
- Orion's Arm Glossary by M.Alan Kazlev, et al
- Lextropicon Neologisms of Extropy
- Terminology From The Omega Point Theory List
- Church of Virus Lexicon Meme related
So if you want to get a good point of view of today scenario about the future, if you want to learn a new techno-culture, these glossaries are a good place to start to read.
