NATO expert: Thinking about the future is a skill that can be trained
Florence Gobb, head of the analytical department at the NATO Defense College in Rome, argues that the future is not predetermined but a system we can learn to work with, and encourages developing the ability to envision multiple scenarios.
Florence Gobb, who leads the analytical department at the NATO Defense College in Rome, specializes in predictive thinking. In her book "The Future: A User's Guide," she explains that the future is not fate but a system. She emphasizes focusing on opportunities rather than negativity.
People often passively perceive the future, yet we constantly generate it. Gobb notes that the future is always plural: possible, probable, plausible, and even incredible. Most of our thinking, decision-making, and dreams involve working with the future.
Western societies are overly past-oriented, unlike Asian cultures. The West tends to be pessimistic about the future due to climate change, AI, political crises, but globally people are more optimistic.
The future is subjective – it exists in our mind. We think about it an average of 59 times a day. Gobb identifies four types of future: everyday, lifetime, epochal, and sacred.
Creativity, according to Gobb, is not innate but can be trained. It's important to avoid catastrophic thinking and wishful thinking. Political leaders often use fear-mongering. Horoscopes and astrology are examples of "false futures."
After several crises, humanity faces many opportunities but lacks knowledge to realize them. However, history shows that humans always find solutions.
