As a futurist I am always asked to make predictions. Often somewhat in jest, people ask me who is going to win the election, how much will the stock market go up in the next three months, who will win the Super Bowl, things like that. While I have been accurate in such predictions, it is not what I do. My job is to analyze trends and the underlying dynamics that create them. Having developed a level of pattern recognition allows me to connect a seeming disparate collection of events and occurrences to discern the early development of a new trend or direction that will, in the months and years ahead prove to be true and be recognized by the wider public. I look at history, recent history, things going on today, around the world, and try to see the broad flows and dynamics from which new trends will emerge.

In this, the first post of 2007, I will list the large, general dynamics that will affect us in 2007 and beyond and then give a list of more specific trends that we will experience during the coming year. In subsequent posts, I will delve a bit more deeply into some of these predictions.

Disclaimer

I am a futurist, not a seer or psychic. I do not suggest that specific events will occur or on what date they will occur. If you want the winner of the Super Bowl and the level of the Dow Jones on 12/31/07, please look elsewhere. Futurists openly …