Achieving a Sustainable Global Civilization: The Case for Enhancing Long-Term Futures Study

In: World futures review: a journal of strategic foresight, Band 6, Heft 4, S. 468-476

Abstract

Human beings are now facing three major challenges: the crisis of the natural environment in which humans live, the crisis of the human social environment, and the crisis of human civilization arising from the negative impacts of the explosive development of technologies and the omnipotence of science that affects the direction of human evolution. Indeed, according to the above challenges, we need to pursue future forecasting individually, analyze the harms and risks, and put forward solutions, or even develop business opportunities. But these efforts are far from enough to eradicate the above crises. At present, all the challenges and crises mentioned are related to the relationship between man and nature, man and man, and man and society, as well as the direction of the human development mode. To share our planet and ensure our planet's survival as well as that of our human society, and avoid humanity's catastrophic collapse due to man's behaviors, a batch of futurists are needed to shift the focus of research to a comprehensive, long-term future study, including to reveal the truth of human crises; to explore an ultimate goal, vision, and path to achieve human sustainable development; to understand what technology is, which is called the driving force of human social development; to figure out who we are and toward which evolutionary direction human beings should evolve; and so on. Only when a consensus has been reached on these fundamental issues—and the main direction has been determined—can we put an end to short-term actions and come up with systemic solutions. Only then are we able to shorten the period of transformation from our industrial civilization to finally realize humanity's long-cherished ideal of a great global civilization.