On the Future / In Stories E-Book

• Herausgeber: Books on Demand
• Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 72

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2017

Beschreibung

As enlightened and curious people, the future interests us. In the best case, we would like to know more about it; in the worst, we would like to change it today. Both do not work. But what we can do is to think about the future, namely in stories. Fifteen lecturers and researchers of the Future Laboratory CreaLab of the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts have therefore decided to describe in the form of short stories how the future might look like.

Leseprobe

On the Future | In Stories

Foreword

Ute Klotz and Patricia Wolf

As educated and curious people, we are naturally fascinated by the future. At its best, our curiosity compels us to learn more about it. At its worst, it fuels our desire to change it today. Both don’t work. The future in the present is still a grey blur – we can’t foresee it. Not even a fortune teller can help us clear the fog from the crystal ball.

What we can do, however, is to imagine what it could be like, not in a deterministic manner but instead through stories. Exploring the future in this personal and proactive way spawns a variety of perspectives and interpretations of trends and topics. And mankind needs a plurality of stories also to counterbalance the conformism taking place in many aspects of our lives.

The stories in this book were written by the members of CreaLab, the future lab of the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts. They each relate to three megatrends from the Megatrend Map 2.0 of the Zukunftsinstitut in Vienna. The combination of trends and the stories that have emerged from them are unique. They are not predictions and are completely imaginary. And should they inspire readers for more stories about the future, we look forward to hearing from them at [email protected].

Table of Contents

The Happiness of Cows

Bettina Minder and Sibylla Amstutz

Reading Prohibited

Urs Gaudenz and Patricia Wolf

Last Celebration of the Meetings

Julie Harboe

The Annual Brainwash

Ute Klotz

Reclaiming the City

Christian Lars Schuchert, Ute Klotz and Patricia Wolf

Lilea’s Reports

Chris Ebbert

In dubio pro reo / Giving the Defendant the Benefit of the Doubt

Christine Larbig

Lisa‘s House

Christine Larbig

Manipulating Time

Christine Larbig

The Job Interview

Christine Larbig

Short and Simple

Christine Larbig

Secreto

Christine Larbig

Angel

Jens O. Meissner

Healthy Flavours

Stijn Ossevoort

Matrix Multiplication

Roland Portmann and Patricia Wolf

Bedtime Story from the Future I

Christian Lars Schuchert

Bedtime Story from the Future II

Christian Lars Schuchert

Bedtime Story from the Future III

Christian Lars Schuchert

Visiting Paul

Ursula Sury

The Future Lies in your Sleep

Michael Doerk and Patricia Wolf

Mental Movie

Barbara Kummler and Patricia Wolf

THE HAPPINESS OF COWS

TRENDS: URBAN FARMING, SUSTAINABILITY SOCIETY, DISTRICTS

BETTINA MINDER AND SIBYLLA AMSTUTZ

Interview with Jens Jan Jackobson, Cow-Working Coach (CWC), 19.02.2047

So now you’re giving these cows life coaching. How did this come about?

Two developments became apparent to us in the past. The first was that our cows here in Switzerland were suffering from a major existential crisis. This became evident when the cows began to make dance moves and have laughing fits. Something utterly strange. We really were quite concerned about the mental health of our cows. The second development was that the farmers were at a loss and completely overwhelmed with how to deal with the heat stress these cows were experiencing. Traditional care and support concepts had entirely failed in this case. Due to this development, we began to experiment with different methods, such as cultural exchange, movement therapy, and new environments.

The model you developed is unique and has been very successful all over the world. Your cows are invited to congresses. What distinguishes this model?

The cows are given personal and meaningful tasks that are tailored to their specific needs, tasks such as traffic reduction and patient care. Every single cow differs in its abilities and personality traits. And that’s why it’s important to define these tasks together with each one of them. Our experience has shown that it is counterproductive to simply assign them tasks. For example, some cows are more adventurous and like to be on the move, whilst others prefer to remain in a familiar environment.

These tasks give the cows a sense of purpose. You can see that they take responsibility and become a part of society. In addition, with the cows we were able to establish new health models in the cities and districts. There are district cows that assist with transporting the shopping, and there are petting cows in selected communities that are also accessible to seniors. Furthermore, the cows are ubiquitous on our streets and, as a result, traffic has been reduced and the roads are much safer now.

And the second key element is our cultural exchange with India. We discovered that the cows, and in particular those in responsible positions, need time off to gain different impressions and gather new experiences. After the exchange in Delhi, many cows are more open for new tasks and can transfer their knowledge. Indian cows that live here bring a new culture to the West and in particular a sense of calm and serenity.

What does the urban population think about cows wandering around in public parks and on the streets?

It was certainly unusual and partly dangerous at first, as both humans and animals were unfamiliar with this sort of interaction. Apart from two or three unresolved issues, the model is now quite established here. People see the benefits and children especially have helped show adults these benefits. For example, children stuck in a traffic jam would step out of the car and go off to stroke the cows.

After a pilot phase, initially sceptical politicians finally acknowledged the financial and social added value of this model. The cows have now become such a natural part of our society that we can no longer imagine life without them.

What advice would you give to another country wishing to introduce this same model?

The effort involved in assessing and defining the cows’ needs is not to be underestimated. That’s something we learned. It pays to invest a lot of time at the beginning. Among other things, we conducted observational studies and then led several long sessions to discuss the results with the cows. During these sessions, the farmers, who at first were rather sceptical, helped us gain a better understanding of the cows. Amazingly, every single cow shared with us clearly what she wants and what she doesn’t want. And that’s how we generated a profile for every single cow. The data are saved in an interactive database, which allows us to match the requirements with the corresponding cow. It has worked really well so far.

In addition, we invited different categories of people, such as children, car drivers, caregiving institutions, the police, and senior citizens, to participate in the model. We profited tremendously from the elderly who had had childhood experiences with cows.

It’s very important to maintain a cultural exchange with other countries that have already gathered experiences. We consider the cooperation with India an important aspect of this model. In the meantime, the cow-working community has grown rapidly worldwide, with annual events and a very active online exchange

Do you feel that this development has changed society?

Fewer people are changing residence within the cities and districts. It seems the population has developed a certain relationship to the cows. At the same time, the concept continues to develop: there are new cows and new tasks, districts are changing, and new networks are emerging.

On the health level, we have yet to raise specific data. But we are assuming that the cows’ new occupation is having a positive effect on people’s stress symptoms.

Would you like to add something else?

We are increasingly seeing that other animals are interested in this model and would like to work with us. Ducks and swans, in particular, have been spotted in the districts taking on more and more tasks, such as accompanying children across the street. The next step will be to assess their needs and coordinate the tasks. I can well imagine that there will be other animals wishing to participate in our social coexistence.

Newspaper: New Delhi Paragraph

Interviewer: Omin

READING PROHIBITED

TRENDS: OPEN SCIENCE, DIY PRINCIPLE, SELFNESS

URS GAUDENZ AND PATRICIA WOLF

Extract from the magazine ‘Genetic Philosophy’ from 04.08.2214: